How do you guys figure out how good of a deal a given car may be? Duke, I'm looking at you in particular because god damn I'm envious that you somehow manage to find toys and use them for a couple/few years and then make profit on them.

And I suppose I'm talking about combing through everything online to find something that from pictures and descriptions look like it may be a good deal before you go to see it? Are nada/kbb worth a damn these days?

I have access to the Statesville auction so I could use that for pricing as well.

11/20/2010 11:37:17 AM

umm

you buy them cheap and sell them for profit. anyone can do it if you're not stupid.

11/20/2010 11:39:53 AM

nada, kbb, craigslist, ebay

11/20/2010 2:33:45 PM

^ !

11/20/2010 2:47:40 PM

If I am shopping for a car that I know nothing about....I typically search on autotrader and cars.com with mileage/years criteria. Search radius: entire country. Then i sort by price and go to the very last page. I pick few cars that aren't sold as salvage or crashed and that is the absolute highest price I will pay.

After some time you learn to recognize what's a good deal without doing the above. I also have this weird thing, where it is really hard for me to enjoy the vehicle if I overpaid for it or if it costs a lot ...right now that price is anything over 20g. I'm a cheap bastard basically...

[Edited on November 20, 2010 at 3:00 PM. Reason : f]

11/20/2010 2:57:52 PM

You must also learn how to be a jew

11/20/2010 4:12:41 PM

"Everything is worth what a purchaser will pay for it."

11/21/2010 10:09:28 PM

^^ winnar

11/22/2010 6:43:36 PM

Check craigslist/autotrader/ebay religiously for a few weeks. Watch what people are asking. Learn to smell the desperation. Show up in person with cash, make ridiculously low offers with a smile. What's the worst that can happen, you piss off a stranger?

11/22/2010 7:03:48 PM

it also helps if you have a background in most things automotive.

11/22/2010 10:40:31 PM

kbb estimates are way too high
nada is more reasonable, but still seems high.
i like edmunds because they have more options for each car
galves is what all the bmw forum rats use, and supposedly it's what most of the auctions and dealers use. but of course you have to pay for it.
http://www.galves.com/t-galvesbfDifferent.aspx

in general i use edmunds and galves the most...plus some of the 1in10^9/Autotrader method

11/23/2010 11:35:48 AM

Most dealers go by NADA, which is usually the highest. The only thing you can really assure yourself is that you're not getting a deal if you're paying NADA or higher.

11/23/2010 11:41:56 AM

Edmunds TMV

Shoot, if I could get NADA on one of my cars right now on a trade, I'd do it in a second. Almost 7k to the positive (which I know there's no way in hell)

[Edited on November 23, 2010 at 12:28 PM. Reason : ]

11/23/2010 12:26:03 PM