Anyone who leased their vehicle, be thankful!. I have a black '05 Limited which I consider to be in Excellent condition. I know that most all dealerships will only rate a trade in as average when looking for a trade in value, but I still believe mine is Excellent. I told him what I needed to wash my car with the bank and what I was looking for. He thought my car looked great and it was a plus that I had low mileage. After waiting about 45 minutes for an answer from the GM, I was told that they needed a little more time to get an answer. I had checked with Edmunds and Kelly and saw that they put the trade in price at around $20,000. I told my wife that something was wrong, that it was taking too long to come up with a figure. We went to lunch and came back and was told they were ready with their numbers. They offered my $15,500 for my car. I was told that no one wanted Crossfires and of course told me about Chrysler's $10,000 rebate on new cars. I found it inconceivable what they were offering me that amount for the car. I told my wife if the car had MB markings on it, they would have probably given us $22,000. I guess I'll have this car for the rest of my life. I don't see how anytime in the near future this vehicle is going to appreciate. Maybe 20 years from now when someone at Pebble Beach brings one they found in a barn, then everyone will want one. Be thankful if you have a lease. When the time comes, at least you will have the option of just turning it in.

 

Very doubtful that this car will appreciate in our lifetime.

 

SRT-6 Roadster will, bet on it. Coupe also.

 

I second that.
It may be a number of years - but it'll go up (IMO).

 

Dealers will never give you a fair price, no matter what the car. That's just how they do business. I was trading in a Honda Odyssey a few years ago, also very, very clean. These vans were hard to find. There was a waiting list for new ones, and the used ones were sold almost at near prices, yet they offered me $14K on a two year old van that originally list at $30K. I sold it privately for $23K.

 

i find it hard to believe the srt-6 will appreciate. its just an slk 32, not that unique. if it does, more power to you, but i really doubt it. if the car isn't desirable now it probably won't ever be, except for maybe us here. it is a great buy though. i personally think it should be a collectors piece, but the majority of the public and press didn't take to the looks the way we did.

 

Believe it or not, I've had a couple of very good experiences with getting a cash quote from CarMax.

The first one was selling my brother's car. It was in deplorable condition and CarMax offered considerably more than we expected, and we took the deal for cash.

My first stop when I first went looking to buy a Crossfire was at the nearest dealership. What they offered me for my relatively pristine 99 Integra GSR in trade was a crime. On my drive to another dealership 20 miles away, I remembered the CarMax place along the way.

After a 20 minute inspection, they returned to me a printout of all the various aspects of the car, and how mine fared in each category. They also attached the current KBB website printout on my car. And then the offer sheet.

Their offer was a few hundred ABOVE the KBB listing for excellent!!

I took this paperwork with me when I went to the next Chrysler dealer. I was able to negotiate a MUCH better trade-in deal than the place near my home because of CarMax's offer.

Side-note: Unfortunately, the price of XF's plummeted right after I bought mine. Such is life.

 

In my opinion, if you are not in a rush to sell your car, hold out and sell it yourself and pocket the profit. The dealership will hardly ever give you what you really want out of your vehicle. You will be much better off if you can sell it yourself and take that money and plunk down on a car of your choice. Plus it keeps you from financing the extra dealer profit that the dealership would not give you on a trade in... Remember, they always have some kind of a deal that is always in their favor, not yours.

 

The dealerships offer does not surprise me. My brother has worked at a dealership for almost 15 years (NOT in sales, he is the service manager), and i have gotten to know the new and used car mgrs petty well.
I have purchased many used cars there at 'killer' prices. It is incredible how little they will give for a trade and how much they will sell it for. Dealers make a lot more profit on used Vs new. A good example is the deal i made with them last year for my Subaru Forester.
I owned a 2001 PT Cruiser 5 speed. Bought it new in December of 2000. It had 60K on it, was still under an extended warranty, and was in superb condition. I tried to sell the thing for almost 4 months...had a few nibbles, but nothing serious (the Craig's list people were the worst...story for another day). The car was paid for and i didn't HAVE to sell it. We had bought a Scion xB to replace it, but i was not willing to even attempt to trade it in at a Toyota dealer.
Anyway, my wife got a promotion at the bank she works at, and her new position has her traveling to various banks in the district, which involved a lot more driving than when she worked out of the local branch. I wanted her to have an AWD car available for winter snow driving. A few weeks later the Forester came in on trade at the dealership. He gave them $5,000 trade in allowance for a 2000 Subaru Forester with 42,000 miles on it!! Edmunds book trade in at that time was over $7K. I traded my PT almost even up (i kicked in $400 bucks) for the Subie.
Now, when i was selling the PT, i was willing to take $6,500 for it, which included the balance of the extended warranty. I couldn't sell it. But the dealership sold it for 10 grand!!!
That's the kind of profit that is in used cars.
To the original poster...your car, depending on miles, should sell for 18-21K...sell it yourself, and you will get that much for it. That is how much that dealer would sell it for.

