tjschraf

May be a bad idea but i have found a GTO i really want and if i can get what i want for my car, i will be trading it. here is the for sale link, i hope to get some interest unless its too high.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/othe...-is-350-a.html

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

Doesn't seem like a bad price. Make sure you stress for potential buyers how nice it is that the spark plugs are already done, since this is a $500-600 job at the dealership.

If you haven't already done so, I'd post a for sale thread in the CL classifieds, as well as on eBay Classifieds and maybe Craigslist. All of the above are free options and I can almost guarantee you'll get more and better hits on those pages than you will on the Cars.com and Autotrader sites you have to pay for.

If you post on CL I'd also post the dealer service history for full disclosure, as (I assume) it will show that the car has not had many if any problems.

A bit confused about the switch from an IS350 to a GTO, but it's all personal preference I guess.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

Dunno how set you are on the GTO, but I might suggest considering a G8 instead if that's the kinda car you want... lot of similarities (full size, LSx engine, etc) but the G8 fixes a lot of shortcomings the GTO had... (like the tiny trunk, the antique 4-speed automatic, the 80s-quality interior, etc...)

tjschraf

thank you guys.

I was wondering if anyone can shed light on selling a car to carmax. I have heard a lot of people speak highly of carmax pricewise. I have never been to one and am probably more than 2 hours from the closest one. How much would you think carmax would give?

M32H32IS

GM from Lexus? Eh... To each his own, but my experiences with GM have been horrific - the build quality is a major step down.

dmvp29

I noticed that the very first post on this forum was a topic asking if you should trade your IS350 in for a GTO

Just curious, why did you get the IS350 in the first place? There's pretty much nothing an IS350 and a GTO have in common other than maybe stock straight line performance.

Beyond that - these cars are night and day apart. Back in August you said you wanted to trade your IS350 in for a GTO but you thought it might be better to wait until you graduate and get a full time job. I guess your circumstances have changed since then?

LDNN

Go to Carmax and then to a few other dealers to see if they can beat Carmax's offer. Usually Carmax is fair. Unless you go to a dealer who is in need of your particular model then he may give you more.

udithadj

maybe your price is a bit steep. I bought a 2008 IS350 with Lux package and Nav (18, bluetooth, etc) with 13,000 miles for 26,600+other fees from a lexus dealer (certified pre owned) with 3 year/100,000 warranty

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

I'm not sure who spoke of Carmax being fair pricewise unless they meant on the sell side. On the buy side, their price quotes are extremely low and should only be treated as 1) a starting point for considering how much to sell your car for elsewhere, or 2) an absolute last ditch option.

When I sold my E55 a year ago, first thing I did was went to Carmax. They quoted me $16k. I listed the car on eBay and the forums and immediately got interest at $21-22k. Due to time and financial constraints I ultimately decided it would be best to trade it in toward my 350 instead of selling it separately, and the Lexus dealer gave me $19.5k for it.

So Carmax was a full $3.5k less than what the dealer ultimately took it for, and $5-6k less than what the private market would support.

I've tested this with other cars at Carmax and have gotten similar results. It shouldn't be a mystery as to why - Carmax needs to buy it from you for quite a bit less than they sell it for to make a profit after touching it up/fees etc, and what they sell it for is ultimately what the market supports. So why not just sell the car yourself for the price the market supports instead of taking the price cut at Carmax?

Say the price difference in your case is less. Carmax quotes you $16k and the market price for your car is $18k. Why not sell the car for $17k? It'll be a quick sale because it will be priced lower than everything else out there, AND you'll pocket an extra $1k over what Carmax would have paid.

So unless someone has a gun to your head and says you have to sell your car in the next hour, I would NEVER sell my car to Carmax.

tjschraf

again, thank you guys very much. Yes i did post in august about it and now that nice weather is back around, the bug has hit again. I wanted to wait til i was done with school and at this point I only have 3 weeks left. I get bored of cars very quickly and i am hopign to find one that I can actually enjoy for the long haul. If i dont sell my car for what I want that is fine because I will keep it, I love the car just want a change. SO there is a good chance I will be keeping it, in a perfect situation I would have both. additionally, I would be able to pocket the difference in the price of my is vs. a gto.

udithadj

I gave a realistic amount, but good luck with your sale

udithadj

ok man I bought it, let the time to start for bickering session with my wife

Sffd103

iTrader: (16)

not a fan of American cars but that one is fast!

pavelekPL

if i had to buy a pontiac it would be a g8 gxp for sure, much better choice + better looking.

tjschraf

the price i gave is completely negotiable though. The GTO has a lot of history and was only in production most recently for 3 years, 05 and 06 being the most significant. Built in australia!