Validity of Parkers and Glasses prices?

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fyonn

Active Member
Joined
May 9, 2007
Messages
342
Location
Manchester
Car
BMW 330d
Hiya folks,

I'm thinking of chopping the little SLK in for something a little more practical and I've found a few cars I'm interested in (I decided against that alfa I was thinking about). To get some idea of the value of my car, I've put it through the parkers used car price guide (adjusted for mileage and options) and also the glasses guide (also adjusted). the two figures don't match, but they're not too far from each other. (Obviously I prefer the higher ;) )

I went to speak to a dealer yesterday who had a car I was interested in and he quoted me a figue for my SLK £2k lower than I was expecting, claiming that glasses and parkers have been way off the mark recently and quoting concerns about big engines, VED etc. (but also offering me his car and virtually no profit! such a kind man!)[1].

When I bought the SLK, the garage I bought it from offered me almost exactly the price I was expecting for my old BMW.

Are the prices from such guides still considered correct? Obviously the car is only worth what someone will pay for it, I accept that, but do the few dealers here use them as a good guide as to what they should offer for a part ex? or should I be moer "realistic"? (obviously I'm not expecting any of you to buy the car, it's just for my information, and to help me get a better deal. although if you are interested then of course, let me know :)

What's the experience here when buying and selling?

cheers
dave


FYI. it's a Y reg SLK320 auto with 72000miles, heated electric leather seats, satnav, bluetooth and a good ipod kit

[1] Yes, I'm aware that he may be telling big porkies, hence the question here in the first place :)
 
Hello


Prices are only a guide, the market at the moment for second hand cars is poor, great if you want to buy.

I would suggest go and look at the cars your after and actually as for a P/X price.


At the end of the day its the price to change that matters, not what its worth or the new one is up for sale.

Saying that hopefully the right time to sell an SLK, I guess just beating the 2001 year its cheaper tax also so that will help.

what are you considering?
 
Glasses good, parkers bad...

You must adjust for regional differences.... i.e there are more SLK's for sale in Surrey than in Devon, so one might pay more if looking to buy in Devon etc.

Simon
 
Shop around its the only way. Have a look at Autotrader also. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/ In the end your car is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Guides are guides no more. I take it you have the last of the old shape model. These have shed a lot of value recently as more of the new shape cars come on the market second hand. Often the crucial factor is whether the dealer will retail your car again. If he disposes of it to other traders he will wont make any money on it. Sometimes its just timing perhaps he has a couple sitting on the forcourt already?
 
i use glasses daily and whilst for some models it is out, it is by far the best guide..

If you are using the online vauxhall one, im not sure how often that is updated...

that said, i dont always trust the book price especially on larger engined petrols.
 
Prices are only a guide, the market at the moment for second hand cars is poor, great if you want to buy.

and if you want to do both at the same time?(ie part-ex)? does that still count in my favour?

A210AMG said:
I would suggest go and look at the cars your after and actually as for a P/X price.

which is what i did. The other car I'm interested in is a bit of a drive away (well, leeds, an hour or so) but if they're not going to offer me a good price then there's little point in going. if the view is that glasses and parkers should be kinda close, then I can negotiate harder I guess. but not if I'm on a hiding to nothing.

A210AMG said:
Saying that hopefully the right time to sell an SLK, I guess just beating the 2001 year its cheaper tax also so that will help.
what are you considering?

ha! if only. my car is but 3 months into the new tax rules, so it does get affected (unless the gov change their mind).

was looking at going back to the marque I started with, a bmw 3 series

Shop around its the only way. Have a look at Autotrader also. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/ In the end your car is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

yes, I did this with the salesman in his office yesterday. he kept referring to X and W reg cars, not Y's. I thought there were a decent number of Y's getting above £10k, and none had nav/BT. not sure if those options make a difference on an SLK

grober said:
I take it you have the last of the old shape model. These have shed a lot of value recently as more of the new shape cars come on the market second hand. Often the crucial factor is whether the dealer will retail your car again. If he disposes of it to other traders he will wont make any money on it. Sometimes its just timing perhaps he has a couple sitting on the forcourt already?

well, it's a 2001 SLK, so yes it's the old shape, but they did make for a few more years after mine. the guy I was talking to kept referring to underwriters who he talked to on the phone who were supposedly giving him the prices.

