More on Autotrader

Hi All,

Due to the impending arrival of our first child, sadly, my '06 Boxster needs to go to make way for a more practical SUV. I'm weighing the options available to me for selling the vehicle: dealer trade-in, carmax or private party sale.

While I understand that a private party sale has the potential of maximizing the dollar value, I'm reluctant to go through the process of listing the vehicle, hosting tire-kickers at my home, worrying over proper handling of payment, etc. Carmax seems to be the easiest, no-haggle means for selling a car, but are their advantages to a dealer trade-in that I'm overlooking?

Would appreciate any thoughts y'all might have!

BTW, neither my wife or I are happy with the prospect of becoming Porsche-less, so we're 99% certain that the Boxster will be replace by a Cayenne. :-)

Thanks,

Dan W.

my 996 and buying an SUV (M-B GLK350) and several dealers expressed an interest in my 996 even if I didn't buy a car from them. Good used cars, even Porsches, appear to be in demand. Now I never followed through so I do not know what the actual price would have been but what I gather is good used cars are in short supply and dealers are hungry for them.

You probably won't get as much as you would from a private seller but close enough to make the difference acceptable considering you do not have to go through the hassle of selling the car yourself.

Arm yourself with private and retail sale prices from the various used car sites. Do a nationwide search for cars the same year and newer for sale and the miles and prices to get an idea of what similar cars are being listed for.

Have at the ready service records to show a prospective buyer the car was well cared for, loved even, and is worth a premium.

You are a car salesman and you need to think like one.

Good luck with the sale. And congratulations for the soon to be new member of your family.

Used cars are more in demand with the average new car price exceeding $30K, but not sure if that tranlates into sports cars. It's hard to answer your Q because there are several variables. Dealing with dealers is like squeezing a balloon. You may or may not get a decent trade in for your car, but it depends on how well you haggle the sales price of the new one, what your financing rate is (if you go that route), etc. You squeeze them at any one point, and it will effect the outcome at another. A long time ago, I inquired with Carmax about selling a car, and their price was lower than the trade-in. Once you get serious about buying the new car, take the Boxster to Carmax. I believe they give you a five-day written approval. So, then go right to the dealer and go through the buying process. You can make your decision based on when all the haggling is done, which is better, Carmax or trade-in.

Also, you can go to kbb.com and see what their trade-in estimate is of your Boxster. From what I recall, they have trade-in values and bluebook value, which is higher than trade-in value. The bluebook value is what you can expect in a private sale and the trade-in takes into consideration the dealer having to make some money on the eventual sale.

In recent years, I've been buying our cars used. About half of them from dealers, the other half from private owners with great success. Cars are crappy investments, and new ones are the worst.
I sold two Boxsters, one in 2007, and one last year. In my experience, the phone doesn't exactly ring off the wall for these cars. And you can screen potential shoppers to the extent that face to face encounters are with real qualified buyers.
I was happy to sell my Boxsters for values about 90% of dealer retail(KB, which is probably close to what a dealer typically gets.
On a 2006 Boxster, plan on netting at least $2,000 more for selling it yourself to a private buyer vs. selling to a dealer. To me, that's a nice chunk of change that's worth the extra work. If you find little interest in your car, you've only lost a little time and the cost of marketing. You can still go to the dealer to sell or trade.
I spent some time in the industry, myself. The dealers I worked for obtained inventory for the used lot through auctions, trades, and purchasing "walk-ins" who were looking to sell their ride. More often than not, inventory obtained from the public cost the dealer LESS than auction price, just sayin', be careful.

A year ago I had to sell 2 cars. I priced them based on what I thought real people were getting for the cars. Both cars were sold by 4 hours after Craigslist posting and the only reason it took so long was I live in the boonies and people had to drive 60 miles to get to me from the big city where I listed the car. No marketing expense, no fancy pictures, just a 4 line description of the cars which were in excellent condition for their age. Cash received in one case, deposit the other with check the following day.

If you trade it in, you make the deal less transparent as it is hard to tell what you are really getting for the car and how much the car you are buying really would have cost in a straight up deal.

You could use Carmax to help set a price point. And use their offer as a fallback.

was through Autotrader and it worked out very well. Several interested potential buyers called, had plenty of space to tell my story about the vehicle and post pictures--highly recommend.
When I sold the car, we met at a parking lot that was easy to find and in a very public area. When the deal was done we went right to my bank to get it notarized.
Also, think about advertising in Panorama, since I think you'll reach more Porsche enthusiasts that way.


