daedalus

I've been toying with the idea of trading in my Jeep so I took it to the dealer the other day to see what they'd offer. Here are the details on my Jeep:

2010 2 door Rubicon. Flame Red
42k miles in very good condition
6 spd manual
Virtually stock. Only real "mod" is the Daniel Stern wiring harness and upgraded headlights
Fully loaded with NAV, side airbags, and pretty much every option except leather
Hard top and soft top

Here are the Kelly Blue Book values:

Trade-in: $24,833
Private-party: $27,053

Here is what the dealer offered me....$18,000! I told him that's just ridiculous, and he said okay maybe he can go up to $19,500.

He looked up the Car Fax report, and it does state there was a front end accident. Someone clipped my front bumper while I was parked and getting gas. It was VERY minor damage to just the bumper, and I replaced the bumper with a new one. It is as good as new. The dealer stated that doesn't matter. He said once Car Fax has a front end accident reported, it drops the value by at least $2k or more. I thanked him and walked out of there.

This sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me. Does a minor fender bender really drop the value by that much? What do you guys think?

HELLBENDER-JK

See another dealer

daedalus

Here's a pic of the Jeep:

spartan99

KBB is retail. It's business 101: the dealer will pay you less than retail because that's what the dealer's price will be. Profit margins are how they feed their families and pay their bills.

daedalus

Yeah I understand about KBB being retail values...but still!

So let me rephrase my questions:

1) How much do you think my Jeep is worth?

2) How much does the Car Fax incident really affect the value? It was literally just a few scratches and dents in the plastic bumper, which was replaced with a new one.

v8zracer260z

Find out what NADA Black book is that is what most of them use. I got 20,000 from insurance when it was totaled for my 2011 that I paid 24k for it was 2 years old with 35k miles on it. We got 26,500 for our 2011 JKU when we traded it in and I thin we paid 31,000. It was 1.5 years old and had 25,000 miles on it. We could have got more but the wife let them know she had to have the F250 they had and that took away my negotiating power. You have to be prepared to play the game and walk away THEY WILL CALL YOU BACK with a better offer! I looked at a used 2013 and they wanted 27k for it and came down to 24k in two days. Be patient and visit several dealers in your area to get the best deal.

DannyMalkin

I would buy it for 18,000!! That is a lowball offer, try selling it yourself.

sgtkersh

Yes, any hit on carfax can cost you several thousand in value. Depending on the accident details listed I've seen as much as a $4k hit. They'll even look at the repair if there was body/paint work to assess the quality.

Most insurance companies when pressed will now cut a check for loss value. You have to get an assessment after the repairs, but it's normal to get paid for it then.

RoysRig

Look at it from a buyers standpoint. Your at the dealer and looking at a vehicle that looks clean but the carfax shows that there was some type of accident. It doesn't state the severity of the damage. But the dealer tells you that it was very minor. Do you believe the dealer? Of course not, they lie lie lie! So the ding on the carfax is going to make the vehicle a little bit harder to sell. Will the dealer try to sell it as if there was never anything wrong with it? Sure. Who wouldn't. But this day and age most people know to look up carfax before buying a vehicle. So I don't know that the dealer isn't that far off what other dealers would give you for it.

daedalus

Yeah I see your point about the Car Fax. Maybe I shouldn't have reported that accident since it was so minor.

Maybe I'll just keep the Jeep for now rather than taking a big hit on it. Decisions, decisions.