I'm in the position where I don't *need* to change the car. I'm getting married next year after we're married I think we'll need a more practical car, and it would be nice to do that now, a good time before the wedding so it's out of the way. and I think it's best to sell convertables in the summer :)

I don't want to overspend as I've got to keep some back to pay for the wedding/honeymoon etc, so if it's going to cost me too much to change, I'd rather just stick with what I've got I suppose.

dave
 
Its all waffle. At the end of the deal, all they are interested in is the size of their slice of the pie.
Depending on too many variables, I would say a dealer wont deal for less than £1K in his bin.

But.............having said that..............its always best to wait until the last day in the month. Just in case your deal is potentially the one that takes him into a nice fat bonus. You will be able to tell by the degree of enthusiasm and hand rubbing................
You can then go in for the kill........................
 
i use glasses daily and whilst for some models it is out, it is by far the best guide..

If you are using the online vauxhall one, im not sure how often that is updated...

that said, i dont always trust the book price especially on larger engined petrols.

would you trust it's price on a 3.2l SLK? :)

I used both the vauxhall one, and I paid my money for a proper glasses quote. It didn't give as much for options as parkers sadly, though I know options do lose their value. mind you, if I'm gonna get nothing for the satnav/BT/ipod kit, I might well take it out and sell seperately (or put it in my dads car) :)

from my PoV, if I got a happy medium between the two and a decent discount on the price of the car I'm looking at, I might well go for it. I suppose this translates into "if the cost to change makes me feel like I've nto given my car away and mortgaged my future I might go for it" :)

I guess I'm just trying to get a feel for how far I can push a salesman, or if I'm just being impractical and unrealistic.

dave
 
Glasses is a nightmare for us at the moment, Smarts (all models) are selling at auction for over retail money but then we have customers using them as a guide and saying we charge too much!?

We aren't having much luck shifting larger petrol cars for PX, no trader we know wants them, we are on UK wide email groups for underwriting and not one offer is becoming the norm for these cars.

Kate
 
Its all waffle. At the end of the deal, all they are interested in is the size of their slice of the pie.
Depending on too many variables, I would say a dealer wont deal for less than £1K in his bin.

But.............having said that..............its always best to wait until the last day in the month. Just in case your deal is potentially the one that takes him into a nice fat bonus. You will be able to tell by the degree of enthusiasm and hand rubbing................
You can then go in for the kill........................

Exactly correct.You can get astounding deals if your sale is the one that tips the salesman / dealer into a bonus.

Got a great deal on my previous car because it was right at the end of a Land Rover promotion to the dealer and the fact that my purchase right at the end of the promotion seemed to to matter a lot. I went in with only a couple of days to go, had to pay for and collect car within 48hrs. Was told later that it was the cheapest they'd ever sold that model for; I know that could be BS, but they beat every other offer I could find from brokers etc.
 
I have found www.wisebuyers.co.uk to give good prices and they also do the mileage adjustments free

I'd not be too unhappy with their price :)

I love large petrol cars :D

fancy a weekend car? ;)

Exactly correct.You can get astounding deals if your sale is the one that tips the salesman / dealer into a bonus.

and it is approaching month end...

I was thinking of emailing the company, stating what I've got, the car I'm looking at and the money I was thinking of paying and asking if it's worth my while to make the trip. is that sensible?

dave
 
I went to speak to a dealer yesterday who had a car I was interested in and he quoted me a figue for my SLK £2k lower than I was expecting, claiming that glasses and parkers have been way off the mark recently and quoting concerns about big engines, VED etc. (but also offering me his car and virtually no profit! such a kind man!)[1].

I was in my local MB dealer a couple of weeks back and the sticker prices on the used cars were way down. I passed yesterday and the stock looked pretty much the same. If that's a general reflection on the market then very little is moving.

Ironically now is the time to buy a bigger petrol engined E or S but sadly she who is always obeyed doesn't see it that way.:(
 
We are all guilty of wanting the best price possible for our own car, but then wanting to pay pea-nuts when it comes to buying one.

I would shop around, listen to what your being offered and then make a decision. Fuel prices are slowly falling, but at the moment large engined vehicles are as popular as herpes.

Regards
Joihn
 
So what are you flogging? The SLK?

Five grand should cover it (assuming less than 80k miles, FSH, and good nic)

;)
 
My experience of price guides, FWIW, is that I can never get anything like the guide price for my car, whilst the one I want is typically only available above guide price.....

Or perhaps I'm just a lousy negotiator:eek:
 

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