Brad Baker

When I was selling my 03 4.6is, perfect condition, 40K ; porsche and carmax bid it at Manhiem auction, called it average condition- which they appologized for, 25K. If I where buying used, I would try to find out Manhiem auction value and go from there. Thats what the dealers are doing.

lgh

For comparison, if it helps, I traded my 04 CS in March and got $27k at a dealer. This is the same exact price that a different dealer in another state offered and that Carmax offered.

Greg

wilfred

Even before the oil crisis, dealers hardly ever take trade ins at kbb or edmunds values. Assuming you are getting a good deal on the new car, it's usually 10% off those values... Like someone has mentioned above, I too have read few articles on dealers are now offering well below kbb or edmunds values on trucks & SUVs because so many ppl are trading them in for more fuel efficient vehicles.

However, if I were you, I would spend $100 or so and advertise your Cayenne on ebay, cars.com, and autotrader. The Cayenne in particular is very popular in certain european countries I read. You maybe able to get closer to the price you had in mind...

Good Luck!

VVG

Personally, I would tend to think that vehicles like the Cayenne may be more immune to the whole gas price/SUV depreciation thing since buyers of these vehicles (along with BMW, Lexus, MB, Range Rover) tend to be more affluent and for whom the rise in gas prices, while not liked, don't really affect one's lifestyle that much.

wilfred

Theoritically, you are correct. More so on the new than the used. But in reality, most of the people who are trading in SUVs for hybrids are actually very affluent. It's more for psychological reason than financial as it will take some time to get used to the $100 per tank... Afterall, I am sure most have read or have done the math spending $25k-$30k on a Prius just doesn't add up...

ltc

Most dealers will use Galves pricing www.galves.com

Slow Guy

Don't expect any better from them..... I took a 03 Tahoe Z71 and a 05 Sequoia to them just to get an idea, they were well below Edmunds Trade-In value and my vehicles were in very good condition, the Z71 was low miles too. I was shocked.

ozr

...most of "these" Cayenne drivers belong to Honda/Lexus/Prius in the first place...

Making mistakes is NOT something new to their nature. They made mistakes before, owned the wrong car (Cayenne), they WILL make mistakes AGAIN, cycle will repeat itself...

...on the subject, dealers use galves.com and read Manheim auction numbers...

PORSCHE's own residual value number was $27-33K for 04CayS with about 50Kmi 3mo ago. For dealer tradein number subtract $5-7K from that number.


OZRacing

Blade-MD

I agree. You spend this much money on a vehicle then there is no flipping reason to change out if you're happy with the ride. When owning the Cayenne becomes like raising a teenager then I will bail.

wilfred

Blade, I see you have a 08 Highlander and a Cayenne and a baby/toddler in your avatar so I must ask. How do you like your Highlander? Do you mind comparing the two on the rear legroom with the car seat?

I recently sold my FJ Cruiser because it just doesn't have enough rear legroom for my 3 yr old. I am 6' and nothing fits behind me when I am driving, my wife is only 5'4" but her seat still has to move way up in order for my 3 yr old to sit comfortably behind her but then my wife is not comfy.

With our Cayenne, my 3 yr old does not have enough legroom behind me but just right behind my wife. So the question is, how's the Highlander?

Thanks in advance!

Blade-MD

My wife and I spent a lot of time last year looking at SUV's with a usable 3rd row. My preference was the Buick Enclave because even with the 3rd row up there was usable cargo space. My wife didn't like the styling or trust Buick despite the J.D. Powers Survey results, so we went with the Highlander. We couldn't wait until Spring otherwise we would have considered the Honda Pilot (my wife prefers Honda to Toyota). We wanted to stay away from gas guzzlers like a Suburban, etc. The Hybrid Highlander may have been a good choice now in retrospect. Last November when I ran the numbers I figured we would have to drive the Hybrid over 100k to break even with respect to the additional cost compared to a non-Hybrid. I assumed that over the next six years that gas would average about $4.50 a gallon. Boy was I wrong.
Getting back to your original question: The leg room in the Highlander is great. Very usable even in the 3rd row. With a rear facing car seat you would want that behind your wife. With a front facing car seat not a problem. Really decent leg room for anyone sitting behind you as the second row can move back quite a bit. I have sat in all rows and have found them to be fine even for an adult. The leg room in the Highlander is more comfortable than the Cayenne, especially for adults. What you give up though is cargo space if the 3rd row is up. The DVD player really keeps the kids quiet. You almost forget they are there. Hope that helps!

wilfred

Thanks Blade, I did not know the 2nd row seat slides too, sounds to me the Highlander is definitely worth a look then. I am not too worry about the 3rd row as we have a minivan too. But I would like to see how much will the new RX going to be, I think thats coming out soon. As the new Highlanders are not cheap anymore, especially the hybrids.

Blade-MD

We may be forced to trade in the Highlander with the expansion of the family. Which minivan do you have?

wilfred

Blade, check your PM. I doubt others want to read about minivans