Within this next week, I hope to purchase a 2004 Coupe. Woot!
The Crossfire I am looking at is listed for $10,996.
From the pictures, it looks Very nice! I am going to Test Drive it tomorrow. - Anything to keep an eye out for specifically?
Anyway,, How much do you think I can talk the dealer down to?
I have no idea how to go about this, as this is my first time buying from a dealer.

This is the eBay listing, but it has the CARFAX:
Chrysler : Crossfire:eBay Motors (item 160333991876 end time Jul-07-09 21:46:11 PDT)

This is the Car for the dealer website:
2004 Chrysler Crossfire 2dr Cpe Sapphire Silver Blue Metallic Clearcoat Coupe. A Chrysler Crossfire at The Autobarn Volkswagen of Countryside Countryside IL

Please tell me what you guys think. Thanks!

 

HowardJ,
This car could be the twin to mine, other than that mine is 6-speed.
Check out the seat heaters - they are the first thing to go.
Check out the tires - replacing them is not cheap.

You can probably talk him down $1,000, but I would try to talk him into giving you the MaxCare Extended warranty. Then you won'd have to worry about finding something wrong six months down the road.

 

what about it having four owners? that kind of worries me..
I am off to test drive it now! woot!

 

Check to make sure the little things work. When I bought mine, I was too excited to check the little things. For me it was the drivers seat buttons. Luckily, I still have 3/36000 warranty.
Make sure the TSB for the auto trans was done. There is no easy way of replacing fluid.
Make sure the spare tire in a can and the air pump are still there. Jack and lug wrench.
The special wrench. (what ever it is called) I don't have one and I am still figuring out how to replace it.
The mirror controls are important. They need to work properly.
CD player must work for the NAV system. Check it out.
My drivers head light was deteriorating from the UV. If that one has the same problem, see if they will replace it or polish it.
Check all the lights and controls. Inside and out.

Hope this helps...

 

Howard,

Check the sticky on stopping rust while you can. On a light colored car like that, you can just lay on the ground under either door and and gently pull away a small portion of the black rubber and more than likely, especially on a 2004, you will see the rust. There is a great writeup on the fix from Andrew and it is easy, but if you point it out to the dealer and tell them they don't have to fix it, but you want another $1,000 off, can't beat that.....

 

Howard,

Like Mark said, check all the little things.
These cars have great drive trains and other than the transmission leak there isn't much that goes wrong.

When I bought mine 2 years ago everything worked, which was great. A year ago my seat stopped working (broken wire) and it cost me $450 to fix. Ouch!

Almost immediately after buying mine I put Rotex Gold brake pads on to eliminate the dust problem. Good investment if you like keeping your car looking good.

Good luck and hopefully this will work out for you.

 

Four owners!? That would concern me too. I'd wait to find another.

 

According to blackbook its a decent price... 5800 - 9600 for trade in so depends on the condition when you drive it, but I agree with the 4 owners being a bit of a drawback, but with retail ranging from 8 - 12k seems like 11 might be more on the high end. Goodluck!!

 

I think the warranty is a great idea, but take the money and purchase the extended warranty yourself. There are a lot of ways to configure the warranty, and you can generally do much better by shopping around as many Chrysler dealers sell the extended warranties. And some discount them substantially.

 

Do you have an independent mechanic you work with in your area? I'd have him check it out. Any car with that many miles and that many owners should be thoroughly checked before you buy it.
The warranty idea is not only a good idea its essential. This car is basically a Mercedes and they are expensive to repair.
All have given you great advise, let us know how you make out.

 

Ok. Just got back. That was one LOONG trip.
They wanted $10,997
We looked over the car, the bumpers have been repainted b/c of the paint chipping, the rear drivers brake like is chipped in a corner (small, but noticeable), there is a chunk taken out of the front tire (need that fixed), there a small paint slats on the front headlight, headlights are starting to get foggy, and the key is broken.

We told them our highest offer for the car is 10K WITH a New front tire, and New key.
They said that they can only do the Car, Tire, and Key for $10,759
Car AS-IS for 10k

We were there for a Very long time. The gentlemen that was with us was on the phone with other customers throughout our visit, leaving us sitting in the room for quite awhile. Needless to say, we were pissed, told them our highest offer; then the 'head honcho' talked to us, we told him 10k was our final offer with the wheel fixed and new key, He asked if we would work with him a little bit, and we said that we are.

We walked out.

 

I don't have an independent mechanic.
I like 2hrs+ from this place, I don't know where to find a good one.

