vibe poor resale value

[starman1980]

I have a new vibe with all the extras, Ive had it about six months. Now we have desided to build a house. It would be nice to have a truck for snow and so we can haul stuff. One problem I cant get a dealer to pay my vibe off or even get close to the pay off and by there caculations I have lost about $7,000 on it in 6mth and 6500 miles. can anybody help how can I pay this car off.

[Sputnik]

Sell it on Ebay with a reserve price?

[Vibe Rater]

It's pretty much common knowledege that as soon as you drive a new car off the lot, you lose a large protion of its value. I'm not sure what the exact figures are, but it is brutal. The first 2 years of a new car's life, it loses at least half it's value. Too bad you couldn't sell it in Canada. There is a demand for any Vibe (new or used) up here. The Canadian dollar wouldn't make it possible. You'll either have to eat the lost value or wait a while till you get more of the car paid off. Did you lease or buy? If you're leasing, you'll never catch up. You'll defnitely have to sell it privately if you do decide to sell.

[KSNeptune]

You've got to remember a dealer will only buy a used car if he thinks he can resell it for profit. Depreciation on nearly all cars is the greatest during the first year for exactly that reason. Try selling it directly, perhaps by putting an add in your paper's classified section. You can probably ask half-way between what the dealer would pay and what you payed new. But be willing to take a little less.There are several web sites that will give you an opinion of what your used car is worth. Try www.edmunds.com. I'm sure there are others.KSNeptune

[starman1980]

thats the problem the vibe is still so new there are no book vaules given for a used one yet

[Lorin]

Another problem with the resale value is that the economy is slow and cars in general are not selling right now. That's why they have all these huge rebates and special financing. If you can hold off for a little while until the economy picks up and we stomp Sadam, you'll get more for your trade. Also, the RATE of depreciation slows with time, so you've already taken your biggest hit. A truck (if you buy new) will cost more (maybe a LOT more, depending on your choice) than the Vibe. If you decide to keep it, you can smile every time you fill the tank, knowing that it would cost you triple to fill the tank on a big truck. (It costs me $50 to fill the 33 gallon tank on my conversion van!!!!)

[Vibe Rater]

quote:If you can hold off for a little while until the economy picks up and we stomp Sadam, you'll get more for your trade. Yeah. Whatcha waiting for? Lets get the job done. The economy and the stock market will explode when 'So Damn Insane' is dead. Drop the bombs boys!

[KSNeptune]

And if you can't manage to get a truck to help move, consider adding a trailer hitch, and buy a Sears (or similar) 4' x 8' trailer to pull. You could also just rent a trailer if you only need it occasionally.Then you'll have the best of both worlds: Nicely protected cargo space for when the weather isn't cooperating, and a bigger bed than most trucks have to haul stuff from the lumberyard with. Most other things a new house needs can be delivered. All done with the house? Then you can sell the trailer and still have that great Vibe. Just a thought.KSNeptune

[shenandoah24]

I agree with the previous posters--you should sell it outright if you HAVE to sell it.....Used Vibes are going for high dollar on the dealer lot.....I bought mine slightly used, but I am a B***h when it somes to buying cars, so I got a good deal....But my husband and I are in the market for another new car, and the dealer had 2 on his used lot for $18,500. I told him he was nuts because one had 14,000 miles and the other had 13,700 miles on it. But the next day they were both gone...so some one bought them. And I am pretty sure that they didn't come off the price any because we offered him $14,500 CASH for one (satellite base, moon & tunes, abs, power everything) and they declined.....said they couldnt take less than $17,000......So--I think we are just going to buy a brand new one...my husband wants a GT anyway....so we will probaably have his and hers vibes in the very near future.....

[Triton]

I have to agree. If you MUST sell your Vibe, do it outright. The dealer is going to low ball you so that they can make a profit. They will take it off of your hands for you, but you are going to loose a lot of money if you do that. Even if you buy another car or truck from the same dealer, it won't change how much they will give you for your Vibe enough to make it worth it.I also agree that you might think about adding the trailer hitch and hauling some stuff in a small trailer. You could probably fit more in it than a truck anyways depending on the trailer design.Remember that just because the dealer won't give you much for the car, doesn't mean that the car has a low resale value. It just means that the dealer is going to make that much more on your car when they resell it.

