Is it better to sell privately, or trade in at a dealership? The car is bone stock, and has under 30k miles on it with brand new tires.

I'm looking to get the Nismo 350z or the Lotus Elise. I want a drivers car that I can keep for years to come that will hold it's value.

 

You'll always get more money selling privately, often quite a bit more.

Have you driven an Elise? I've never thought a car could be too rough and unrefined for me not to have one as a daily driver, but the Elise is. I'm also not sure they're built to last for miles and miles, but could be wrong on this.

With the NISMO, will the difference be large enough to justify how much this trade is going to cost you?

 

Yea the Elise is extremely uncomfortable and hard to get in and out.
It's a great track car but not a daily driver.
Even thought the Nismo Z is in limited production it's not going to keep its value either.

 

If better means getting more $ from the sale, then sell it privately, if "better" means a quick and easy sale, then trade it in. I think you'd get a few thousand more by selling it yourself.

 

I've never driven an Elise, but I've heard the car described as a street legal go cart. Most likely that car just isn't practical enough for me at this point in my life. A man can dream though.

This is partly my reason for querying the board. As stated my car is an '04, good condition, and low miles, so lately I'm wondering if now is the best time for me to sell it before losing any more value. I bought the car with a 5at, and while at the time I was happy with it, lately I've been itching for the 6mt. After reading the reviews of the Nismo, and finding out its a limited edition, I figured it might be a good time to trade up. My payments are up in about 1.5 years.

I've also been looking at the new Evo. Mitsubishi seems to have improved the looks and interior quality, but as of the pre-production model, they sacrificed in the performance department. It's also a first year car with a new engine (from Mitsubishi no less) which has me worried. I know it's more practical, but I'm a huge Z-car fan.

I had a feeling about that.

 

This will be my first time selling a car. I would appreciate any opinions and advice on the subject.

Any extra money I can get will help so maybe it's best I sell privately.

 

if your going to buy an elise buy a exige its quicker but just as uncomfortable, def. not a daily driver, but a GREAT track car.

selling the Z private will get a lot you more money than tradeing it in.

 

Selling will most likely NET you more money but it will be more of a hassle.

Just something to keep in mind...

If you trade it its basically a no questions asked trade, and if you are happy with the price that they give you then its a win/win situation. Selling private party usually takes longer, and the person you deal with could be an asshat (frustrating at that).

I tried selling my last car private party but everyone wanted to low ball you with unreasonable offers...I brought it to a few dealers and had them compete for the best price on trade in value and they suprised me and offered me 1k more than what KBB was worth.

 

Plus there can be a tax advantage to trading. I don't know if this is true for all 50 states but here when you trade in the car, your trade-in value is subtracted from the new car cost then tax is figured on the balance. A 15K trade in can make a big difference in taxes if you pay 7-10% sales tax.

 

Knowing the dealers around my area they would try to shaft me as much as possible.

I guess I'll inquire about a trade-in for the Nismo first, and if the price is ridiculous I'll just sell it privately.

Do you think given my current situation that it's a good idea to go for the Nismo, or should I just wait out my payments and maybe wait for the 2009 (2011?) redesign?

 

...for an 2004 low miled Z, trade is going to be around 15k, retail is 21-22k. thats a 7k difference. id rather wait 1-2 months (if that) to sell it privately than take a 7,000.00 hit on it...no offense dude but they probibly tried to low-ball you because you had a neon, and around here anyway (were i live) SRT-4's are very common thus makeing it easy to lowball somebody because if you dont take the price they offer they will find somebody that will.

 

+1

 

That's what I thought. but I always read posts with forum members talking about trading the car in so I wondered if there was anything to it that I was missing.

Any opinions on whether selling the '04 Z for the Nismo is a good idea at this point? I feel like it's the right time, based on age, condition, mileage, and payments, but maybe emotion is clouding my judgment.

 

i wouldn't trade it in. sell it your self, that could be 7k or more you dont have to take out on a loan.

 

Find someone to buy your car and do an in-and-out.

You get tax credit on the trade-in (if your state does that), and you get the dealership to do the paperwork. Much less hassle.

Oh, the Lotus is beautiful and fun to drive, but you couldn't pay me enough to drive it on a daily basis. Terrible daily driver. Imagine everything you might dislike about an S2000 times 20.

 

You'll get more money privately, but you can sell it faster at stealerships.

 

keep it .. save your pennies.. trade in for a gtr

 

+1111 Agree, or wait for 2009 or 10 with "new" Z. Thats my plan. No way Im buying an $80,000 car, even if I could afford it. Im paranoid enough having a Z when it comes to parking, nicks, ticks, dings and scratches. I love the Z. wait for the new one if you can.

 

a. You will make arrangements to show the car on Saturday, and the buyer will never show.
b. You will get a promise from a buyer for a check on Monday. You will never see the buyer again.
c. People will look at the car. Take it for a test drive. They wont have a dime to their name.

 

Yes it can. When I traded my Z for my GTI, I got a 23,000 dollar trade credit, and I ended up paying taxes on only a few grand.