Is Redbook rubbish?

[CT135]

Went to the dealer today to get a trade in valuation for my Subaru Liberty... and was offered only $19K for it.
Redbook says to expect a trade-in value of between $29K and $32K.
Is redbook.com.au out of date / out of touch?
Did the valuer get the wrong model info or do they just really not want to trade my car in?
(it is the MY06 Subaru Liberty GT Tuned by STi, sedan, auto)

[aedeau]

Originally Posted by CT135

Went to the dealer today to get a trade in valuation for my Subaru Liberty... and was offered only $19K for it.
Redbook says to expect a trade-in value of between $29K and $32K.
Is redbook.com.au out of date / out of touch?
Did the valuer get the wrong model info or do they just really not want to trade my car in?
(it is the MY06 Subaru Liberty GT Tuned by STi, sedan, auto)

wow, yeh ?I would have thought u'd been offered something a bit more than that considering that it's a tuned by STi model. Maybe by comparison try carsales.com.au? and possibly try for a private sale?

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...20sti&trecs=32

[CT135]

Originally Posted by aedeau

wow, yeh ?I would have thought u'd been offered something a bit more than that considering that it's a tuned by STi model. Maybe by comparison try carsales.com.au? and possibly try for a private sale?

thanks aedeau ... I've checked carsales and there are a couple on sale in NSW between $34K and $45K (although the ones at $45K have been there for a while). I didn't want to have to do the private sale thing but it looks like I have no real choice!!!

[qship]

I'm not too surprised. I have an MY06 Lib GT ( a rare manual) and if I were selling it privately, would expect 22-25k for it and about 18K from a dealer.. The Sti model was overpriced to begin with (go down to Sti Docklands, they still have 07 ones for sale!).

As with all trade ins, it depends on condition, history, milage, demand and what the dealer believes they can get away with. Also remember that the all new Liberty will be here in August, further denting resale.

If you have the time, sell it privately.

The red book is at best a guide. It does not take into consideration economic rationalism!

Good luck

[DTNJNQ]

I was offered $19,000 trade in for my 04 Liberty GT late last year. Was also offered $16,000 for my 02 Forester Limited. Can't believe that the Liberty GT has lost a lot more value than the Forester. At those prices I have decided to keep the Liberty and sell the Forester. Haven't got round to selling the Forester yet.

[amk2912]

I'd say in this GFC environment, car dealers will give you diddly as they are finding it hard to move their stock. Supply and demand...simple as that. There is more supply than demand at the moment.

[takahashi]

Was told my Integra Type R can only get $21K trade in. But I sold it for $28K after a week on carsales, and the guy said I was selling it cheap.

I also traded in 2 cars, and get good value with them, one was a Barina and the other was a Mazda 3 SP23. But I only get like $3-5K discount with the new car... so I guess overall I get screwed (average on the new car I get can get $4-7K discount).

So when you trade in and calculate the trade in price... it is more realistic.

[sparoz]

May be I should starting to look at selling the cars myself...

[takahashi]

Most dealers are trying to screw you with trade in and they said they use their trade in wholesales prices

[MikeVictor]

Go the private sale if you're happy to wait it out and deal with the tyre kickers. I was offered $24k for my last car by BMW and given the 5 month wait on my order, elected to sell it myself.

Sold for $34k.

[takahashi]

It is really depends you can wait 5 months for that $10K isn't it... if you can afford it... it is the best money you can earn, isn't it?

[Alext]

second-hand car market going to the dogs atm.

[harpoon]

I heard a story recently which shows how bad the second hand car market is. I heard it second hand so it was fairly reliable (i.e not 15th hand).

A guy had a friend who was a prestige used car dealer. He asked the dealer to keep an eye out for a good value low kms e46 M3.

A couple of months later a guy comes to the dealer with a maserati quattroporte. He says I need to sell this today. The dealer says - Mate, I got more cars than I can sell - sorry no interest. The guy says I need the cash today. The delaer says mate I can't - too much inventory. The guy says - please I am getting margin called. I need the cash today. Dealer says ok - 90k is best I can do. Guy goes Fuk...ok done...

Dealer calls the m3 buyer and says how bout a 6mth old quattroporte for 110k? M3 buyer says DONE! Snips for him.

Obvioulsy a bit of a one off but still doesn't help the market.

A 2 yr old 599 went for $420k at auction last week. It had 2000kms on it. 700 new!

[CT135]

So I guess the takeaway is that the data on Redbook does not reflect the current market, which has taken a dive. Even though the extreme examples are at the very top of the market, I guess it all trickles down.
I'll let you know how I go sellling the Liberty!

[amk2912]

Originally Posted by harpoon

I heard a story recently which shows how bad the second hand car market is. I heard it second hand so it was fairly reliable (i.e not 15th hand).

A guy had a friend who was a prestige used car dealer. He asked the dealer to keep an eye out for a good value low kms e46 M3.