[Stang2Vibe]

The big problem right now with the used car market is that it is flooded with used cars brought in on trade because of all the special incentives and low interest rates. Most people who are buying cars now are buying new because of the incentives. There are so many used cars coming in that dealers aren't offering much for them because they really don't need them. I traded in my 2000 Mustang for my Vibe GT and the best trade in offer I could get was about half of the book value, and the car was in excellent shape. It really sucks, but thats the way the used car market is right now.

[cohocarl]

When I took delivery of mine, I received a $1K rebate. What's it up to now...$3K?. I don't think I've even lost that much money in Vegas.The Vibe will make me a fine daily driver for quite a while, so I'm not too concerned with it, but if I had to unload it now, yes I'd be crying.

[baltimore17]

I ripped out and completely rebuilt a bathroom and bedroom in my house. The only things that didn't come home in my small Saturn wagon were the 4x8 wallboard and the whirlpool tub. For those I borrowed a friend's pickup. Even the 12' wall of 8' tall wardrobe cabinets (unassembled) came home in the Saturn. Oh, the carpet was delivered by the installers.When I ripped out and rebuilt the kitchen, the cabinets, appliances and wallboard were delivered. Everything else came home in the car.Do you see a pattern here? I bought the Vibe for the 2x4 studs, the boxes of tile, the 10' pipes, the rolls of insulation, the gallons of paint and wallboard mud and the sheets of cement board. For everything else in building your new house, it will be far, *far* cheaper to pay for the occasional delivery than to take the bath of selling the Vibe and buying (and feeding) a truck.If you had not bought the Vibe in the first place, I'd still recommend the Vibe over a truck. The cost difference in fuel over the next three years will more than pay for the delivery of large building materials. Remember, the Vibe can manage most of the odd lot material. And if the load is really big (oh, like an entire house load of framing 2x4s or subfloor plywood or wallboard or exterior sheathing or doors or windows or kitchen cabinets or shingles or concrete blocks, not necessarily in that order), you're going to have the supplier deliver it even if you owned a truck.

[Sputnik]

Probably because its got "TOYOTA" written all over it. The Vibe does too, just people can't see it.

[Sputnik]

You were wondering why the Matrix had a higher resale value and I responded with my speculation. I wasn't questioning that you saw it.

[ngilbert]

quote:I was reading a article in Kiplinger's and it stated that the Matrix has a higher resale value than the Vibe. I do not know why this is true, but I was in writing.It's probably true, because people automatically put a bias on Toyota and other makes over domestic vehicles, because of the perceived superior quality. Ususally, that bias is totally justified. But sometimes when the vehicle is basically identical (e.g. Vibe/Matrix, Corolla/Prizm, Sidekick/Tracker, Tribute/Escape, etc) it doesn't make much sense. In fact, I remember when I was selling my Z24 (privately) and was taking someone out for a test drive. Me and teh potential buyer were chatting and he asked what I was replacing the car with, and after I told him I had a Vibe GT on order, remarked "should buy a Matrix for the higher resale value..". Needless to say the test drive was over very abruptly.

[MA-VIBE-FAN]

When we built our house, I went out and purchased a pickup from a local HVAC contractor that was closing for $2,000. Drove for year and sold for $2,000. You may want to explore a simular plan.

[Shadow Realm]

In reply to going to your credit union to get them to appraise your vehicle...Dealerships won't look at that anymore than they would if you brought Kelly Blue Book in to them. Whatever the black book says is what they will go by. it also dpends on what vehicle you are trading for... if the dealer has extra profit in that vehicle they may show you more for your trade by using the profit from the one your buying.You should negotiate on the vehicle before you tell them about your trade. A little secret from a car guy. This way when you have reachede the best deal you will know what your vehicle is really worth and also theirs too.

[Chris]

I'm with Ma-vibe-fan... pick up an old chevy pickup then you can haul ANYTHING. Get a new truck and you'll spend thousands on box liners and stuff and still not carry the stuff you want.Case in point:I've an old beat up Mazda PU (Vibe purchased to replace it) and my wife has her 'baby' a black GMC 1500 4x4 Z71 extended cab 350 V8 WITH box liner. Guess which one carries more? Yup, the Mazda.