Trading in a vehicle unfortunately is the worst thing you can ever do. The dealers make more money off trade ins than new cars. If I tried to trade my 07 in right now they'd probably offer me 12k for it, then they'd detail it, change the oil, give it a "150 point inspection", and put it out on the lot two days later for 20k. And they probably get 17k after a price drop, and some haggling. Then the guy that bought it would think he was getting a steal!! Then tell his buddies he got such a good deal that he even managed to get them to throw in an extended warranty for $1,200 bucks!

Meanwhile the dealer just made $6,200 bucks after washing it and changing the oil.

The last time I bought a used car from a dealer they pulled out this "inspection sheet" that they did to the vehicle and tried to justify their price due to the $700 dollars in "repairs" they performed. They did an oil change (supposedly), an alignment (yet the car pulled and when I put it on the rack a week later the rear camber was off and the front toe), changed the wiper blades, replaced a bulb, and detailed it. That was $700! Basically they detailed it...and even that was done poorly.

 

I hate these repair bills they pull out to show you what they've "put into the car". Of the ones I saw when shopping in September, most had thousands in repairs. The dealer pays a fraction of that.

 

They "detailed" it. So the lot boy ran a rag with Armor-All over all the dirty bits, and ran a vaccuum through it.

 

I guess I sold my '07 at the right time. Got $5K more in the private market than a dealer offered. Granted mine had 45K miles, ML sound and comfort package (rear reclining heated/cooled seats and soft close doors and trunk).

Now I'm in a muscle car until the new LS comes along.

 

SRT!!!!!! That's a beast...

 

From a different thread I posted in, but very relevant here:

"The used car market is a jungle in terms of pricing... only wholesale auction pricing information can help.

Quick examples, I've seen cars purchased by dealers at "trade in value" in the (very high) 20Ks (think $29,000), then turned around and "retailed" for the low 40Ks (think $42,000 - $43,000), with only as much as an oil change and "auto detail" done (maybe $200 total cost).

(the details have been anonymized to protect the guilty, but we are talking about official Lexus dealers in affluent towns in the suburbs of New York City... not the "all credit approved" and "we speak your language" shops you see by the side of the road in a gritty neighborhood like Jamaica NY)

That's nearly $14,000 of "slush money" in there.... or markup, as the term goes, on a used car."

 

Yes Sir! In fact, took delivery today, ordered it on 11/7

 

looks gorgeous! Have you checked its control arms?

 

Bought my '07 two years ago with 36k miles for $25k from my mother. Traded it in on a new Accord two days ago. It had 78k miles and they gave me $17.5k for it. Saw it listed for $21,871 on the dealers website last night. That's a $4171 margin for them. Their procedure to appraise trade-ins involves taking the owner with them on the test drive while they check ALL the functions. I believe it was a good trade-in price and their asking price is reasonable for this market. I don't begrudge a merchant for making a profit. If he makes more profit, that simply makes him a better merchant so long as he operates within the law.

 

No, why should I?

 

ive noticed a price drop in them too. the early 2007-08 ones with a ton of miles and that were abused are old enough now to start showing up at BHPH lots and craigslist for $15Kish. they are moving down the food chain to owner #3.

I work in the car business. ive worked on both the sales and service of lexus. here are the trends ive seen with Ls460s.

2007
new, 85k,
1st owner, buys the car late 06 when it first comes out. keeps the car for 3 years and trades in for 2010 refresh
pre-owned, 45k on it, buyer 2 is still well off and buys car as CPO, for $48k keeps the car for 5 years, trades in at 120k miles
owner #3, car is now just south of ten years old. car has 100k+ miles on it. sells $15Kish owner #3 is a grey area. one of two things happens. the car is now too old to be a CPO so it goes to a BHPH, and owner #3 either works very hard to get the car and takes care of it and keeps it for awhile and passes it to owner #4 (usually destroys the car) or drives it into the ground.

these cars are aging, and on owner 3. sketchy time for any car.

 

What's BHPH?

Also, the drop seems reasonable to me. All cars drop as the model year flips. Also, I would think that a generational shift might have an additional impact on previous generation values.

I traded in my 2006 Acura RL. They gave me $6k (which was the high end of the estimated KBB trade in value) and I probably could have sold it for $2k more, but I didn't want to deal with the hassles.

If you think about it, the value of 2007 high-mileage LS is still good if you compare and contrast to other cars in that era. That hypothetical example is worth 100% more than my used RL, even though there was probably only a $20k (or 40%) difference in sticker price (my RL stickered for over $50k back in 2006).

So, in my opinion, that's still a good valuation considering the RL dropped roughly 85% ($52k to $8k retail) while the Lexus dropped maybe 79% (assuming a $72k sticker in 2007), a difference of 6% in valuation holding.

 

I was the exception to the rule I guess. Because I never looked at Lexus until end of 2006 when they came up with the completely new design. I am that guy who purchased it brand new in 12/2006. But I kept my car for 9 years, and it had only 45K miles when I sold it this year (2015) for under $30K. The guy who purchased my car got almost same as brand new.

 

never had the chance to own a new one. I remember when the Ls460s first came out at the end of 06. I went down to the dealership and they were closed that day. it was some dealership in Jacksonville. ill never forget standing in 39 degree rain, with my face pressed against the showroom window to get a peek at it. I remember it being dark in the showroom and I could see the car. it was black on tan. the next week I went to the dealership again and test drove one of them. fun times.

 

Prices varies but no low prices in my area except for the high mileage 460 and they are still priced too high.