Negotiating Used Car Prices

Q.I have a guy selling a '94 968 coupe(red/tan) in self-described good condition. 49,000 miles with all schedule maintenance kept up with. He wants $22K for it. Edmunds shows it more in the 15-16K range. Before I insult him and offer lower, is that reasonable?

A.My info is that both www.edmunds.com and www.kbb.com are pretty optimistic when it comes to used car prices. The prices -- I have read -- are based on west coast cars which usually are in better shape not having to suffer through harsh winters and of course experience (or at least experienced it before the dot.com bust...) a pretty afffluent market which helped to sustain the high used (and new) car prices there. Recent events have hammered used car prices. Primarily the influx of huge numbers of used cars from buyers taking advantage of the new car incentives. (I've seen/heard ads by some car dealers who are offering zero percent financing on used cars to move some of the many used cars that are not on teh lots.) I would be inclined to offer less for the car and hang tough. You can always up your offer should the seller refuse to lower his price. But you might get the car for less than the asking price. If the car is a good deal at the asking price, shouldn't it be an even better deal at a lower price? BTW, it is not an insult to make a lower offer on a used car (or even a new car, or anything really). The price is not fact, only an opinion... Before you start negotiating, maybe you should read a book on used car buying (and selling) to get better informed in order to get a better deal.

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