Used Pick-Up Trucks Selling For More than High Retail Blue Book in these Parts.

[Gale Hawkins]

The kids are in the eleventh grade and we had picked up a S10 Chevy for the son and put in another engine and transmission a couple years ago as a project truck that is now dependable. It have him some hands on wrenching time and he has put a few good size dings in it already. The daughter was driving the old towncar or Blazer and over time I was mainly driving the TC because the blazer has well over 200K miles and I do some road miles where she does not.

My plan was to wait closer until she needed something daily for college but Sunday afternoon she roped me into truck shopping while we were in town. Low and behold we stopped at the Chevy place and ran upon a 2007 Dodge Dakota Club Cab 3.7L automatic that she really liked and strangely I did too. Until yesterday I had never driven a Dodge.

They had it priced initially just over $10K and had marked it down to $8750 as it was a couple weeks away from their 60 inventory limit. Looked on kellybluebook.com they said high retail at a dealer was like $7K with a trade in value on a good day of $4K even with it being clean and with only 62K miles. Monday I looked at it but did not drive it and they said $8500 and that was just because they liked me. Same story today.

I had talked with the sales manager down the road at the Dodge dealership who I have known over the years. He said he did not one on the lot but based on what I told him the one on the Chevy lot would be $10K on his lot.

At lunch the woman who owned it the past 30K miles called me back and said she thought it would be a good truck for my daughter to drive to college, pick up horse feed, etc. It drove like new and had power with the 3.7L engine and automatic transmission. Naturally the daughter like it in part because she had for a few years been talking about four door Pickups with only two handles showing.

Finally we took a late lunch at the Huddle House and had the daughter park it out in full sun where I could see it out of the window well. I was OK going $8K after some online and local shopping. Clearly it looked new like and drove like new and I had some history from the second owner and it that been in the area all of its life. It hit me it was not worth $500 to stand my ground when I could get a truck with all things being equal would still be a good truck even after college so I got with my farm/homeowner/equipment insurance agent and bound cover and did the deal.

He is located in Hopkinsville KY about 75 miles east of me and said he had been in the market for three years because of the price of anything other than regular cab pick-up prices that were nice, straight and in good condition were HIGH.

Well we have a very happy daughter this evening and I am glad we got her situated for several years hopefully for under $10K. Below are a link to the dealer photos and after three days of 'educating' myself on truck prices am happy that is behind me and the wife. Her brother seems excited for her and is fine with 4.3L 5 speed but he will want more before college I am sure.

2007 Dodge Dakota for sale in Mayfield - 1D7HE22K87S107803 - Shelby Automotive

Even after dealing hard I still paid $150 over high dealer retail and for some reason feel good about it.

 

[2458n]

Glad you got a good truck for your daughter. Your son should like his 4.3 they last forever. The General motors powertrain plant in Defiance ,Ohio made them for years. Now that they have stopped producing them the usual grumblings were heard around town about about layoffs etc. Now for your used truck, the best salesmen in a dealership work the used cars. Not hindered by suggested retail price. The sky is the limit on asking price. No one has ever bought a truck from a Kelly blue book. They do not sell them. You or your daughter have good credit or put money down to get financed over book value. Be happy.

 

[charlz]

I also had recently been truck shopping for my son. I noticed KBB is lower and NADA is higher on the exact same vehicle. Sometimes a few thousand dollars difference. They really are just a guide. I also took into account local Craigslist prices. Between the three of them you get a pretty good idea of what you should be paying.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Clean one owner good condition trucks typically get high retail around here...
Demand for trucks are high...
Used prices are driven in part by new prices being what they are...
I purchased last summer an 07 pickup at wholesale due to title being listed as true miles unknown...
Truck was involved in accident and mileage stated on title was not the same as the truck odometer...
I checked vin numbers and all was well...
Mileage for the 07 shown on the odometer was in-line for a truck at that age...
I plan on keeping it for 10 years so the resale is not that important to me...
I usually check all local retailers in the area with Auto Trader, E-bay and Craigslist...
Those three will get you close market value...
You bought a great looking truck...
Your daughter should be ecstatic...

 

[texasjohn]

And, you didn't pay the $14250 original price.
A very clean truck, hope it lasts and lasts.

