Wahaudi

Where's the best reference for fair market value when selling a car. I've looked at both Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds to get a guide on how much to ask, but I get the feeling that they are too high. I'm sure if I ask the dealer they will quote me a figure that I would consider too low. Where's the happy middle ground?

dimitristx

Are you crazy? Don't sell!! :-))

Dave G

that there are some extreme stray numbers on there. One dealer in Hawaii is asking an amount that is way too high for the mainland. A private individual (who actually is on AudiWorld) has his very low mileage car (~8K miles) on AutoTrader.com for a price in the $60K+ range, which he admits is super high.
Some of the low numbers are in the high $20's, but those cars have high mileage.

You'll also see that 2001-2002 S8's with the "Comfort/Luxury" seat option (as opposed to the standard sport seats) sell for less, probably because the "comfort" seats are less desirable for most people who fancy these cars.
Another minor issue is the S8 cars which do not have Nav and Parktronic ("Guidance" package in 2001). Some people will insist on having those features, so the lack of the "Guidance" package/option could reduce the value a little.

Look at all of the cars on AutoTrader.com for your model year, and you'll get a feeling for the selling price.

Don't forget to factor in the lack of Audi Assured (CPO) warranty if you sell it privately (assuming that you didn't buy it as an Audi Assured car). The cars with the Certified / Audi Assured warranty (especially for 2001 cars at this point) will command more money.

Its not a bad idea to look on ebay as well, although there haven't been many S8's on ebay lately.

Dave G

Why are you selling?

Wahaudi

Original warranty is expiring. The dealer's extended warranty is too pricey (@ $3000 including tax) and I would need to use them for the next 3 years. The last 4+ years of dealing with them have been less than pleasant and I'm just not ready to sign up for more.

Wahaudi

By the way, does anyone put any stock in the KBB and Edmunds' pricing? And what is the "black book" the dealer mentioned and is it available on-line or is it subscription-based and only sold to dealers?

lash

You're buying a W12 Phaeton!!??
That's what I did less than 1 month ago...I sold my 2003 S8. The Edmunds and KBB are too high. Check out trucks.com and then used car black book resale values- costs about $2.50 but will give you accuarate information which is about the same the dealers are looking at too. This is updated frequently and will give you the most realistic price and base so you know what you are dealing with. Meanwhile if you have access to Mannheim or other auction info that's useful too, but the black book prices should be pretty spot on. Good luck!
As much as the S8 was a hell of a car, the Phaeton is just superb.

tozoM8

The blue book is too promising, the black book will tell you the real price.

lash

Black book values you can find at the trucks.com site i mentioned above.

Dave G

the books is that they are all crap. The books are generated to give the reader an idea, but the books are slanted (biased), either mildly or heavily, depending on who the books are geared toward.
At the dealership where I worked, we had books for the sales staff, and books that were shown to customers. Those books obviously showed much lower trade-in numbers.

Now with car sales being on the internet, you can ignore the "book" values.
Go on AutoTrader.com to get a realistic range of selling prices, which should help you determine what you should sell your car for; or what your trade-in number should be.