Found another vehicle of interest at Paul Miller Porsche. Offered to see what the trade in would be on my mint 2010 PTT with 31k miles. Could you believe they said auction prices have them around $58k!!!! I would have never guessed they've gotten that cheap. Needless to say, I'd rather stay with my PTT than give it away at that price point. Sheesh!

 

They are so full of crap!!! I was in the market to buy one a month a go. I literally looked at almost every PTT between 2010-2013 in the country. The prices of the PTTs like yours was around 75k.

It never ceases to amaze me how when you are buying a car it is so rare and worth the money and when you are trying to trade one "there are a lot of them out there" "unfortunately the auctions have driven the price down" "the new body styles have affected the price" What a dang JOKE!!!! I can't stand these STEALERSHIPS!!! They are a necessary evil. Everybody deserves to make money but at least be honest and fair on both ends of the sell and trade process. Why try to squeeze people that is why they have such bad reputations.

Lawyers and car dealers....

 

"Trade in" is the operative word.

Dealerships have to make a profit on cars they buy, so they're never, ever going to offer you what the car is worth on the open market. They're always going to offer less. The question is "how much."

For low-volume luxury cars, they want more margin, because they're going to have the car on the lot longer than a Camry. The higher the margin, the longer they can afford to keep money and lot space invested in the car.

No one is forcing you to sell to a dealer. You can always do a private sale. I've yet to find a dealer's trade in offer acceptable, so that's always the route I've gone.

The one financial advantage is that you can deduct the sales tax on the trade in - you only pay sales tax on the difference in price between the new car and the old. So if you're paying 8.8% in New York, and the dealer offers $58k, you're actually getting $63k when you include the tax discount.

A quick look at comparable cars in the NY / NJ area shows asking prices in the $70k-$75k range. Real price might be less, but I'd say you should be able to get $70k.

The question then becomes whether you think the convenience of selling to a dealer is worth $7k to you.

 

All 2010 Turbo's from Manheim auctions
11/06/14 PALM BCH$55,500 BLACK 63k
11/25/14 NEVADA$67,000 BLACK 24k
11/25/14 FT LAUD$58,000 BLACK 69k
12/18/14 Chicago $65,000 BLACK 34k
02/25/15 PALM BCH$65,500 BLACK 23k
02/26/15 RIVRSIDE$58,000 GRAY 47.5 k

 

Probably best to restrict that to cars with similar mileage. Those on your list were around $65k. $58k is still low enough to give the dealer some margin, but understandable if he's worried that he'll have to auction the car if he can't sell it.

 

Excellent points Gus. I'm well aware of the trade in tax benefits but, man, I didn't think they'd be looking to make that much of a margin especially since I was looking to trade in a Pcar and take a non Pcar off their lot. I guess I was just "in the clouds" a bit with naivety lol

 

As a former car broker, I can tell you unless you have a real good relationship with the dealer, they will always try and low ball you on an offer. That was a very low offer on your car especially if it is in the mint shape you describe.

I can tell you that most dealers will start off what they think it is worth wholesale and then try to deduct anything that it would cost to recondition. This may include new tires, paint work, touch up work, glass chip repair, leather repair, rim repair, etc. If they plan to certify the car, then you can count on an average bill of at least $2-3k from the shop, and another $2500-3000 to Porsche to certify it.

With that being said, If I were you and you have time and are willing to wait and go through the DMV process, you can certainly get A LOT more for your car.

I just reviewed manhiem auctions and there have not been many 2010 PTT sold, but the average sale was $58,700 for cars with 57miles, and $64 for cars with 31k miles. I think your car is worth somewhere in the middle.

I have thought of why the panamera's have been losing value. I think it is a combination of several factors including in no particular order ....1) The drop did start heavy when the new mercedes S class was released and I think porsche lost a lot of buyers here 2) The upcoming refresh of the body style 3) The loss of the "newness" to the car. 4) Body style not appealing to all. 5) Refresh of the 7 series a few years ago ... and others I can't remember right now. There are now many choices for luxury upscale sedans that the panamera is competing with which has also softened the market some.

This time of year that is passing (winter) is typically the worst time for car sales and the value of cars will typically lower during this time. It would not surprise me if the cars went up in value just a little bit come spring and summer.

I hope that helps some, let me know if I can share any advice/experience.

 

I would agree with everything in the post above and I would add another reason Porsche sold a lot of these cars and many buyers of these type of cars do not hold on to their cars more than 2 or 3 years. My car is not a turbo it is a 4S had a fairly high sticker (123K) and added to that was the sport design package and the AWE exhaust. I have a lot of cars and probably put 1000 miles a year on the Panamera and my dealer offered me 58k for my car (it is showroom new). I have no intention of getting rid of it since there is nothing I would want that costs 58K and even though I do not drive it often I enjoy it a lot when I do.

 

Funny, I just spoke with a friend of mine who is still in the car business, and he reminded me that this time of year (just before spring) is when a lot of tax refunds come out and he has seen an uptick in his car sales because of this. He agreed that cars seem to decrease in value during the winter months, but should now not see the abrupt drop during this "peak" car selling season which is spring through summer.

For a new panamera buyer, this is a great time to buy one of these cars because the prices have dropped and they are truly a great buy right now. I do feel the 2010's are starting to bottom out and if the mileage stays reasonable, should not see much of a huge drop for a while.

In regards to the new refresh...I don't know about anyone else, but I personally do not like the rear ends of the 2014-2015's, but do feel the suttle refresh of the front is appealing. The interior to me is the same. So, in my opinion the refresh in 2014, was minor. I have seen some spy photos of the new refresh and it does not appear to be a drastic change, but we will have to wait and see.

 

I was looking to replace my 2104PTT Executive with a 2105 GTS and found that one dealer would give just over 50%. While another local dealer would give me $19,000 more. You have to shop.

I decided I still didn't want to do as I could not find the car options I wanted but that is a huge difference in what was offered

 

Love my new to me 2010 PTT. Got out of a 2011-4 last year and couldn't believe what a deal you can get on a 2010 PPT so I bought one. It's the best of the best.