Depreciating Like a Stone?

[brian r]

I tried to sell my car in November due to it not being driven much and some health issues. I listed it at a high price due to the work I had done to it, but negotiated down to a fair price with several buyers who unfortunately couldn't get financing.

2008 passion coupe

It's been stored for the winter and is still in perfect shape, but now has 3150 miles on it. It will be a year old on 3.28. I know that an easy way to sell a car is to sell it to CarMax. They routinely pay more than you would get on a trade at a dealer, although it's much less than you'd get on a private sale. While discussing this with a friend, it turned out that my friend was related to the GM of a CarMax store, and said the guy drops by frequently. So he set up having my fortwo appraised to sell to Carmax.

I was kind of shocked to hear they would give me $8750 for it.

He said that it was a combination of the car market and the fact that they would probably truck it to another part of the country to sell it due to the huge volume of new ones at the smart store here.

[gniwok]

I say private sell it. Heck, if I lived in your part of the country, I'd give you $10,000 for it right now!

Nice emoticons, btw! Loved the one puking!
~Jas...

[forestacademy]

Car market is flooded like the housing market.

$2 gas isn't helping

Can't tell you what is best for you, but if you feel gas prices will go back up then wait until it seems more desireable to those SUV owners.

I will have to say unfortunatly any extras you put on a car are for your apriciation and you alone. You realy cant expect to get that money back.

I would suggest you start with your origanal MSRP and depreciate from their. That said, that price from CarMax is bogus.

Find out if their are still discounts for parking in NYC and market it as a comuter car into NYC or Boston.

[padi176715]

If you belong to an of the local smart clubs, go to the meetings and rallies with a for sale sign. Enough people are looking but do not want to wait and would jump at a good deal.

[JPaul]

Originally Posted by forestacademy

...
Find out if their are still discounts for parking in NYC ...

The NYC parking deal was just recently posted in the smart insider volume 17:

Need a place to park in the New York City area? smart USA is excited to announce partnerships with three New York City area parking companies. Meyers Parking, Icon Parking Systems and AviStar Airport Parking now offer smart fortwo owners a 50 percent discount off daily and monthly posted parking rates at hundreds of locations across New York City.

“Our arrangement with the parking companies gives smart owners the best of both worlds: the ability to park at a discounted price, along with the ease to park almost anywhere,” said Dave Schembri, President of smart USA. “The smart fortwo is helping New Yorkers change the way they park and navigate congested city streets, while offering great fuel economy, safety and functionality.”

Meyers Parking first offered half price parking to smart fortwo owners beginning last September, and the program was renewed for 2009. Meyers Parking is the official parking garage of Madison Square Garden, the New York Rangers, New York Knicks and New York Liberty. Meyers also has the largest public garages in Times Square, on the Upper East Side and the Empire State Building area.

Icon Parking Systems has more than 200 parking facilities in Manhattan. Many of Icon’s locations can be found near famous New York City landmarks as well as residential areas throughout the city. smart fortwo owners are entitled to half price parking on all day, night and weekend rates and specials. Owners interested in this special offer are required to open a no-fee charge account, and will receive a special card that must be presented to the cashier at the time of payment. Icon will invoice owners for all transient parking charges. smart fortwo customers parking at an Icon Parking facility on a monthly basis will automatically qualify for a $99 monthly rate.

Interested smart fortwo owners can visit Icon Parking Systems at www.weparknewyork.com to sign-up for this exciting offer. Icon’s Website also features an interactive map of locations, detailed information about their exclusive Price and Space Guarantee, access to discount coupons for Broadway Theatres, Times Square and Madison Square Garden, and an online request form that allows new monthly customers to inquire about seasonal discounts, location-specific availabilities and reduced monthly rates for commuters, storage and other very small/mini cars.

For smart fortwo owners traveling by plane out of the New York City area, AviStar Airport Parking, a wholly owned subsidiary of Parking Company America Airports, LLC (PCAA) is offering half price parking on the daily rate at both JFK and LaGuardia Airports. Customers wishing to take advantage of this special promotion are required to print a special coupon from www.airportcorporateparking.com/smartusa and present it to the cashier at the time of payment. AviStar Airport Parking offers additional services and amenities such as 24-hour shuttles to all terminals, free luggage assistance and free coffee and espresso in their lobbies. The AviStar Airport Parking promotion expires on April 30, 2009.

[SubSlr88]

I have a new 2009 coming in soon that is my original order. I want to sell my 08 orphan, but looking around eBay it looks like the prices have dropped significantly.
I checked with my salesperson about trade-in value; it was recommended that I try to sell it privately since they're setting on about 8-10 orphans, all -09 models, and wouldn't offer much.
She also mentioned that those she'd talked to about their sales had the best results with just putting the car in a visible place with signs. . . so everytime I go shopping I put a sign in each side window and a list of features on the dash. So far some lookie-loos but no serious offers. If gas should go to $3.50 or $4 I expect that would change - but . . .
I've still got a couple of months on the DDE but it's going to be here soon. . . good luck with your sale.

[markitect]

I just had a dealer quote me $11,000 trade-in for my 8000 mile over year old smart passion.

[Dunerunner]

Well, did any of us buy our smart thinking it was going to hold it's value? We all know you loose $2-3K just driving it off the dealers lot, then take into account most other car dealers are sitting on huge inventories of unsold vehicles and the fact that people are holding onto their money due to uncertainty in the economy and you have a very dismal picture if you are looking to sell your smart. Good Luck Brian, I hope a smart enthusiast finds you and buys your car, with all you have done to it, it is a bargain!!

[fpage77]

Originally Posted by Dunerunner

Well, did any of us buy our smart thinking it was going to hold it's value? We all know you loose $2-3K just driving it off the dealers lot, then take into account most other car dealers are sitting on huge inventories of unsold vehicles and the fact that people are holding onto their money due to uncertainty in the economy and you have a very dismal picture if you are looking to sell your smart. Good Luck Brian, I hope a smart enthusiast finds you and buys your car, with all you have done to it, it is a bargain!!

I bought mine thinking it would appreciate like gold!

Phase 1: Buy smart
Phase 2: ?
Phase 3: Profit!

[Godfather]

"Why I didn't spend a boatload of money "improving" my smart in one easy lesson"........ market saturation 101.