Trade-in values

[woyster_h3]

I really don't want to get rid of our H3 but it is looking more and more like I am going to have to. We bought our H3 a little over 6 months and 6500 miles ago. We put a hefty down payment on it and have loved every minute of owning it. About a month after we bought it we found out that we were pregnant (no big deal...that is what we were planning on) with TWINS (BIG DEAL!). Looking into daycare costs and everything else for children, it just doesn't make sense for my wife to continue working (almost all of her after-tax paycheck would go to daycare) but without her income we cannot afford the H3 payment.

SO, this weekend we went out looking for something with a much less expensive per month payment and I was shocked by how little dealerships are willing to give us for trading-in the still VERY NEW H3. As we all know, a new one just like mine is a little over $36k. The highest bid I got was $27,000. I knew I was going to have end up with a loss but $9k?!? The thing still smells new! This $27k bid was even from a Hummer dealership. I got all kinds of excuses. One dealership said that some rental car company had just bought a bunch of them and they were flooding the market. Another said that because it was a first year car the going rate at auction was very low so they couldn't offer me any more than that.

Am I wrong, but they are just going to slap a $33,000 sticker on the windshield and it is going to sell to the first yahoo that sees it.

Sorry for the long post but I am just floored with what I found out and thought I would share. Even Hummer won't stand behind their own vehicle. Does anyone have any ideas?

[woyster_h3]

I really don't want to get rid of our H3 but it is looking more and more like I am going to have to. We bought our H3 a little over 6 months and 6500 miles ago. We put a hefty down payment on it and have loved every minute of owning it. About a month after we bought it we found out that we were pregnant (no big deal...that is what we were planning on) with TWINS (BIG DEAL!). Looking into daycare costs and everything else for children, it just doesn't make sense for my wife to continue working (almost all of her after-tax paycheck would go to daycare) but without her income we cannot afford the H3 payment.

SO, this weekend we went out looking for something with a much less expensive per month payment and I was shocked by how little dealerships are willing to give us for trading-in the still VERY NEW H3. As we all know, a new one just like mine is a little over $36k. The highest bid I got was $27,000. I knew I was going to have end up with a loss but $9k?!? The thing still smells new! This $27k bid was even from a Hummer dealership. I got all kinds of excuses. One dealership said that some rental car company had just bought a bunch of them and they were flooding the market. Another said that because it was a first year car the going rate at auction was very low so they couldn't offer me any more than that.

Am I wrong, but they are just going to slap a $33,000 sticker on the windshield and it is going to sell to the first yahoo that sees it.

Sorry for the long post but I am just floored with what I found out and thought I would share. Even Hummer won't stand behind their own vehicle. Does anyone have any ideas?

[angelus]

That's the number I was quoted. I love my H3 but was just interested in what the trade in value would be ao I went to my local Hummer dealership and for a fully loaded, 6k miles I was told $27,000 was the most they could give me.

[fourfourto]

Try a local paper,ebay, free online car add,pay it off with a longer personal loan and lower payments.Take a equity loan on house.Sell it to a rich relative.Dont go on vacation and use money to make payments.Have your wife work part time and get friend, parents, aunt/uncles to watch the babys.Get a 2nd job.Have you wife find a job with daycare.There are many ways Keep the truck.

[nmikes]

Thats odd... when I was looking at leasing, the dealership gauranteed, the vehicle would be worth 24 grand ball park... and that was after three or four years at 15k miles per. 27 isn't that much more and yours is new... I smell a rat.

[phantom2]

That price seems just about right to me.When you trade a new car,you always take a beating on it.I've done that several times and believe me it is painful.Try selling it yourself and you should do much better.

[Mike E]

Trade in values are still down due to all the new car incentives. Doesn't matter what you have, it'll cost you to trade in. My suggestion, sell it yourself or try Carmax.

[thedieter]

I am hoping that you don't have to sell it!

Best regards and Merry Christmas

[RMST]

Try and sell it on your own. If not cut expenses somewhere else. You're going to get whacked when you try and resell any car 6 months after you buy it. Why don't you pay(over) as much as you can on the loan until the babies arrive and then refinance

[xburbman]

It's just business. Supply and Demand. If you sell it yourself (not to a dealership), you will probably get 10-15% more than selling it to a dealership. Just put a "for sale' sign on it and drive it to work for a couple of days and you will get calls. All of the reasons that have attracted you to the H3 will attract those who are interested. Dealerships have to make margin or they will be out of business. There is a slight tax advantage to 'trading in' your vehicle, but in the long run you'll make more $ by selling it yourself. Just my opinion.

[HumbleAg]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by woyster_h3:
Even Hummer won't stand behind their own vehicle. Does anyone have any ideas? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Each Hummer dealer is an independent businessman, so the statement above really isn't fair. Hummer doesn't set the price of used vehicles, the dealers do.

That said, as someone states above, you really can't expect to buy a new vehicle and trade it in in 6 months without taking a beating. Especially true since the H3 was probably purchased at MSRP and the dealers are now discounting a bit. The dealer might be able to sell yours for $30k (or a bit more), but why would he when he can sell a brand new one, make more money, and have an easier time financing it?

I know I'm not helping much, but I've been in the position several times (not with twins coming but wanting to get rid of a new vehicle) and it is tough. Carmax is an option, but don't expect them to give you too much more, they still have to compete with the new ones.

Good luck, I hope you can work it all out.

