Yes, you are correct that they will ask for the VIN. VIN confirms year of the car (customer could be wrong verbally). VIN will also confirm certain trims. For example, a Ford Taurus LX is a 52, SE is a 53 and an SES is a 55. The VIN will confirm the trim. Anyone can change a badge. So, a good used car manager will get the VIN to confirm the trim, year, etc. for appraisal. Also, in trucks, the VIN will confirm if it is a 4X4 or not. So, there are many reasons a VIN is asked for.

I agree, sometimes a nice dealer will call another dealer to try to get more $$. My Lexus dealer did that on my 2004 TL with an Acura dealer. But, they did not check my service records.

Lastly, a red flag to any dealer is a customer trading in a car that is only a few months old and has very low miles. They figure something is wrong.

 

bob, sounds to me like your infiniti dealer needs some other sources to get bids on highline cars, like a non-lexus dealer who doesnt have access to the natl service history. calling the local dealer sometimes helps, sometimes not. another example is sometimes the book can be artificially high on a certain model if some incentives just came out. the new car franchise dealer will know this and hit the car lower than someone who doesnt know and just looks at the book.

have you tried getting a bid from someplace like carmax?

 

MD, what your saying makes sense. When we bought our 350, after we agreed on the new car price price and were working on the trade-in value, the Lexus dealer didn't check service records at all. We had the title on the trade-in and that was important to the dealership. A couple of dealer employees test drove the car and that was it. In fact, we were going to leave due to the initial low ball offer on our trade. After that, they re-evaluated the trade and came up with an offer we thought was fair.

 

also to add, if i get called on a lexus i do ask for the VIN and i do pull service records. i use this to confirm equipment on the vehicle, color, etc. also look at service records to see how it has been maintained and figure how much i will need to spend in order to certify the vehicle. if looking up an rx300 i will commonly check for short block replacement due to sludge. the es350 trans is not something i would normally check for.

trans issue in the svc dept will not show on carfax unless it goes into buyback issue. buyback is also something that has to be announced at the auction, and dealers from certain states (like alabama) cannot bid on buyback units in the auction lanes.

 

That is a typical senario. They will always shoot low, some customers will say yes and take the low offer. Others will negotiate. The goal is to make it a win/win for everyone.

 

jj,

That and you could see if the car had needed body work et al.

I knew dealers valued their own manufacturer trade figure based on service records from my own experiences here and because i have a friend who is a MB sales manager and he said that is the way it is done. Not sure if it was industry wide but from your input seems a pattern.

Also, oddly it is also to confirm you actually own the car you hauled in to trade as another reason they send VIN over.

 

Yeah, it did not help me at all that the Lexus dealer was called and provided VIN, though he-Infiniti guy was really trying to get top dollar for me.

That and sales guy shared with me he was told my car had issues----they find this negative crap out from each other when they react to each others offers--- so after that it would not have mattered who was willing to give what the sales manager was suspicious of my car

That is what people don't realize about these issues they bring to service that are not resolved or classed as normal, sooner or later it will bite them $$$$ and you cannot blame any dealer over it because absent issues looking at service history is the way business is normally done.

I don't blame the dealer making offer having seen the issues that former car had on it's service record, heck even the Lexus dealer that bailed me out said he'd have to auction it with acknowledgements whatever that means due to he could not possibly and would not sell it on his lot as a pre-owned, the missing weld I think was the straw for that or maybe just the transmission.

jj, right or wrong my newer one has a spotless service hsitory

After what happened to me on former one where trade value went through floor after Lexus dealer input from VIN I KNEW not to set foot into a service bay and report anything unless there was an absolute fix for these otherwise desribed normal characteristics.

 

J.J. How many times out of 100 would you say that you lower a customer's trade value based on its service history? How many times would you increase its value based on a fantastic history? Just wondering how prevelent this is, because I'll watch my vehicle's history in the future.

 

[QUOTE=MD350;2464491

Lastly, a red flag to any dealer is a customer trading in a car that is only a few months old and has very low miles. They figure something is wrong.[/QUOTE]


I keep forgetting to thank you for providing auction numbers, so thanks MD.

Yeah, that is the other problem, MB friend told me that would be a red flag to any manufacturer, that and he said you cannot lie so you are screwed Bob...LOL.

 

Anytime....

 

99 out of 100

its all based on reconditioning, service is just another aspect as far as i am concerned. car needs a windshield, deduct $300. car needs tires, deduct $600. car needs a 30k service, deduct $500. ETC. if a car has a perfect service history, i am willing to add for those things. it makes it easier for my salespeople to build value in that pre-owned vehicle if i can show the customer who is considering this CPO unit where the previous owner had their vehicle in my service dept like clockwork, so i am willing to reward that previous owner on their trade value.

i do the same thing when buying from the auction. i get the pre-run list, start crossing out cars based on miles, color, etc, then i go and pull service histories to find out how much i will have to spend in the shop.

 

LOL..you are such a rat j/k

That's the way to do it so you don't end up getting a surprise and losing money.

Wonder how much my spotless service record ES350 would fetch?

 

sorry, let me rephrase that, i just re-read the question. i will use the service history 99 times out of 100 to EVALUATE the customers trade value, not just lower it, but raise or keep it even as well.

 

bob, i wouldnt even consider trading yours in right now since you finally got your hands on a "good" one!

 

Interesting, so it does pay to have the car serviced at the dealer vs a private shop IF you follow the service schedule. The service history is right there. Thanks for the insight.

We (the lenders) should start to look at that when we advance, after all we own the car for 60 months...