Little book of prices?

Devon

I went to a garage to look at a car and offered mine as a trade-in. The salesman pulled this little book out of his pocket which had every make and model of car, along with the value of it in today's market. He then referred to my car's value as the "book value". Anyone know what this book was?

zokrez

I think it is called the Car Buyers Sales Guide or something like that. It is issued once a month to trade by some guy in Malahide which gives the indicative price of a car taking into consideration, year, cc, make, model, mileage, extras, condition etc. Many salesmen say that they don't use it and it is more for the juniors to give them an idea. I went to a garage for a purchase and trade in and they offered me a very poor trade in value for my old car. I refer to this book and he tried to make out i was stupid by saying "WHAT BOOK ?" I pointed to the one that was at the side of his desk turned upside down which was named almost identical to the one that i just mentioned. He looked up the price but didnt take into consideration that the model was 1500 pounds dearer than the basic model etc etc. Ah but that is not the realistic price he says blah blah. I didnt buy the car based on the trade in that they were offering and I manged to sell it privately for 1500 euro more.

Owen

I'm in the trade, and that book is a huge work of fiction. Just because it says a Renault Laguna in 2002 is worth 13000 (This is also a fictional number I'm using for an example), doesn't mean I'm going to allow 13000. The Laguna, like Alfa 156's, Meganes, Vel Satis', and many other cars are worth 50% of their actual 'book value'.

I've still yet to figure out why people in this country get so hooked up on trade in prices though. Let's say for example, you're looking at Dealer (a) and he's offering you 10 grand for your car, an Dealer (b) is offering 13 grand. You assume Dealer (b) is the fairer guy, and that (a) is ripping you off, right? Not necessarily. The best bit of advice I can give someone buying a new car is not to mention the trade in at all, and ask how much it would be for a straight sale. Then introduce the trade in. If Dealer (b) says you get 4 grand off, and Dealer (a) says you get 1 grand off, than they're both having your car costing them 9 grand, and just giving you the respective allowance. In fact Dealer (b) is just adding 3 grand on to the retail that isn't there, and giving it to you back again on the trade in. And people fall for it every time, they only look at their Part Exchange price.

Simple fact of the matter is that some brands have huge margins, which equal huge trade in prices - but it's a false impression of the price you're really getting. And the book is just a 'guide' for Dealers. It does not mean because the book says 12 grand that your car is worth 12 grand.

TomMc

Yes, cost to change figure (for similar cars at least) is all that counts.

Ned the last new car I bought they were lowering my trade-in's value (on paper at least) and giving a larger discount off the new car list price to dodge an element of VAT.

This post reminds me of Arthur Daley buying a chaps Lotus. Gives him a crap price and says "The Book is highly confidential, not for the publics eyes and of course with regards residual values - It Never Lies".

tacklemore

I know that SIMI send these booklets out to their members. Generally, most salesmen/dealers won't look a price up in it in front of everyone, personal pride stops them.

G Luxel

Ive often seen that little book too. The salesman takes it out only when at his desk. Im very curious to know what is in that book. I think that there are many cars not listed and the salesman is only making the figures up.

optiplexgx270

Mom used to bring me home a copy of the book every now and then when i was younger and she worked in banking (arrears so was used for repo values). There is a new one each month (different colour each month). When i got it it was a list of all models and spec levels of each car and prices going back about 5+ years maybe more.

And about 90%+ of models were listed.

Don't mind what that book says, I bought a second hand car a while back from a dealer for €2500 (got it cheap too as I knew the sales man/owner), four weeks later I went back to them looking to trade it in as I was going to get a new one. I asked the sales man how much for my car (mate I bought my car from wasn't in that day), he said €1000, I asked him was that the sale or trade in value ? He replied that it was the sale value, I went onto tell him how much I paid for the car and he replied well whoever sold you it robbed you blind and seen you coming. Needless to say his face dropped and he didn't know what to say when i told him i'd be back the next day to tell his boss that he robbed me

prospect

I have the very book you all mention.
It is quite useful, and it is also what insurance companies use to value your car.

When I last traded in a car I was offered a crap price for it, against the car I wanted. I went back and checked the book, and did a deal later and saved myself over £1000 (irish pounds then) by inststing the dealer gave me the book value on top of the discount price for the new car.

MercMad

We used to use the book as a guide only. Its not accurate since its based upon a simple calculation where each car drops by whatever per month. The guy who sells the book is laughing all the way to the bank, since he merely adjusts his spreadsheet each month !

There are online price guides that dealers use now, but in fairness they have to start somewhere. The book doesn't take into account market trends either and you also have to be aware that if you show up in a silver Ford Focus when the garage has ten already......you wont get the good price !