Dealer trade in vs Manheim auction prices
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Depends on what the dealer intends to do with the trade - if he's going to keep on his lot and sell he may offer you more than Manheim (probably not though). If he intends to ship the car off to auction you might get near Manheim less any auction fees and transportation he'll incur. Like any info, Manheim is just an indicator. Trades are tricky business - dealer will give you MSRP discount but low ball the trade or if he's firm on MSRP you might get the "discount" as part of the trade value. Better off with a private sale if you can.
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From: Thousand Oaks, CA
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Manheim values are simply a compilation of date on sold vehicles. Their data is quite broad and at times can have very little effect on what a dealer wants to give you on a trade in. It is however, at minimum, a guide for the range the dealer should consider to offer as a trade because with enough vehicles being sold it does state statistical averages of the values of cars across the country.
The problem with Manheim values or "MMR" as it is known in the industry, todays climate on what a car is worth is no longer driven by just miles and condition. Here are some of the many factors that would affect MMR and then followed by some that would affect a dealer's trade in value:
MMR
1. Geographic Availability (4x4 trucks bring much more in Colorado than in Florida)
2. Export (Specific color and production date very important as well as equipment) This one is the hardest to understand and track at times and has the most variations for value. In the USA, we use model year designation to designate the year. Overseas hey use the production date in the door jam. In other words, a vehicle built in Dec 2009 and a veivle built in Jan 2010 are both 2010 models years to us. But most countries that import vehicles identify the first vehicle as a 2009 and the second as a 2010. If a vehicle has 130k miles and another one has 75k miles, they are typically woth the same overseas for export since they pull out the dash and replace with new dashes when they refurbish and/or convert to kilometers for resale. Those vehicle can have a $10k difference in value in the USA on trade-in vs. auction value unless the dealer is privy to this process. There are at least 3 or 4 other export conditions but this could become a book very easily.
3. Equipment - The auction only states year, make, model, color & miles. It does not have additional equipment such as navigation, wheel size, sport package, etc. On some vehicle such as BMW & especially Porsche, that could affect the value by $10 to as mush as $20k on a Porsche.
4. Vehicle Color - Self explanatory. White, Black Silver Charcoal etc. are very good colors in most cars. Burgundy. green, blue not so good. This is mostly at an auction.
5. Auction seller. A bank has their own lane (i.e. Porsche Financial Services sells Porsches one after the other so there would be many interested Porsche dealers seeking out their cars for sale.) Franchise dealers sell in dealer consignment lanes. (i.e. a Lexus dealer that took a very nice 2009 Porsche in on trade would be selling in a totally different lane or location in the auction therefore not having as good of a chance to get top dollar for their car at the auction.
6. Time of year. 4x4's fetch top dollar in the winter and much less in the summer. Convertibles do great in the spring and summer but sell for less in the winter. Since dealers consult MMR as a guide this certainly affects a dealer's trade in value as well.
Dealer Trade In
1. How many of what you have to trade in do they already own for resale.
2. Checking your car on the rack for recon
3. If it is their product or not. (A Porsche dealer will give you much more for a Porsche trade in than the BMW dealer even though al cars have a relative "ACV" in the market [Actual Cash Value]).
4. Geographic location for the dealer. This strongly affects their ability to market and resell your trade so you might want to consider their current vehicles for sale and how they are priced in the market. It isn't always a lineal comparison but a dealer who is asking more for their car usually pays more for their trades.
Hope all this helps.
The problem with Manheim values or "MMR" as it is known in the industry, todays climate on what a car is worth is no longer driven by just miles and condition. Here are some of the many factors that would affect MMR and then followed by some that would affect a dealer's trade in value:
MMR
1. Geographic Availability (4x4 trucks bring much more in Colorado than in Florida)
2. Export (Specific color and production date very important as well as equipment) This one is the hardest to understand and track at times and has the most variations for value. In the USA, we use model year designation to designate the year. Overseas hey use the production date in the door jam. In other words, a vehicle built in Dec 2009 and a veivle built in Jan 2010 are both 2010 models years to us. But most countries that import vehicles identify the first vehicle as a 2009 and the second as a 2010. If a vehicle has 130k miles and another one has 75k miles, they are typically woth the same overseas for export since they pull out the dash and replace with new dashes when they refurbish and/or convert to kilometers for resale. Those vehicle can have a $10k difference in value in the USA on trade-in vs. auction value unless the dealer is privy to this process. There are at least 3 or 4 other export conditions but this could become a book very easily.
3. Equipment - The auction only states year, make, model, color & miles. It does not have additional equipment such as navigation, wheel size, sport package, etc. On some vehicle such as BMW & especially Porsche, that could affect the value by $10 to as mush as $20k on a Porsche.
4. Vehicle Color - Self explanatory. White, Black Silver Charcoal etc. are very good colors in most cars. Burgundy. green, blue not so good. This is mostly at an auction.
5. Auction seller. A bank has their own lane (i.e. Porsche Financial Services sells Porsches one after the other so there would be many interested Porsche dealers seeking out their cars for sale.) Franchise dealers sell in dealer consignment lanes. (i.e. a Lexus dealer that took a very nice 2009 Porsche in on trade would be selling in a totally different lane or location in the auction therefore not having as good of a chance to get top dollar for their car at the auction.
6. Time of year. 4x4's fetch top dollar in the winter and much less in the summer. Convertibles do great in the spring and summer but sell for less in the winter. Since dealers consult MMR as a guide this certainly affects a dealer's trade in value as well.
Dealer Trade In
1. How many of what you have to trade in do they already own for resale.
2. Checking your car on the rack for recon
3. If it is their product or not. (A Porsche dealer will give you much more for a Porsche trade in than the BMW dealer even though al cars have a relative "ACV" in the market [Actual Cash Value]).
4. Geographic location for the dealer. This strongly affects their ability to market and resell your trade so you might want to consider their current vehicles for sale and how they are priced in the market. It isn't always a lineal comparison but a dealer who is asking more for their car usually pays more for their trades.
Hope all this helps.
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