I've had a few valuations of my car over the past few weeks from various different dealers (all who have told me they have a Skoda dealer in the group who will sell the car).

The Glasses guide price for a standard '07 Fabia vRS with 14k on the clock is £10,150, and Parker's places it at £10,395. My Skoda dealer offered me £10,500 which is fine, although I would like more considering it does have some nice options (Xenons, CD changer, cruise control, and a Parrot Bluetooth kit).

But Ford offered me £9,000! And I rang a garage up yesterday about a car and they offered me £9,250... and this was telling me *after* he'd told me the Glasses guide price!

I know full well that the attached Skoda dealers will stick it on their lots for £11,995 and sell it for £11,500-ish.

Am I being stupid, or are all these garages just trying to annoy me?

Because they are there to make as much profit for their company as they can.

By the time them pay the VAT on buying your car, then puting anything wrong with it that is not covered by warranty, tyres etc, then they have it sitting on the forecourt earning nothing until its sold.

They also have the staff wages, rent of property, upkeep etc all to come out of what ever profit they make.

Not standing up for dealers as some are real sharks, but they are not a charity and need to make a profit to survive.

Obviously, yes... but they'll be making a profit (and from the Glasses guide... a very large one) out of the car they'll be selling me, they'll make a profit selling my Fabia... so I don't see why they need to take the p*ss?

Especially when they said "this is the glasses price... but we'll give you a grand less than that".

At basic figures, that stand to be in profit of about £3,000 on the deal!

A lot of it depends on what you are p/exing it for as well.

Usually the more expensive your new purchase is, the better trade in price you are going to get.Also different marques carry differing percentage profits for the dealers, plus the time of month you are buying can make a difference if the dealer is trying to meet targets.

It's really a lottery, as at athe end of the day, the cost to change should be the deciding factor in any car purchase, irrespective of any trade in price you are offered.

It's really a lottery, as at athe end of the day, the cost to change should be the deciding factor in any car purchase, irrespective of any trade in price you are offered.

I think this is the key and if they give you a stupid px price, then make them an equally stupid offer on the car you want to buy. You need to know how much you have to change cars and stick to it

Chris

When I went searching for an Octavia vRS nearly 1.5 years ago, I went to my local Skoda dealer & they offered me £5500 for my 02 Mondeo TDI GhiaX on PX. The mondeo only cost me £5000 6mths previous, so I snapped his hand off. I signed all documents, shook his hand & off I went with a smille on my face.

I had to go back a couple of days later to pick up my vRS & the salesman collered me & pulled me to one side, he told me that he had got a rollocking, because he had only done a silver hpi check & after I had left he did a gold hpi check & only then did he find out it was a German import & he told me he should have only offered me £4000. I didn't know it was an import either & he didn't even ask me if it was, So I did quite well from the sale.

He also messed up, because we agreed before we signed all documents, that they would put 6months tax on, but he put 12months tax on:rofl:

I had ordered a vRS SE from my nearest skoda garage, and had agreed a part-ex over the phone with the salesman... he asked me to describe the car, so I did... "scratch down the drivers side, slight dent in roof, 80k, ect ect

when i got there to sign the papers for the vRS SE, he went and looked at my car, and said... "we can only offer you £1,000 less than I said on the phone, because, it has a scratch on the side, dent in the roof ect and it will cost us £1,000 to put right......"

I asked him if he ripped off all his customers like this,because I gave him all those detailes over the phone, told him to shove it, "the lying ****" and promply walked out and bought a GP sporting......

incedently in the fiat garage, he took out the price guide, and offered me the trade in EXACTLY as it said in the book! no haggling or dirty games... he was also honest, and said, "I don't want your car, but I'll try and get someone I know in the trade to buy it, If I can't I suggest you give it back to the finance company under "voluntary termination" which I did in the end, and started a new slate with the new car

I've had a few valuations of my car over the past few weeks from various different dealers (all who have told me they have a Skoda dealer in the group who will sell the car).

The Glasses guide price for a standard '07 Fabia vRS with 14k on the clock is £10,150, and Parker's places it at £10,395. My Skoda dealer offered me £10,500 which is fine, although I would like more considering it does have some nice options (Xenons, CD changer, cruise control, and a Parrot Bluetooth kit).

But Ford offered me £9,000! And I rang a garage up yesterday about a car and they offered me £9,250... and this was telling me *after* he'd told me the Glasses guide price!

I know full well that the attached Skoda dealers will stick it on their lots for £11,995 and sell it for £11,500-ish.

Am I being stupid, or are all these garages just trying to annoy me?

Does that mean your not going to try to sell your car on here???

What car were you planning on getting next Babs?

Personaly I would do a check on the T'internet of each dealer you are going to use and seei f they do have a Skoda garage as part of their group. If they do, fair enough. I f not, confront them witht the evidence and see what happens.

Try it and see, what harm could it do????

It's a problem of getting something else to run about with - I've done this the previous two times I've changed cars lol

If someone wanted to buy my car straight up, no messing about, then yes I'd sell privately. But it's a lot of hassle really!

I've been looking at 8L (up to 2003) Audi S3's, Mk2 Octavia vRS's, and Mk5 Golf GTI's, around the £14,000 mark. But it appears I'm going to have to drop my budget anyway, which rules out the Octavia and the Golf!

Personaly I would do a check on the T'internet of each dealer you are going to use and seei f they do have a Skoda garage as part of their group. If they do, fair enough. I f not, confront them witht the evidence and see what happens.

Try it and see, what harm could it do????

I've told them I know what the part ex values for both cars are, and how much they'll sell the Fabia for, to no avail!

The one S3 I looked at was advertised at £14,995. I offered my Fabia + £4,000 and they refused.

