With the high gas prices in the US, is there a place(website) to get updated used car prices? I know trucks, suv’s, and full size cars are selling a little cheaper now. But what is reasonable???
The reason I ask is my father just bought a 2005 Buick LeSabre 41k excellent condition, at auction for $5500. The same car for sale in this area usually run $10-$14k. This seems like a big discount.
Thanks,
Bill
The dealers who buy at auction want cars they can turn over quickly and at a profit. Therefore, they are going to at the “cutting edge” as far as trying to predict what will be winners. Obviously, the bidders that day didn’t think much of the car because it’s full-sized. But the fuel economy isn’t really that bad, so your father probably made out well, as long as he knew what he was doing and didn’t bid on a car that was mistreated.
Auctions don’t count. Actual selling prices bear little relation to the accepted value. If there are few bidders on a particular model, it will sell cheap. The seller might not care. If the car were a repo, for example, the seller still is going to reconcile debt differences with the owner who is in default.
Your father was very shrewd and got himself a great bargain; that’s all that matters.
My father does know a lot about cars, so he wouldn’t have bought it if he thought it had a problem.
I checked the Edmund’s website, they put trade-in value at $9700 and dealer retail at $12200. How long does this website take to catch up with market realities? Just wondering…
Sounds like a good deal. This is probably a good time to buy bigger cars, when everyone is trying to dump them. Small cars are probably overpriced at the moment. Remember, you have to look at the total cost, not just the fuel cost.
It’s not possible to find out anything about the car’s past. All you know is what you see for the short inspection period. That increases the risk which lowers the price. A friend bought a BMW 3-series sedan a few years ago at way below normal resale value. He was happy, and hopefully, your dad will be too. While it could be reposessed, it might also be a well-maintained lease or trade-in. But you don’t know.
It is a very low demand car so hence the low price at auction. They do offer excellent fuel mileage for the size.
Buying cars at auction is a excellent way to loose alot of money No one cares what kind of misery you have set your self up for. All kinds of scams exist at auctions such as salvage titles that dont represent this fact or maybe the car was part of a natural disaster (a swimmer in a flood) buyer beware
You know, it just doesn’t matter anymore. Dad bought it, and all he can do is treatit well and hope for the best. It appears that he has a rainy day fund of about $5000 for unexpected repairs, and that will buy a lot. Don’t worry about what might happen, just help out if (if) something goes wrong.
Its my job and my obligation to my customer to worry about what might happen. Its also my job to advise my customer in regards to either fixing a car or bailing and finding something. My advice is particulary valuable if you happen to own one of those cars you should not put any money at all into. This means car with known mechanical weakness or very costly parts and no resale value even if running. There are some cars you just dont want to own.Ask yor mechanic its his job.