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Buying a certified used car (1 Viewer)

Jim517

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Does anyone know how much of a percentage, on average, I can expect the dealership to reduce from the sticker price? I assume there's less room for negotiation as with a new car?

Thanks.
 

Alf S

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Ya gotta just do your research. Check Edmunds, Kelly, NADA etc for the exact car you are looking for and get a feel for the pricing for your area so you have a better idea of the true pricing. Also it depends on if it's a car that's a dime a dozen or a rare sought after car etc. All play into things.

Also look at other local car dealers as well to see what they are listing identical vehicles for.

Without knowing details about your vehicle, we can't really offer up much help.
 

Jim517

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Thanks. I've been doing all those things. I was curious if there's much wiggle room in the price of used cars before I go to a dealer.

We are looking into 2013- 2015 Honda CR-Vs and Hyundai Sonatas. Prices are roughly $13,000 to $16,000.
 

Alf S

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I'm sure there is some wiggle room, but tougher to haggle unless you find an IDENTICAL vehicle somewhere in town that is cheaper.

Arming yourself with pricing printouts from Edmunds etc MAY help out. If you think the vehicle pricing is not competitive, walk away, there are a ton of used vehicles out there to chose from, especially with those models.

Our preferred "dealer" now is Carmax. So darn easy to deal with.
 

Aaron Silverman

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FWIW, I looked at a 2013 CR-V last time I bought a car, and ended up with a Ford Escape, which blew away the CR-V in almost every way. It was a bit more expensive but a lot more fun.
 

BaconFat

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There's quite a bit of wiggle room on used vehicles. Look up the trade-in value for the car you're looking for which will be about what the dealer paid for it before any additional expenses. You have to figure out if they actually took the vehicle in on trade, a direct-to-dealer lease turn in or picked it up at an auto auction. Lots of used vehicles on a dealership's lot come from auto auctions. If it came from an auction there will be additional fees the dealership paid to purchase the car and get it ready to sell. A Carfax report will help you determine where the car came from. You also need determine what type of certification you're getting. A Honda Certified coverage will cost the dealership more to offer than a third party certified plan.
 

Mike Frezon

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It depends on the dealer, too.

Some nowadays are the "no haggle" type who, pretty much, stand by their price (which is usually already more reasonable than other places. And, of course, there's still the guys who ask high and then sell much lower to make you feel really good about the deal. And, of course, there is the wiggle room on the trade-in, etc., too.

I just bought a 2013 CR-V EX-L a few months ago. My wife and I think it's the best car we've ever owned.
 

Jim517

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It depends on the dealer, too.

Some nowadays are the "no haggle" type who, pretty much, stand by their price (which is usually already more reasonable than other places. And, of course, there's still the guys who ask high and then sell much lower to make you feel really good about the deal. And, of course, there is the wiggle room on the trade-in, etc., too.

I just bought a 2013 CR-V EX-L a few months ago. My wife and I think it's the best car we've ever owned.

Thanks. Was it a certified used car? About 90% of the CRV's that come up during my searches are the LX version(entry level trim).
 

Mike Frezon

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It was. a certified used car. A former lease car. We found most of the CR-Vs on the local Honda lots were former leases.

Personally, I like the concept. People lease 'em and hand them in for a new car. That leaves them there for me to choose from and I know they've been well-maintained during the time they were leased.
 

Jim517

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The certified CRVs I'm finding are former leases and rentals, mostly leases. Hopefully we will look at a few tomorrow.

Were you able to get much of a reduction from the sticker price?
 

Mike Frezon

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Were you able to get much of a reduction from the sticker price?

Not really.

We had checked around and the prices everywhere were in a pretty similar range. I think because most of the cars seem to come in from three year lease agreements, the dealers all have similar stock (age, mileage, etc.) and all have pretty much the same pricing patterns.

We bought the one with the higher trim package as it gave us different climate controls for the driver and front passenger (my wife and I are always different in terms of being hot/cold so we thought that would be neat...and it is!). It also came with leather seats and a sunroof. But by picking one with a few more miles on it, we were able to get a bit of a better price. I went ahead and extended the warranty (for what I thought was a really good price) since the car would by then be getting to that age where things might start to go wrong (at least they had on the Hyundai Santa Fe that I was just getting rid of.

I absolutely love the controls on the steering wheel and the various readings available on the dash. Oh and the various bluetooth and music connectivity is the best of any other car I've ever owned. I even took a super deal to extend the Sirius XM trial by an additional six months for just $30-something. I have entered the cancellation date on my calendar to be sure I don't get charged with anything extra when that time is up.
 

Aaron Silverman

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We bought the one with the higher trim package as it gave us different climate controls for the driver and front passenger (my wife and I are always different in terms of being hot/cold so we thought that would be neat...and it is!).

That is a how-did-we-ever-live-without-this feature if ever there were one. :)
 

Mike Frezon

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Congratulations, Jim! Which trim package?

We bought the one with the higher trim package as it gave us different climate controls for the driver and front passenger (my wife and I are always different in terms of being hot/cold so we thought that would be neat...and it is!). It also came with leather seats and a sunroof.

And I forgot to mention the...heated seats. A feature I thought I'd never use. Wrong!! :D
 

Jim517

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We decided on the LX package. About 90% of the certified CRVs near us are the LX package. I was told that's because most of them are coming off of leases, and the most common leased CRV is the LX.

I bought my wife a heated seat cushion about a week ago which she loves. And it set me back a whopping $19.99 !
 

DaveF

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Used car prices for popular, recent model years, have been held strong since the Great Recession due to decreased demand on new purchases and people keeping their cars longer. Remarkably, eight years later it seems prices still hold up for favorite models of used cars.

On the flip side, this isn't a bad time to sell your used car.
 

Jim517

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Did they do away with PM messaging here?

Mike Frezon, Have you had any issues with your steering wheel not locking after removing the keys? I noticed this today. I have to call the dealer tomorrow.
 

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