Is your fabia in saleable condition, eg clean shiny no scratches or any work they would need to carry out?

Don't forget at this time of year they don't really want to be buying cars.

I was only being offered about 4k for my passat on px deals.............as an insurance write off, I got offered £5.5K.........an extreme and unplanned incident that does solve certain aspects of the car trade-in situtation......

In all seriousness, dealers have to make a living too - just a question of how much mark-up/how greedy they are - local BMW dealers offered a mate 8K for hid 5 series a couple of years ago on buy-back........he drove past two weeks later and saw it stickered up at £13k...........greedy money-grabbing bar stewards.....

Skoda dealer bought my Octy back for £3.6K, sold it on for £4.2K....

Worst attutide I ever witnessed was an Alfa dealer - wouldn't even discuss p/x value until my dad agreed to buy the 156........we walked out.

And you can too.

Maybe hit the dealers again at the end of March......more trade-in motors knocking about.....

also, don't get too hung up on the extras you had fitted - the 2nd hand/ trade value of these is never even close to matching the original cost. It hurts, but it's true.

Is your fabia in saleable condition, eg clean shiny no scratches or any work they would need to carry out?

Don't forget at this time of year they don't really want to be buying cars.

It's perfect, aside from a tiny gash in one of the wheels. Had the interior steam cleaned today, too!

also, don't get too hung up on the extras you had fitted - the 2nd hand/ trade value of these is never even close to matching the original cost. It hurts, but it's true.

Well, obviously But they should still add more value, and make a car more saleable (which will mean more profit for the dealer!)

Well, obviously But they should still add more value, and make a car more saleable (which will mean more profit for the dealer!)

Sadly, it's negligible for 2nd values in the bigger picture -

those tasty optional alloys the dealer said set the car off really nicely might have cost you £500, but you will only see £150-£200 back if you're lucky at trade-in.

The phrase "The House Always Wins" is something all car buyers need to accept.

The offer from the Skoda dealer was a little over book value, so your apparent issue with them selling it on for £11.5k is something i genuinely don't understand. They have to make a livng and after they've taken out overhead costs such as valeting, having a mechanic go over your car and stick it on the forecourt, it could stil be sat there for a few weeks -that £1000 you seem to begrude them will soon evaporate.

it's not as lucrative as some people on this board seem to believe.

A car dealer is not there to massage a buyers ego by giving an inflated valuation.

A main-stream car wll not command a premium or make the seller in control unless demand massively outstrips supply, it's a huge fashion icon, rare or classic (BMW-Mini, Macca F1, Ferrari 246 Dino etc)

Yes, it's your car. Yes, you spent a huge amount of money to get it. A Fabia vRS doesn't match any of the criteria to justify a dealer paying significantly over the odds to get your business.

If you really want to change your car, accept that there will be a financial penalty in doing so and enjoy the new motor.

The dealer has to make a living and usually has a better understanding of the local market. Glasses guide is just that a Guide to car prices and it is not the only guide that the dealer uses. If you really want to get a feel for the true value of your car why not go to an auction and see what money they are making there.

I have no issue with them selling it for £11,500... it's jsut the fact that I know they will, but some other dealer's were taking the p*ss!

Regardless, I got £10,200 for it yesterday, and a good chunk of the car I bought, so all is well

I've told them I know what the part ex values for both cars are, and how much they'll sell the Fabia for, to no avail!

The one S3 I looked at was advertised at £14,995. I offered my Fabia + £4,000 and they refused.

Been there!! Before I saw the light and got my vRS, I had my Vectra to PX and 5k in the bank. I saw an MG ZT ex demo at a garage in Ashford, Kent. It had the BMW diesel engine 2.0 with the auto box, well specked up.

The advert in the paper stated " any reasonable offer considered ". So, I thought, 5k cash, a Vectra Elite in immaculate condition 53 plate, not bad miles, seems reasonable enough to me.....................Sufice it to say, I told the dealer where to get off and got the vRS instead :P:thumbup:

My mate part exed his Pug 106 for his current Corolla 2.0D4D

Didnt get much for it considering he even left the JVC mp3 stereo i too that his parents got him as a pressie.

i liked the Mondeo story though

Some people can get really good part-ex deals, makes good reading in what Car magazine.

When we Part Ex'd Our Old Felecia against an '03 Plate Ibiza TDi Sport (Basically same car and engine as a Fabia vRS) they gave us £750!

Bonus as I'd only paid £300 for it!!!!

Oh Yeah.....And Car Stealers try it on 'Cos they Can! There are enough Dumb People out there who'll just accept the 1st offer! Luckily most of us on here have enough know how to tell them to shove it!

Sad to say it but my mate was the same but regretted it afterwards as if he sold his old Pug 106 himself he may have been able to put a bigger deposit on his current car the Corolla D4D.

But its good to hear stories of paid x amount and got xx amount in PX value on our car against another one.

As said before extras will very rarely add value.

Found some focus LX's the same price as a higher spec ghia on autotrader.

some optional extras do help in resale values though.

IMHO extras add very little to price, but make it easier to sell.

As for why dealers try it on. Well they are a business and out to maximise profit so they will start with as much profit as possible and see if you bite.

And plenty of people will decide on the car they want then buy it at list price and accept the first trade in offer.

If nobody did this then the garages wouldn't give it a go.

Why do some shops sell coke cans for £1 and some sell it for 50p. The swines!:P

Daft as it sounds, you may find you could sell your current car to a dealer as a straight purchase for more than you would get in part exchange at another dealer, particularly if they have a customer looking for that particular car. Then buy your next car with no trade in and ask for a healthy dose of discount!

Well, I finally got a decent part-ex value, and they'd taken more off the new car, so I got a good deal

I once traded in a £140 Toyota Corrolla for £650