I went to buy a car today

[marine one]

Someone help me out with this.

These are actual close figures.

I wanted to buy a GMC Acadia (sticker MSRP price was 37K), I offerred 33K. I then told them I wanted to trade in my 04 Chevy Tahoe with 35K miles, good condition. I wanted 18K for it, I still have 14K to pay for it. They came back and offerred a little over 14K, 14,400 infact.

What should the actual purchase price of new vehicle be. I told them I'd write them a check for 29K plus my tade in - bottom line is I didn't buy the car because they were being jerks....can someone help me figure this out

[lamehonda]

I usually just hit edmunds.com and make them hit the gap between the two cars and then some.

[dealerguy]

without knowing more about your trade, the offer's not terrible. I can see Manheim auction values for this car and for a 04 chevy tahoe 2wd 4.8ls with 35K on the east coast is going for avg. $14.8K. If in good condition, your car is probably something they'll want to try and sell on their used car lot if they can get it on trade cheap enough. Dealers want to pay below auction / blue book / black book / galves / nada values so they at a minimum won't lose money if they have to wholesale the car.

All that said, its a negotiation, and they know it. So go back and ask for more, can't hurt.

[bloard]

Or, head to another dealer with those figures in hand and begin the process of playing one against the other. It's hard for a salesperson to argue against a better deal that you already have in-hand.

[lamehonda]

I have always wanted to try that but never lived in a place that had the car I wanted at two dealers. I'll have to try that when I start shopping for my '08 STI