Regarding trading a vehicle, as other posters have mentioned, you'll make considerably more money on a direct sale rather than trade-in. More hassle for sure, but the reward can be substantial.
Speaking for trades, a good friend recently traded an 05 Boxster--relatively low miles--in on another premium brand and he received something close to $23K for the trade. I called the dealership that took the car and according to a guy I know there--they sold it for nearly 29K and no CPO. Our old 06 Boxster than was traded last fall was sold as a CPO car--and if they got something close to what they were asking, I'm thinking they made close to $4K on the car, including to price to make it a CPO..

is that you do much better private party, and its not *that* bad. To minimize the hassle, consider using outlets like this one (pedro's board) and other enthusiast websites. You get more knowledgeable buyers. When i sold my last private vehicle (aside from the one a buddy bought) i got nearly zero takes from mass market ads, but lots of serious attention from Audi-specific places like Audiworld, and AudiFans. They knew what the car was, what it was worth, and some even knew me.

That last point is important. I bought a used car recently, sight unseen, from someone because i knew part of its history and trusted the individual based on past, virtual, interactions. If your car is better than average in terms of condition and maint - that's a big plus. I will pay for quality - a lousy used car can't be cheap enough to justify the impending costs.

Finally, you have ebay. You must be very up front with issues, but then, if the car matches your stated description, a buyer must take it. And no one knocks on your door before that. I could not do that, but lots do!

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

Problem is, this data is hard to obtain. You need to find a friendly dealer or someone in the industry who has access to look this up for you.

The auction price represents a price floor. In a trade-in situation, assuming the dealer will not put your used car on their used lot, the dealer will likely offer you, oh say, $150 below auction price. They then turn around and dump it at auction where used car dealers (including Porsche dealers) pick up inventory. Consumer selling price goes up from there.

Pricing your car is difficult, but this auction price will represent a data point for you to build on.

Good luck!

Bruce in Philly

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the great advice, it aligns with most of what I've been thinking about and considering.

Dan

I will give you the perspective of a potential customer. I have been looking on Autotrader for a 2009 or newer Boxster with a price less than 40,000, manual transmission, for sale by a private party. The filtering options on Autotrader make this quite easy. Also, for $25 you can run an ad with a click through option to show the Carfax on your particular car to a potential buyer. The price of a plane ticket is not a huge factor, so I am looking nationally. I am also running an ad right now for a Z3 which I want to sell, so I can see the issue from both sides. I don't know what the situation for a 2006 car might be, but there are relatively few private party Boxsters for sale nationally right now which meet my specs. If you decide to go this route, a nice DSLR camera with a good prime lens can be an asset. You can offer to email high resolution pictures to a prospective buyer as attachments. Good luck.

I did this writeup that you may or may not find useful. It's companion pieces on buying may give you a peek from the other side and help you anticipate what the buyer may be asking.

Craigslist costs nothing and covers your area quite well. Your ad should mention the "only reason I'm selling is", the maintenance history, the brand/condition of the tires, the special options that make this car unique, your opinion of its condition, "needs nothing", etc. Doesn't have to be long. Price is important. Spring is coming...perfect time to sell. Go to CarMax and get a quote and price higher.

Use autotempest.com to search craigslist for multiple cities.

And post some details here and you are sure to get opinions of what the car should go for.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2013 08:17AM by mikefocke, '01S Sanford, NC. (view changes)

One advantage of a trade-in (perhaps the only) is that you only pay State tax (at least in NY) on the difference between the sales price of the new purchase and the trade-in value of your car.

Using rough #'s if the Cayenne costs $90k and you get $25k on the trade-in you'd pay tax on only $65K - could save you a bit of $ to offset the lower price the Dealer offers on your trade.

I can't guarantee it works the same in every State.

Good luck,

Ed

Ed from Long Island (Tampa)
05S Cobalt/Blue/Blue

Hi All,

Thanks again for all of the advice, I really do appreciate the input. The deed is done, so I thought I'd report back here with a status update.

Due to time and convenience, I decided to not attempt a private party sale of my Boxster. I first went to Carmax and got a quote from them as a baseline price, which was just slightly less than I'd hoped for, but was in the ballpark.

We then went to the Porsche dealer to negotiate on a new Cayenne that was en route from Germany (actually it was already in port, just hadn't been delivered). I'm a reasonably piss-poor negotiator and without thinking let it slip as to the amount of the Carmax quote, which the dealer matched. Dumb, I know, but it is what it is.

Our vehicle arrived at the dealer last Friday and we took the Boxster for it's last drive and dropped it off at the dealer, driving home in our brand-spanking new Cayenne.

Sad to see the Boxster go, its been a fun car to own for the last 6.5 years, but I'm loving the Cayenne so far! :-) Sure, it doesn't have the wonderful sound of the engine or the cornering performance, but the 7 year leap in technology and comfort helps make up for it. And, for my needs, the performance capability of the base V6 Cayenne is sufficient to keep my smiling.

Maybe someday down the road I'll dip my toe back into the Boxster waters. :-)

Best wishes to y'all and happy motoring.

Dan W.

"A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere."

I suppose some pics are in order to finish out this thread... :-)

Last photo of the Boxster, at the dealer:


First photo of the Cayenne, after driving home from the dealer:


Dan