93 40k, 11thou??

[STORMINORMAN]

Remember, AVERAGE means just that : "average"...

There will always be some cars in worse shape and cars in better shape. There are some vehicles with 2 years use and 24K miles on them that I would NEVER buy for any price other than as a parts car and others with 100K that are worth paying a premium for.

Take a look at a rental car if you want to see what "average" means. The average person takes average care of his computer, his washing machine, his lawn mower and his car. I don't want to buy any of them after he is finished with them.

From a purely mathimatical standpoint, if the average "book" is $6K there are going to be some vehicles worth $3K & a few worth $9K, and you can be sure there are more proportionally that are worth $4.5K.

Which do you want to buy? How much additional work, time & $ do you want to put into the car beyond the purchase price? For a lot of people this is the fun part of buying a used car vs. new. The real value of something is not just determined by its initial price alone. Those Blue Books and NADA Guides are just that: a guide, not the Ten Commandments.

Actually, IMHO they are merely another tool for the car dealers to use as they try to screw every last $ out of their "average" customer (victim?) who has shown himself completely vulnerable in the past to every ploy imaginable...

"We can give you $5K for your '81 Corolla 'cause that is our minimum trade-in value..."

As in "undercoating, paint & fabric protection packages"

Taking 4 hours to buy a car with the PRICE ALREADY PRINTED IN THE NEWSPAPER!

I just bought my 93 for 6900 with 97k. The bank told me the blue book is 7100.