What would be a more appropriate offer?

http://tinyurl.com/c2yuav Car looks nice and is right in town, but to me is priced well above what it should be. Looks to have most options. Cant tell if it has tecknic package, but I believe it does. I am going to see if I can see this tomorrow after work. Where do you think would be a good starting offer point? Originally I wanted to spend around $30k. I really don't want to go above $32k inc tax, title, etc

Thats almost CAN pricing! LOL It does have all the good stuff however. It says 'Private seller' yet mentions the price excludes, 'dealer conveyance fee or processing fee'??? I don't get why a private seller would mention this as a disclaimer unless this is some auto generated bit on the ad site. Hope he's not a curbsider...

Haha I didnt even notice that. It looks like it's a private seller and maybe they grabbed that from another ad or something. IMO, most c4's around that seem listed around 32-33 and I think could be had for $30. There is a c2 with a few more miles (and no hardtop) that's 10k less than this guy is asking (identical color). Offering under or around 30 sounds low since he has it priced so high, but would it be smart to start that low?

I'm not sure how much you'll need to spend for tax and title work, but I suspect that you'll need to get the vehicle for around $30K in order to meet your overall maximum of $32K. You've also got to figure in a few more things. A good PPI will be $250 to $300, plus it may need things like tires or other work. I'd pull an Edmund's report and then a few comparable listings and you'll probably see them in the low 30s at best. I ran an Edmund's evaluation based on what I could see for options, rating the vehicle as "clean" and it comes up with just under $30K for a private party sale. You could always approach the seller and tell him that you are very interested in his vehicle, but you think it is priced high. Show him why you think that, and see if he is willing to negotiate. If not, don't worry about it - there are plenty of others out there.

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Okay thanks. That is what I was thinking. I didn't know if it would be better to try to use nada/kbb (which for car's I have owned were known to be well under actual prices), or recent FS ads or what. I don't include PPI and misc expenses in the budget. I mention tax bc at a dealer that can be a big bill. Private it can sometimes be worked lower. I'll try the edmonds like you mentioned, and maybe look for a few other localish cars and what they're selling for. If I want to end in the $30-32k range, should I make an initial offer in the high 20s? Half of me knows they'll want to counter, so start low and go up. The other half feels like giving a solid offer and a take it or leave it could work. May see who the seller is and judge based on impression. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't incorrect thinking this was pretty grossly overpriced as listed

The more facts that you can use to arm yourself, the better you'll be in the negotiation. I'm sure his natural reaction will be to counter, especially considering how high he has this listed. I'm not sure how your state works, but in Indiana you have to pay 7% of the sales price in taxes when you register the vehicle. You should call your local Department of Motor Vehicles and find out what you need to do so you have that information before you begin discussing price with the seller. Another thing to consider - when I bought my C4S the PPI revealed roughly $2K worth of work that needed to be done. I ended up splitting it with the seller.

Canillo just sold one just like this one except its a tip and asked $29.9K. I am sure it was sold under that price. I would offer lower and if the owner rejects, just say the offer stands and leave your number. There are many good cars around to be hung up on this one even if its a nice one. I would take it to Glenn for a PPI. http://www.cannillomotorsports.com/i...b/02996cab.htm

I have my 03 C2 Cabrio 6 speed up for sale. I'm currently asking $33500 for it, and plan to get around that. I think that $30k is a little low for the car, especially now that it's warming up, or at least it would be for SF Bay Area prices... other parts of the country are often lower than west coast cars. That said, mine has a new clutch and had a motor replacement in 2006, so I think it's pretty well sorted. Mine comes with an aftermarket warranty too, for the price. So, maybe $30k for the car you're looking at is about right.

Buy my car.

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Thanks for the link! And (i dont remember if I updated the last thread) I was very pleased with the work Glenn and the shop did a few weeks ago. I def plan to use them more! See that doesn't sound bad. 03's also seem to be a few grand higher than 02's, and 04's off the chart (but most are c4s that ive seen). Shame you're across the country. Ive seen your car and it looks very nice. However, I'm strictly looking for a cab. IIRC, you're is a coupe, right?

[QUOTE=SKooT1027;6425026]Thanks for the link! And (i dont remember if I updated the last thread) I was very pleased with the work Glenn and the shop did a few weeks ago. I def plan to use them more! QUOTE] Good to hear! Was it a bad gasket? I don't mean to hijack this thread..

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[QUOTE=chsu74;6425033] Well the biggest thing was the RSM. That had to be replaced. The coolant leak turned out to be a slowly leaking heater core. So that was good news. I have not had that fixed just yet (i didnt have time to go w/o the car), but will either be doing that in the next week or two, or if the car sells before I'm listing that as a problem that needs to be taken care of

Well I contacted the seller and am going to see the car tonight. It sounds good. Only thing I don't love is that it's on all seasons, altho I don't know how well those may work on a c4. On my rwd cars I always ran summer/winter tires, which was a pain but made a huge difference. It's minor tho. Clutch has been replaced twice. Seems like a lot in ~46k miles. Most recent was at 35k. 1 owner car. Anyone have any other info to help arm me with? edit: i think ive asked before, but the other car im looking at is a c2 for much cheaper. Is a c4 exponentially better in the snow? For the price premium, I'd almost rather a rwd

If its your only car then I would get a C4 and you want the summer and winter tire setup. Its gets so icy here in CT sometimes that it needs to be reliable.