We told them that we were concerned about the car having 4 owners and they said 'we don't know anything about the cars past, only from the time we have had it'. Nice.

 

Paint was chipping, so they painted the bumper?? why was is chipping? why is the tail light chipped? this car has probably been rear-ended at some point. I didn't check the carfax on yours, but just as an FYI one of my cars has been hit 3 times, and only one of them shows up on car fax.
check the seems of the car (where the doors, panels, etc. come together), and make sure the gaps are the same on both sides., check under the car for scuffs, scraps, etc., check hinges, etc., check everything electrical, especially the lights.

But if you drive the car and you love, and you look at the car and it tickles you in the pants, and you can live with the payments. I say go for it!
just my 2 cents as a buyer(5X) and seller(3X) of used cars.
-Steve

 

I do indeed love the car. I looked underneath, it didn't look rusty or anything.
On the back of the car, where the metal meets the fiber glass, the fiberglass paint chipped off some in the crack, that was repainted on both front and rear bumpers, we can see the paint specks.
CARFAX didn't show any wrecks, but it did show it being for sale for 4 times, we want to know why..

The light chip bothers me..
I'm suprised they didn't fix the tire anyway, that's not safe.
And the key.. THEY HAD A SPARE. For the car. It is a VW dealership, there was not a single other chrysler on that lot..
Why would they have a spare key and not give it with the effing car?!
They wanted to charge me $300 for it!
Heck NO!

I know the keys are expensive.. but seriously, wth are they going to do with it?

 

:-/
I want that car.
I have found a thread on this forum about programming a key and that some people ordered keys from their dealerships for <$100
I looked up on tire rack the price of that front tire with a chip in it - $152
So $252, they wanted to charge me $759.

Looking at the car, the headlights had some fog on them at the top.
DIY get those out?
There is a small chip in the driver side tail light (corner), no biggie, but it bugs me.
I can't find ANY tail light covers online for the crossfire! what the heck?!

So, 10K for the car (price they agreed on), and it would cost me $252 for a new tire and a new key.
DIY the lights myself, not the tail light, and programming the key.
Not too horrible.

The car has had 4 owners, and has rust on the back latch.
Both bumpers have obviously been repainted.. looks like the paint started to chip; can't see it unless close up. The car does have a small scuff or two by the bumper.
Thinking about re-offering and just buying the key and tire myself.
Should I lower my offer?

I really like it!

Think I can get the dealership to buff the lights for me?

2004 Crossfire
Auto
49,7k miles

These are the tires on the car; I only need one for the front driver:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....=(Y)&minLoad=S
The tires are also new on the car..

 

I completely understand your enthusiasm but I would keep looking. These cars are not old enough to the point where there are none around in better shape (and come with a better dealer experience) where it is going to make you have to compromise on so many things (price, key, 4 owners, repaint etc.) Even though they are tiny issues, it seems like ALOT of tiny issues. Personally, I would look for another.

 

Have you looked at Autotrader.com lately? I did a search within 100mi of west central Indiana and there are a lot available again. Some were in your price range if you include the tire, key, tail light lens.

 

Agreed. They seem to have popped back up again. I did a search as well and there do seem to be quite a few avail. in your price range. I still say shopping around elsewhere is you best route. I looked for over a year before I purchased mine. It was worth taking it slowly. I saved myself alot of headaches by weeding out the "iffy" ones slowly and settling on a car that has been rock solid.

 

Between a new tire, key, repaint or refinish rusted area, new tail light and new heradlights (because if they are foggy, you are kind of stuck with buying new, if they are hazy on the OITSIDE, you can attempt a refinish with good results expected) you would be in over $1,000 very easily to make it even close to back to OEM spec. In my opinion over 10% of the value of the car just to bring it to avg used condition is not a good plan, especially, like mentioned before, there are so many out there that have been taken care of meticulously. As someone who 6 months ago practically stole an '05 black coupe, I would say most definitely KEEP LOOKING, the one for you is out there somewhere, I am sure.....

 

K guys, need your help again.

Looking at a 2005 Coupe, 40.5k miles.
Think I am going to go test drive it Friday.
They have it priced at 11.9k
What should I start at for bargaining? The highest I am willing to go for it is 11k.
Of course I need to test drive it first..

The car has been on their lot for over 4 months; surely they need to get rid of it, right? lol
What do I base the starting price on; I was looking at edmunds.com:
Trade-in, private party, or dealer retail value?

Thanks for the help!