Pilot dealer trade in values?

[freestyle]

How accurate are edmunds and kelly blue book to estimate trade in values? When I input my info it comes out to a decent price. Dealer offered 12,500 for my 2007 grey EX-L with nav......Edmunds says 15,400 for clean and 12,400 for average.

Does one little dent in the door with a few scratches and a very small ding from a rock on the hood take off 3000?....lol....I guess 12,500 wasn't a bad offer but maybe I should shop some dealers, especially since my dealer is having trouble locating a 2012 touring.

[Pilot-1]

Originally Posted by freestyle

How accurate are edmunds and kelly blue book to estimate trade in values? When I input my info it comes out to a decent price. Dealer offered 12,500 for my 2007 grey EX-L with nav......Edmunds says 15,400 for clean and 12,400 for average.

Does one little dent in the door with a few scratches and a very small ding from a rock on the hood take off 3000?....lol....I guess 12,500 wasn't a bad offer but maybe I should shop some dealers, especially since my dealer is having trouble locating a 2012 touring.

I have a 2007 EX, and if they only gave you 12500 for an EXL this now gives me very little hope for mine. My experience has been they give no more than what the websites say; a lot of times less. I would still shop around.

[freestyle]

Well don't lose hope yet! My pilot has 100,000 miles!

[preddy brian]

Don't trade it in. Try to sell privately yourself. List it in Autotrader or something like that. If the dealer will give you that, I am sure you will be able to get more if you try to sell it outright yourself. Thats what I did when we sold our 05 and bought our 09.

[freestyle]

I did think of going that route. Although the tough thing right now is that no one in my area has any tourings....So I can't be without a car...lol.....and would have to time it right so that the dealer doesn't sell one if they do get it and I'm not ready.

[JEFFro]

You can always buy a beater just to drive around in (in case you sold your car and cant find the right car to buy).

[jl_ss]

With 100,000 miles, your trade in is not governed by Edmunds or KBB. It will probably go to auction. In that case, it will be the current value of whatever auction web site they use.

The best route to maximize trade in in this case is to go to multiple dealerships of different manufacturers to get trade values. Make sure they know you are after the best deal, not a particular make. For example, go to Toyota and tell them you really want a Pilot, but will buy a Highlander if the deal is better. This will get you the best trade values quickly.

Then you go to Honda and say, I really want a Pilot but will buy whatever deal is best. Keep saying things like, the Mazda deal is much better. The key to this method is that it is not a direct comparison, like from Honda dealer to Honda dealer on a Pilot. They have to match what you "perceive" as the best deal without access to the other manufacturers lowest price. We have gotten some very very good deals using this strategy.

In fact, I have skipped the go to other dealerships step and gone straight to Honda and told them they have to beat a fictitious deal from Toyota. As long as you bluff well and are ready to walk out, it works.

[PM12EX-L]

just got $13,250 for an '08 Accord EX-L V6 sedan w/ approx. 84k miles & in nice condition...i looked up KBB, Edmunds, & NADA....the lowest was KBB @ $12,600...the highest was Edmunds i think, @ $15,XXX....local Honda dealer told me they use Black Book to determine trade-in prices, & they offered $12k...knowing how nice the car's condition is, I wasn't happy with that & talked with another Honda dealer...there they mentioned the auction (Manheim, etc.) prices to determine trade-in...they said ours would fall between $12-14k, and they wanted to meet in the middle at $13,250....we accepted and now own a 2012 Pilot EX-L

i think the method mentioned by "jl_ss" sounds like a good plan too...do a little research & know what you have, otherwise they're always gonna try to lowball you...it's a competition for the dealers, but the ball is in your court....you get to make the decisions, so don't settle if you're not completely satisfied

[freestyle]

Huh, well I just found a site that gives black book pricing and they listed 14-16,000......interesting......It's kind of funny though that all these sites list these as trade in values but the dealers don't want to follow them....lol

[GoRgOyL]

Hi there Freestyle!

Recently traded my '08 for a '12, negotiation took about 2 weeks between 3 competing dealers. KBB gave my Pilot 2WD EX-L w/ RES a $19,500.00 trade-in value (good condition), the dealer I went with gave me 19k for it.

Thought it was a good deal.

Rod

[JEFFro]

go to nadaguides.com, enter your car's information, where it says "rough trade in", the dealer will offer you close to that amount (expect ~$2000 off that amount).

[iggibar]

Wyy do you expect a dealer to follow a book that shows the current value of a car? That value is a predicted maximum average sales price that a person is willing to pay for. So, if it says the value of a car in great condition is $15k, do you really expect the dealer to give you $15k? They wouldn't stand in business for a month if they did. The best thing to do is to sell it out yourself. Using books as a guide is not that reliable when actually selling. It's only a good subject to start conversations. Look up car auction sales of Pilots like yours. The easiest is eBay Motors. Check their ended listings to see what average people are realistically willing to pay for a car like yours.

[GoRgOyL]

iggibar ~ some of these on-line books give the user an option to choose what type of estimate he/she is looking for, either a trade-in with a dealer or selling the vehicle themselves. Usually, trade in estimates are a couple grand lower.

[freestyle]

Hey thanks for all the responses guys....I guess I'll shop a few dealers, but the worst thing is that when I was trying to buy my 07 I seriously had 3 twilight zone experiences with dealers in my area, very souring experiences and those dealers I wouldn't give my business to...lol...that doesn't leave many now locally unless I do some traveling...buy maybe it will be worth it to travel this time.

Hi iggibar, what I'm asking about is specific dealer trade in values, and what these online books specify for value from dealer for a trade, these are not dealer retail or what I could get if I sold it myself, those numbers are higher.

My dealer is having trouble locating me a pol metal touring.....said the dealers they trade with aren't giving any up......I'm just worried that the 1.9 financing is going to run out on 10/31 like they say and it will go higher, could go lower who knows.

[iggibar]

Originally Posted by freestyle

My dealer is having trouble locating me a pol metal touring.....said the dealers they trade with aren't giving any up......I'm just worried that the 1.9 financing is going to run out on 10/31 like they say and it will go higher, could go lower who knows.

FYI: I was told the same thing almost 4 months ago when I purchased my Pilot. Don't rush to make a purchase because they told you it will run out and never come out again.