Interesting view. Let's hope it's not the case (not saying it's not !)...but I'd be hoping to get a bit more than the figure your %'s suggest.

Whenever you value your own car take the worst you can think of, take a bit off and be happy if you get more!

Parkers used prices are not accurate, Glass' Guide/CAP are what trade use.

Interesting view. Let's hope it's not the case (not saying it's not !)...but I'd be hoping to get a bit more than the figure your %'s suggest.

I'm afraid it's going to be pretty accurate. 20% is VAT remember, so you have to take of 20% before you even get to what the dealer is getting. A warranty is probably going to cost them £150, salesmen to pay, rates, building costs, any maintenance, advertising etc then a bit for profit. Knocking 25% off a dealer price to get your trade in value is probably being optimistic.

The last few dealers I've spoken to haven't been so keen on Glasses prices. They've rated the CAP valuations which have been wildly different from Glasses. Last time I was valued on both the difference was £1500. They obviously went with the lower valuation which was CAP in that case.

A VAT registered trader doesn't add VAT on to the cost of a private vehicle received as part-ex or purchased. They only pay VAT on the profit. So if they paid £10,000 in part-ex and sold it for £11,000, then the £1,000 would be subject to VAT.

When looking at purchasing, I saw some private sellers demanding the same price as traders However the average appeared to be around 15% below trader price, which itself was around 5% lower than CAP in most instances.

A VAT registered trader doesn't add VAT on to the cost of a private vehicle received as part-ex or purchased. They only pay VAT on the profit. So if they paid £10,000 in part-ex and sold it for £11,000, then the £1,000 would be subject to VAT.

When looking at purchasing, I saw some private sellers demanding the same price as traders However the average appeared to be around 15% below trader price, which itself was around 5% lower than CAP in most instances.

Ah. Didn't know that. Certainly skews prices in my mind now. Bit unfortunate that 20%+ still seems to about right.

Ah. Didn't know that. Certainly skews prices in my mind now. Bit unfortunate that 20%+ still seems to about right.

It appears most people are scared to buy or sell privately these days anyway :'(

I paid £9950 though offset £4k p/x for my knackered 1.6TDCi focus for a 46k 06 plate 2.0 TFSI. It's got 18" alloys, dual zone climate, not sure about any other options (what exactly is a jumbo box?!) Came with 12 months used approved warranty, has a fdsh, serviced with new cam belts, refurbed alloys, 4 brand new tyres, 6 months VED. I guessed it wasn't the cheapest around but I know the dealer I bought it from though other friends so I know the car was and will be looked after well.

I paid £9950 though offset £4k p/x for my knackered 1.6TDCi focus for a 46k 06 plate 2.0 TFSI. It's got 18" alloys, dual zone climate, not sure about any other options (what exactly is a jumbo box?!) Came with 12 months used approved warranty, has a fdsh, serviced with new cam belts, refurbed alloys, 4 brand new tyres, 6 months VED. I guessed it wasn't the cheapest around but I know the dealer I bought it from though other friends so I know the car was and will be looked after well.

As long as you was happy with the deal thats all that counts, people will always find a cheaper one but there are also dearer ones out there too.

Personally I always value my cars (if selling) at Auction Price (what dealers give you as trade in price) and add

a certain % on for a private sale. - Its always worked for me and sold 3 of my cars to the first buyer within 2 days of advertising.

Last one 3 years ago was an Impreza UK 2.0 Turbo AWD 2001 (X reg), trade in was 3800, sold private for 5300. A 40% increase over trade in.