 

[RickB]

It's called supply and demand. Somebody pays more than book, they will keep asking more than book.

 

[rtimgray]

The things that I've learned from buying and selling vehicles:

1. Doesn't matter what a "blue book" or anything else says a vehicle is worth. A vehicle is only worth what someone is actually willing to pay for it. (Yes, I'm dismissing the tax aspect of private party deal).

2. For crying out loud, now that you've bought something, quit looking at prices! Everytime I've bought a vehicle, in the next week or two after I've bought, I've found a "better deal". Was it really? I don't know, so I just make it my policy to quit looking.

In all seriousness, as long as you are happy and your family is happy, that is really all that matters. We bought a used Toyota Tacoma for my wife last year, and I knew as we went to the dealer that we were going to buy it, even if they didn't budge off the asking price. Why? Because my wife had her heart set on it since we test drove it. When we called about it a week later, the salesman told us "Well, a guy has got it for an overnight test drive, but if he doesn't want it, you can have first chance." I told my wife that and she was so sad that it was probably already sold.

Now in my heart of hearts, I don't think that truck was gone on an overnight test drive. The salesguy knew that we were about an hour away and we weren't going to be going by the dealership, so I bet that the truck was on the lot, and the "overnight test drive" was just a ploy to get us to close the deal....and it worked!

Long story short - we've had it for a year, I'm satisfied with what we paid for it, and my wife is happy with it everyday.

Congratulations with you purchase. Good luck and take care.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

The daughter is more excited than I have seen her since Christmas morning years ago.

Had a mechanic friend take the wind out of my sails last night a bit over the valve seat failures that can happen in the 3.7/4.7L dodge engines. I read up on that and it seems that failure is often associated with some degree of overheating before the valve seats start coming out. Read about the sludging issues as well.

I have since spent some time with my daughter about the potential issues and what my game plan is to head them off at the pass. Every machine I own has a negative that can be found with Google and be real.

We are going to change our own oil often until it stays clear and run a Scangauge II so the engine temps can be monitored to the degree that is norm/not norm. The owner for the past 30K miles only drove it 8 miles to work and she actually stated it would be good to run it hard to blow the soot out of it. She and her husband are 62-64 age range and I told her it was to be my daughter's first vehicle. She thought it would be a good one she said.

I am not scared of 'what' may happen but see it as a window to train my daughter about risks and the importance of upkeep. It is easy to live one's life in fear of what may go wrong and MISS life itself. At 64 I now understand that fact even better than ever.

She is doing a wonder job of caring for the now five mini horses since the birth of a filly last May. She has a potential college major in mind and is looking forward to life so her mom and I are pleased that she and her brother are looking forward when some teenagers are struggling to even find a reason to stay alive that we know personally.

I have told her while it is a beautiful truck I will show her how to take care of it but should it get wrecked or blows up it can be fixed or replaced.

As was the case with her brother's truck it is in my name or her name on the title. She had to sign about 20 times and there was not loan paper involved. The dealership added a $297 fee that I was not expecting but I know is common. Just closing the deal was a very educational experience that will help anyone make the leap into adulthood a little better.

I am glad life was more simple 45 years ago for teenagers. Trying to be a parent today when one is a few generations from the past calls for a paradigm shift almost daily.

Talking about the test drive the sales person told me to take it home as long as I wanted to keep it. I have no real complaint about the dealership. They are in business to make money and today it is easier to lose money than make it. We will overcome a $8500 purchase where is turns out good or bad.

 

[dodge man]

Prices can get pretty silly sometimes. Price out certain years of Cummins trucks or a 7.3 Powerstrokes. I've seen really clean low mileage ones priced nearly what they sold for new, and this is a 10 year or older truck.

Your new truck looks clean, I hope she enjoys it.

 

[Dutch445]

very timely topic for me too, as i made a deal saturday on a used truck,
but i trade every 2.5 -3 years. i pick the newer one up this afternoon
(trading a 2010 tundra TRD for a 2013 with 9K miles!)

it sounds like you are happy with the truck, and happy with the price after seeing
what else is out there on the market.. that's really what matters.
congrats, i hope it works out for her!