 

It is an awesome sports car. It got a great deal on the purchase. So, the depreciation on it does not impact me until the day I decide to sell it. I don't think I will sell it.

 

If it was just an slk32 I agree. SLK32 are common somewhat. But, a one year low production car like the SRT-6 with its awesome head turning power and the only time Benz and Chrysler made a car together, especially if they part ways, it's gonna be a collectible. I'll never sell mine. Well maybe in 30 years when I can cash in a get a condo at the beach.

 

Quote from Csaba Csere, Editor in Chief, Car and Driver Magazine:
CSABA CSERE
Cult-car alert! Twenty years from now, the SRT-6 will be one of those scarce machines that will command a prominent location at concours across the country. Just consider its exotic concept-car-derived styling, its Mercedes-based mechanical bones, and its outstanding acceleration, handling, and braking. Unfortunately, although the SRT-6's performance neatly splits the difference between a 350Z and a Corvette C5, its sticker price is near the Vette's. Furthermore, this performance comes only with an automatic gearbox. Customers attracted to this feature will not likely appreciate the SRT's firm ride. In other words, the SRT-6 is destined to be a rare bird. (8/2004)

 

I love that quote. I read it way back when, which then I thought I could never afford one. Well I wasn't gonna pay 50K for one. I jumped at the chance to buy mine with 275 miles on it for lees than my wife's G35 was new. Also less than my vert T/A was new.

 

I'm not selling mine. I APPRECIATE it's value. ... I've owned and driven several Sports Cars. Typical Sports Cars. The Crossfire is a Unique, Classy, FUN and now Rare item. The experience of ownership is priceless.

 

I second that!! These little machines are so cool!!

 

Here's the article http://www.caranddriver.com/roadtest...t-6-page3.html

I just bought my new/used SRT-6 Coupe at a really good price. They're aren't too many of them left so I expect the prices of those to go up some.

 

I'm keeping my Crossfires, too. I just bought a 2005 Limited coupe to replace my 12 year old Chevy Lumina sedan. It was basically worthless as a trade-in so I donated it to a place that fixes up old cars and gives them to a battered women's shelter. I could have kept driving it if I had wanted to. There was nothing mechanically wrong with it and it only has 81,000 miles on the clock. However, it wasn't a Crossfire.

I ride the bus to work and average about 4,000 miles a year driving. Splitting that mileage between two Crossfires, I expect them to last a very long time. So, I don't really care about depreciation.

 

No car made today will ever appreciate in value like you are seeing with the old muscle cars. You have to remember that yes the SRT was only made for 1 year but there is still to large of a quantity of them. The old muscle cars that are worth a boat load of money like the old Boss 429 cars were limited and on top of that how many of them are still survivors. Back then it was very common to pull out motors and trannys and add track stuff to those cars. Nobody is pulling motors out of today's cars at least not like they did back then. Don't get me wrong if you have a SRT in 20 years with a 100 miles on it you will get some decent money for it but that is about the only case.

If you do not think so I got a great idea for you!! Cash out your 401k and your wife's take out a second mortgage and buy up the 20 or so that are still brand new on ebay and in 20 years sell them for that big money. Then call me up and say I told you so!!

BUT DO NOT GET ME WRONG I LOVE THE CAR!!!

 

Actually we should be thankful that we never bought the car the first year, when they where priced $50k for an srt6 and $35k for the coupe. Actually I got a hell of a deal, even if you paid $21k for the car, there is nothing out there with this kind of performance for such a low price!

And the dealer trade in of $15k is reasonable, they only sell used cars to make a profit, they will turn around and sell your car for $21k. Where as with a new crossfire they are making no profit. Seems your getting a good price on the trade-in, considering I bought my Limited coupe 2 years ago for $17k from my local Chrysler dealership. Thats only a $2,000 depreciation, not bad considering some other luxury sports cars loose more than that driving off the lot!

 

A SRT for 25k or a coupe for 18k is a steal. I do not care what they offer to trade you in for in 2 years.