Hi 2many-

I've done that legwork on the NADA stuff, kelly bluebook, Edmunds etc. and have a fair idea of the trade in value of the vehicle. My assumption on a lease vehicle bought by a dealer at auction is they get if for less than blue book or the yellow NADA value. Is this a bad assumption? In my example if my trade in is worth 20K is an auction price say 18K? I know there is a black book for dealer pricing at auction and that guides the buyer but like anything else it's supply/demand.

Reason I'm curious is I want to make an offer on a vehicle asking or know what they have in it plus 10% for profits. Hopefully this gets them their profit and gets me as low as I can w/o the overpays and extra crap. Whether the dealer will go that route is unknown. No one wants to pay anymore than they have too!

This thread was supposed to be part of another post about general car questions. What a dork! Man where am I today?

Sorry people for the extra thread.

No problem on the extra thread.

There are so many variables involved in an auction vehicle it is hard to compare one to another. The model of the car of truck has the biggest impact on its auction value. If you are looking at a vehicle that is a high volume seller, you're going to end up paying closer to book value.

What a dealer pays at auction is also determined by what the vehicle is as well. Just as in anything else, the demand is going to have the most impact on what the dealer and ultimately you end up paying.

Remember the old adage, Caveat Emptor, let the buyer beware! Shop around all the larger dealers for the model you are looking for before you go to a smaller dealer, you will usually end up paying less since they can buy form the factory in bulk, where the little dealers may have to go to a private auction to pick up their cars. Or ffind an auction that allows the public to bid and just go see what the model you are looking for is going for. These types of auctions are hard to find but they are out there, but unfortunately they usually get the left-overs form the larger "dealer only" auctions.

Or find a used car dealer that might allow you to tag along with them one time, offer to drive back one of their purchases if you have to. You would get first hand knowledge of what you are looking for and how much it brings at auction.

I have a few friends in this business that deal with auctions every week. The dealers and or auto brokers always pay less than what they are advertising when they sell the car obviously to make profits. You would be surprised that sometimes they get these cars dirt cheap since private owners will have brokers take their cars to the auction just to get rid of it or get what they can since they have a new car to pay for. I would much rather deal with an auto broker than a car salesman at a dealership since they seem to be more straightforward with me.

A majority of the time the blue book price is not to far off as a starting point so go a little less than that. take maybe a grand or two off.