There is a 2002 SC430 at a local dealer, certified pre-owned, 14k miles.....$42,995.

I could not help but notice KBB trade in value is $36k, retail is $45k. What price should I aim for that is realistic? This car was bought new from the same dealer...so I doubt they put much money into reconditioning, etc. Also....it is getting wintertime here in the midwest, so I am hoping the fact that people aren't looking to buy convertibles now could help the price down.

I drove the car today, but because I did not have my trade-in car with me, I told the salesman I did not want to talk pricing until I had the trade-in with me and knew what they would give me for it. The salesman said the price for the SC was about right on and about as low as they could go....with the exception of maybe a few hundred. Is this the normal salesman talk? I really wanted to get the car down to $41k.....even $40k if possible. Any thoughts? Help would be appreciated.

id say go for 40k. most of the time when i help people buy cars (used) i try to tell them to go for ~2k less than what the dealer is offering if it has a warranty on it.

39k to 40k MAX. with that you are already paying them 4k to certify the car (usually about 1k) and reconditioning the car.

Yes, he mentioned the certification was good for 1k.

wierd, when we were looking for my dad's LS, (about 2 years ago this dec.) we were told that the CPO cert is ~$2k. Many dealers told us they wanted an extra $1k because we were looking for black on black >.<. (FYI, we paid MUCH less than that.)

Yes, he mentioned the certification was good for 1k.
hahaha if he told you cpo is 1k, then tell him why not sell you the car for 38k, they made 1k off you already, simple as that

btw, the actual warranty, CPO warranty cost is less than $1,000, but they will tell you it costs more because the dealer is required to clean/fix up the car before adding the CPO warranty. Why would you need to recondition a 14,000 mile car you ask? It still needs a minimum requirement of work, smog, safey, certification inspection, 15,000 mile service, detail, etc....it adds up. But I feel it's worth it to pay a little more to have them do all the work for you so you can just "drive out". You will even get a full tank of gas. Also, they have a lower interest rate for CPO cars (if you are financing), even lower than new cars. I think the special financing might be going on right now?

Good luck.