[x-humm]

I'd say that the high should be around 33K with low mileage, fully loaded and the low should be around 29K with more mileage. Of course Dealer is going to give you the lowest they can get away with, that is their bussines. That is how they make their money. (Buy it from you for 27k and sell it for 33k to 35k). That what happened to me when I went to trade in my 04 lexus. they wanted to give me 27k because of high mileage. I sold it private party for 33K. Ebay is the same thing. They'll go low.

You're best bet is private party or this forum

good luck.

see attached link for details on pricing, you'll know what I mean.

http://www.cars.com/go/search/fs_search_results.jsp?tra...ecycler&aff=recycler (http://www.cars.com/go/search/fs_search_results.jsp?tracktype=usedcc&amp;searchType= 21&amp;cid=&amp;dlid=&amp;dgid=&amp;amid=&amp;cname=&amp;zc=91739&amp;makeid=3 63&amp;modelid=7911&amp;pageNumber=0&amp;numResultsPerPage=50&amp; largeNumResultsPerPage=0&amp;sortorder=ascending&amp;sortf ield=SORT_INDICATOR+ascending%2CPRICE+descending&amp;c ertifiedOnly=false&amp;criteria=K-%7CE-%7CM-_363_%7CD-_7911_%7CN-N%7CR-150%7CI-1%2C3%7CP-SORT_INDICATOR+ascending%2CPRICE+descending%7CQ-ascending%7CZ-91739&amp;aff=recycler&amp;aff=recycler)

[MyxH3]

EBAY IT http://www.elcova.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[BABHUMV]

When I first went to buy my H3, I had a 2004 fully loaded Murano. Payed 32k for it 10 months prior, had less than 8k on it. The dealer would only give me 21k for it. OUCH. And after 2 hours of haggle they only came up $500. I did not get the H3 that day. Finally sold it Private party and got 26k for it to 1st person that came up with close to what I wanted. I wanted my Hummer bad. But Private party brought a whole bunch more. You will always suffer with the dealer. If you run the value in Kelly Blue book, http://www.kbb.com, plan on getting 2 or 3k less than their predicted trade in value. Good Luck, and I agree It will make a great baby hauler. Don't sell it if you can.

[fxanimator1]

I would agree with most everone, try to sell it yourself. Dealers are....well, dealers, they don't have their reputation for nothing. H3 are still a little hard to find, so I think you would do well selling it on your own.

[Humden]

That's why I leased, so I don't have to deal with this depreciation.

[Steve - SanJose]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Humden:
That's why I leased, so I don't have to deal with this depreciation. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yea but depreciation is built into the monthly lease payment, so you pay as you go. And trying to get out of your lease will cost just as much or more than what woyster_h3 is trying to do. Very expensive and bad economics.

[fxanimator1]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve-SanJose-H3:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Humden:
That's why I leased, so I don't have to deal with this depreciation. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yea but depreciation is built into the monthly lease payment, so you pay as you go. And trying to get out of your lease will cost just as much or more than what woyster_h3 is trying to do. Very expensive and bad economics. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Very true, think of it this way, if leasing was to the customers advantage, they wouldn't offer it.

[DarthKarl]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Humden:
That's why I leased, so I don't have to deal with this depreciation. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Of course you do! In fact that’s all you’re doing.

What do you think a lease is? You are financing the anticipated depreciation of the vehicle rather than the cost of the rig.

With no equity to work with, try to get out of that situation early. Read your lease agreement about termination. You would get totally and completely hosed.

[gc2488]

Speaking of ebay, I no longer see a way
to search for "finished" entries --
I want to see what Hummer H3s have sold for.

I think I used to be able to search for finished
sales using the ebay advanced search,
after logging in. Is there still a way to
search for finished items and see what items
sold for?

[Humden]

It's not bad economics it was what fit my budget. I know I won't keep it for more than two years because I'll want to upgrade when newer models come out. And I did a one payment lease for $12,400, so it was the cheapest way to get a great vehicle and I don't have any monthly payments. I would probably be upside down if I bought it and wanted to sell it in two years anyway being a first year model. I also don't have to deal with selling it privately or dealing with dealers low ball offers as a trade in. Less stress for me. To me it makes sense. It might not to you but everyone's different.

[gc2488]

OK, I noticed the "Completed items" button
on the eBay Advanced Search page, and with it
I found some complete H3 transactions.

I see ony 12 Hummer H3s successfully sold on eBay.
They sold from from $27,000 to $38,000.

[HummerNewbie]

Pros and cons of leasing really depend on the situation. For some people leasing makes much better financial sense while others the only way to go is buying. I used think I would never lease a vehicle but have actually done it a few times now and there was definite upside to going that route for me.

[DarthKarl]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Humden:
It's not bad economics it was what fit my budget. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Leases can, and do, work well in some situations. Leases are not necessarily better or worse than an outright new purchase. If you always turn over cars in two or three year cycles, leases might work in your favor in the long run.

But don't fool yourself that somehow you have avoided the depreciation problem that comes with owning a new vehicle. Rather you have squarely jumped right into the middle of the fact that new vehicles depreciate like crazy.

Your $12,400 payment is mostly the cost to the leasing company for the reduced value of the H3 in 2 or 3 years. If you understand what you are getting into, and can live with all the terms of the lease, then a lease can be a fairly good method to always have a new car. But many consumers get screwed big time by leases, car companies love leases since they can make some pretty big profits.

[shipbldr]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by gc2488:
Speaking of ebay, I no longer see a way
to search for "finished" entries --
I want to see what Hummer H3s have sold for.

I think I used to be able to search for finished
sales using the ebay advanced search,
after logging in. Is there still a way to
search for finished items and see what items
sold for? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ebay made this change because they are now in the business of selling "research data" on finished auctions...