SUV Trade In Value?

[Peter Pirate]

Inspired by the "whining SUV drivers" thread, I wonder what is the status of trade in's of SUV's? I mean, I know the car makers are dying but there must be a glut of the big boys, right? What would I get if I wanted to trade my 04 Yukon Denali XL right now? Is it basically an "assume the position" type deal or are the the car companies dealing in anything because times are tough? Any knowledge or thoughts?

 

[Christine]

Inspired by the "whining SUV drivers" thread, I wonder what is the status of trade in's of SUV's? I mean, I know the car makers are dying but there must be a glut of the big boys, right? What would I get if I wanted to trade my 04 Yukon Denali XL right now? Is it basically an "assume the position" type deal or are the the car companies dealing in anything because times are tough? Any knowledge or thoughts?

I think it's an "assume the position" type deal. I noticed that they are giving a LOT of incentives on SUVs that are new at this point. I'm sure they don't even really want used ones.

 

[poohandwendy]

Yeah, I would definitely say 'assume the position'...

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Yep. That is exactly why I have to bite the bulllet and keep my trailblazer for 2 more years until it is paid off. We owe about $9000 on it, but last fall when I was looking at a Saturn they didn't even want to trade it in. They said they'd "call around" and see if anyone wanted it, but they never called back. They wanted me to sell it myself, but a week in the paper brought only calls Trading Post looking to list it. DH said he's sorry I'm unhappy, but we have to keep it until it is paid off, or the payment for whatever we get will probably go up, not down--even though kelley blue book says it's worth $11,200, we'll never get that out of it. If it is paid off in 2 years, we'll at least get $4-5000 for it on something else.
In the meantime we SUV owners just have to keep them maintained to keep the mileage up. Check your tire pressure, replace that air filter (mine was gross and when I replaced it I got 2-3 more MPG), don't do rabbit stops and starts, etc. I'm getting about 15 MPG now.
Robin M.

 

[Peter Pirate]

Well, I guess I'm lucky in the sense that mine is paid for so we've been looking at the gas prices as nothing more than what we'd normally be paying in car payments...Sure we'd like to have the extra cash, but...

We had some carpet layers over the other day and one of them told us (out of the blue) that he'd really love to buy our car if we ever sold...Maybe I'll give him a call if I get serious, but still I wouldn't know how to go about setting a price and if I did sell, I have no idea what I'd buy next!

 

[Dan Murphy]

......What would I get if I wanted to trade my 04 Yukon Denali XL right now? Is it basically an "assume the position" type deal......

Ahhh, yes, I would assume it.

 

[Caradana]

On the flip side, I just traded in my 2000 Dodge Neon, average shape, 64K miles, and they beat the Kelley Blue Book value by $1200 to seal the deal. Apparently there is a huge market for lightly-used gas-efficient little cars right now.

 

[vettechick99]

Inspired by the "whining SUV drivers" thread, I wonder what is the status of trade in's of SUV's? I mean, I know the car makers are dying but there must be a glut of the big boys, right? What would I get if I wanted to trade my 04 Yukon Denali XL right now? Is it basically an "assume the position" type deal or are the the car companies dealing in anything because times are tough? Any knowledge or thoughts?

You can go to Edmunds.com and do a True Market Value. Obviously a private sale would be more profitable than trading. When I sold my Tahoe two years ago I got $6k more from a private sale than what Carmax offered me. I took that money and ran!

I would also say that you are probably better off than most SUV owners because a Denali is high-end. People who would buy one know that and probably don't care much about the mileage.

One last thing, I didn't see where you are from, but SUVs like yours will never go out of style in the south, I don't care how much gas is. Except for me and DH, I don't know one person who doesn't have a large truck or SUV. You want to sell it? Park your truck in any parking lot around south GA and it'll sell in a weekend.

 

[floridafam]

SUV's are still selling well down her.

Go to www.kbb.com and they should tell you.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

.One last thing, I didn't see where you are from, but SUVs like yours will never go out of style in the south, I don't care how much gas is. Except for me and DH, I don't know one person who doesn't have a large truck or SUV. You want to sell it? Park your truck in any parking lot around south GA and it'll sell in a weekend.

Same here! Around here, there is NO decrease in people wanting SUVs. Most people have one, and many around here have two (well not me, we have two small stick-shift Hondas). SUVs are still king of the road, especially the super large ones. Tahoes, Highlander, Suburbans, Envoys, Land Cruisers etc - everyone has to have one. These people won't think twice about the gas prices, as they can afford it. I am always surprised reading posts about SUVs becoming less desirable and losing value, since I don't see it!!

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

My friend tried to see his Yukon XL on ebay and on Autotrader. He was asking much less than the private party amount on Kelley Blue Book and only got ONE offer from a dealer who wanted it for about $4K less than he was asking. The car is immaculate and well-maintained but it is a huge gas hog. It also doesn't have 4WD which I think hurt him since he was trying to sell it in NY in the winter.

He just decided to keep it for now and drive his beat up Jeep Cherokee and pray that gas prices come down.