What should I expect to pay...

[matt28]

...for a good condition 30-40k mile 98/99/00 chim 500 from a dealer?

And would a 450 be much different in price?

Thanks

[matt28]

Help please PM me if you'd rather not talk prices on the board.

Thanks

[Meatball]

Matt, Take a look at the classifieds
should get an idea from those.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

1) £14k?
2) Not much difference in price, but you'll be forever wondering what if?

[Meatball]

2) Not much difference in price, but you'll be forever wondering what if?


[/quote]

Spot on

[S7Paul]

I guess the reason that no-one's responded is that it's not easy to just give you a price, there's potentially quite a difference between a 1998 & 2000 car. I suggest you trawl through the ads on PH, on the Autotrader website, and in eBay classifieds, and just make a note of model, year, mileage & price. That should give you a good idea of the current values. The 500 doesn't usually command a much higher price than a 450, and unless you really have to have a 500, I would keep your options open. They're all plenty quick enough. Also, bear in mind that the price a dealer has on the screen isn't necessarily what they'll sell it for; they always have some margin for negotiation. I know for sure that there are some cars on dealers forecourts that have been there for over 6 months.

Typical, in the time I took to reply, others beat me to it!

Edited by S7Paul on Friday 8th June 22:11

[matt28]

Meatball said:

Matt, Take a look at the classifieds
should get an idea from those.

I did take a look there first, but could only find two trade 500s and both were at the same dealer so wanted to make sure that the price was about right.

I have since searched on autotrader within 100 miles of me and have found a further 4 and prices seem to vary quite wildly from 12k-18k, and the lower mileage and newer examples aren't always the most expensive.

Little confused at the moment

Edited by matt28 on Friday 8th June 22:16

[matt28]

Interestingly enough, there are heaps of sub-£10k 400s around. I have read on other threads that dropping a 400bhp yank lump in would cost around £5k. Which makes things VERY intersting.

Would a sub-10k dealer 400 be a really ropey example, or do the good example 400s genuinely sell this cheaply (as I've seen plenty of 400s for over 15k too).

Thanks

[matt28]

S7Paul said:

Also, bear in mind that the price a dealer has on the screen isn't necessarily what they'll sell it for; they always have some margin for negotiation. I know for sure that there are some cars on dealers forecourts that have been there for over 6 months.

What sort of negotiation margin is typical? Does a part-ex affect how much you can negotiate by? Suppose the car was up at the dealer for £15k, and you had a car which they valued at £3,500, meaning £11,500+part-ex. What should I typically offer the dealer (or ask to be knocked off) in this case without offending them?

Sorry for all the questions - only I've owned my current car for the past 8 years, and have only had one car prior to that, so have NO clue what dealer negotiation etiquette is.

Thanks everyone for all the replies by the way

[UpTheIron]

matt28 said:

Interestingly enough, there are heaps of sub-£10k 400s around. I have read on other threads that dropping a 400bhp yank lump in would cost around £5k. Which makes things VERY intersting.

Would a sub-10k dealer 400 be a really ropey example, or do the good example 400s genuinely sell this cheaply (as I've seen plenty of 400s for over 15k too).

Thanks

You could get a perfectly serviceable 400 for £10k. But to do the yank transplant properly would cost you a lot more than £5k in parts alone...engine, g'box, brakes, custom manifolds, new shocks/springs (old ones likely to be tired) etc etc

[S7Paul]

matt28 said:

S7Paul said:

Also, bear in mind that the price a dealer has on the screen isn't necessarily what they'll sell it for; they always have some margin for negotiation. I know for sure that there are some cars on dealers forecourts that have been there for over 6 months.

What sort of negotiation margin is typical? Does a part-ex affect how much you can negotiate by? Suppose the car was up at the dealer for £15k, and you had a car which they valued at £3,500, meaning £11,500+part-ex. What should I typically offer the dealer (or ask to be knocked off) in this case without offending them?

Sorry for all the questions - only I've owned my current car for the past 8 years, and have only had one car prior to that, so have NO clue what dealer negotiation etiquette is.

Thanks everyone for all the replies by the way

Without wishing to upset anyone, it does seem that quite a few '98 cars are selling privately for £10500 to £12000. It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that a year's warranty from a dealer could be worth up to £2K, so that gives you around £12500 to £14000 dealer price. As for part-ex, it's not so much a case of what the dealer is offering you, it's what the car is worth, so get a good idea of the value of current car first. Trade in offers are often an insult. So, in summary, have a look at as many Chims as you can. When you see one you like, work out how much you'd be prepared to pay for it (based on others that you've seen), and, if you doing a trade-in, subtract the true value of your car. Then, take about £500 off and start the negotiation from there. Don't worry about offending car dealers, the worst they can do is say no.