A couple of months later a guy comes to the dealer with a maserati quattroporte. He says I need to sell this today. The dealer says - Mate, I got more cars than I can sell - sorry no interest. The guy says I need the cash today. The delaer says mate I can't - too much inventory. The guy says - please I am getting margin called. I need the cash today. Dealer says ok - 90k is best I can do. Guy goes Fuk...ok done...

Dealer calls the m3 buyer and says how bout a 6mth old quattroporte for 110k? M3 buyer says DONE! Snips for him.

Obvioulsy a bit of a one off but still doesn't help the market.

A 2 yr old 599 went for $420k at auction last week. It had 2000kms on it. 700 new!

A bloke at school (a dad) picked up a 2008 X5 4.8 V8 - 2000km, seven seater ex Melbourne BMW dealer....had it delivered to Perth, drive away for $114,000!

[Guran]

Redbook valuations definitely have some lag in them. When I was selling my MINI late last year, the Redbook valuation was something like $23k. It took me three months to sell the car, and in the end I only got $18,500 which was about 15% down on the Redbook rating at the time. I felt that was due mainly to the rapid plunge in the Australian car market over that time (and it's collapsed further since then!), rather than inaccuracy in Redbook prices, which do truly represent "final list" prices (rather than true sale prices). It's just that there's lag and when the market changes rapidly, you then see a mismatch.

[jksgoh]

Hi guran,
I think i saw you a bit on the mini forums, never really an active member myself, but my bro was/is.
i sold my mini (non s) 2003 model with a dent in my bonnet (which i pointed out to the buyer) around the start of last year and also got 18500 (or was it 19500... i forget...). I believe you had an S? sure does show how much the market has plummeted in such a short period.

[Alpine*]

I think they are and have always been optimistic.

Check this..

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...d=12035222DFD0

Red Book says:
Average Private Price+ $118,300 - $126,800
Trade In Price Guide+ $104,700 - $113,200

In this case one would hope they are conservative, cause this is a bargain! the car would have been ~$180k otr new... I'm not selling mine for a while, going on these figures.

I have owned and sold both cars mentioned above, Cooper S and Liberty GT, took a big hit on both also. I have learnt my lesson (not really cause I bought the M), stay away from niche cars (or expensive ones like Ms) cause in the end you will loose out.

Good luck selling yours.

[amk2912]

Originally Posted by AlpineM3E92

I think they are and have always been optimistic.

Check this..

Red Book says:
Average Private Price+ $118,300 - $126,800
Trade In Price Guide+ $104,700 - $113,200

In this case one would hope they are conservative, cause this is a bargain! the car would have been ~$180k otr new... I'm not selling mine for a while, going on these figures.

I have owned and sold both cars mentioned above, Cooper S and Liberty GT, took a big hit on both also. I have learnt my lesson (not really cause I bought the M), stay away from niche cars (or expensive ones like Ms) cause in the end you will loose out.

Good luck selling yours.

I've just had a look on RedBook and it now says...

Private Price Guide$110,200 - $118,300
Trade In Price Guide$97,400 - $105,500
Average Km20,000 - 35,000
Price When New (RRP)$157,000

Good grief.

[Guran]

Originally Posted by jksgoh

Hi guran,
I think i saw you a bit on the mini forums, never really an active member myself, but my bro was/is.
i sold my mini (non s) 2003 model with a dent in my bonnet (which i pointed out to the buyer) around the start of last year and also got 18500 (or was it 19500... i forget...). I believe you had an S? sure does show how much the market has plummeted in such a short period.

Yes that's me. I know your brother from the MINI forums. In fact, I think he once helped me clean up my son's spew from the backseat during a drive on Putty Rd!

The kicker for me was that my Cooper S had 120,000km on the clock for a 2002 model. That's very high compared to the average which was around 80,000km for this model. Still I was pretty happy with the price I got since I'd had the car from new and it had only depreciated from $40k list to $18.5k over 6 years. A falcodore does that in 3 years! Yes got less than Redbook, but I still got $500 more than the residual I paid at the end of the novated lease three years ago!

AlpineM3E92 is dead right about fencing yourself in when you buy a niche model. That is especially true if you subsequently modify it. That puts you in a niche of niches! Not that it stops us from taking this path and later paying for our sins.

[mugennosora]

redbook is not rubbish, your dealer on the on the hand...IS rubbish

[Gumball]

I picked up my 135 late January but was worried about selling my old car (05 Corolla Sportivo) due to the economic crisis so put it on carsales at higher than redbook value in early December (figured no hurry). Sold it in 3 days for $500 under my asking. Before I listed it I polished it to better than new, including imaculate engine and interior, took some photos with the DSLR and the emails/phone calls were non stop

Only catch was I needed to borrow a car for 5 weeks while I waited for my 135 to arrive!

Private sale is the way to go, trading in is IMHO throwing away money.