Glad I wasn't driving a convertible...

[Bullitt]

Yea having a car with 2 major fixes sucks and doesn't look good on a car fax report. Selling it for what you owe and having nothing to show for it or have money to help with another car sucks too. Tough call. Good luck. Let us know what you decided.

Right. I'm talking with a friend that's a Ford salesman to see if he can give me a ballpark for how much of a hit I can expect off blue book value if I were to try and trade it in. If a dealer won't knock off more than 4 or 5 grand I still could come out with some equity next year if I kept the repaired car. That's really the biggest variable, so I'm waiting to hear more from him about what kind of hit I should expect.

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[kert]

Hard to say for sure what will end up on CarFax. I had two repairs to my previous car, one paid out of pocket, so not surprised it didn't show up, second, insurance paid $2k, not to mention that when I traded it, the front bumper was busted from hitting a chunk of snow. When the dealer listed it was "certified no accidents " with a clean CarFax attached.

 

[Computer Guy]

Right. I'm talking with a friend that's a Ford salesman to see if he can give me a ballpark for how much of a hit I can expect off blue book value if I were to try and trade it in. If a dealer won't knock off more than 4 or 5 grand I still could come out with some equity next year if I kept the repaired car. That's really the biggest variable, so I'm waiting to hear more from him about what kind of hit I should expect.

My first reaction was wow, this car repair person is offering $26,000 to you for your severely damaged car, take the deal. Then after running the numbers it does not seem to be a great deal for you. For a moment, let's assume that the repair cost is $6,000, that means you will essentially be handing back to the repair guy a $6,000 check of which is probably 50% profit for the repair guy, meaning that he is effectively paying about $23,000 for the repaired car.

You would be losing not only the different between what you paid and the $26,000, but also any sales tax decrease benefit that you might receive if you traded the car in at a dealership (6% of $26,000 is $1560 - not sure if it works that way in PA). So, assume that you originally agreed to pay $36,000 for the car (roughly what I paid for my 2011 Mustang GT), which would be $38,160 if you had to also pay 6% sales tax. If you sell the car to the repair person for what you owe on the car, you will effectively lose $38,160 - $26,000 + $1560 = $13,720 and not have a dime for a down payment on a replacement car that will likely have a sales price that is 4% higher than what you paid for your current car due to annual increases in the car's base price. That is a terrible depreciation hit for a one year old car.

On the other hand, if the repair person is willing to give you $26,000 for a badly damaged car, that is a sign that not only is he able to fix it well enough to recoup his $26,000, but also likely make a couple of thousand in profit when he sells the repaired car in a few weeks.

I suggest waiting the couple of extra days for the car to be repair. If the car that saved you twice does not feel like it is still your best friend, then wait for the 2018s to hit the lot to either trade in on a 2017 at a discount, or trade up to a 2018 model.

 

[BmacIL]

Driving a beater is risky to me still since there's no guarantee a Bullitt is coming, and I still think IF there is no Bullitt coming I'd rather have a Guard 2016 over a different colored 2018 (call me crazy). Amazingly there's 1 car almost identical to mine for sale that can be had with a short fly-in-drive-home trip. It's another Guard 2016 with 15k miles. Clean carfax, former corporate fleet car. They want 30k.

Buying that car would give me a little security too so I wouldn't feel forced into a Bullitt if the new 5.0 ends up having teething first year problems that scare me away, I can just keep the 2016.

I understand the want for Guard. I love mine.

That said, current offers on 2017 Mustangs are at 0% for 72 and $1000 cash...

 

[Bullitt]

My first reaction was wow, this car repair person is offering $26,000 to you for your severely damaged car, take the deal. Then after running the numbers it does not seem to be a great deal for you. For a moment, let's assume that the repair cost is $6,000, that means you will essentially be handing back to the repair guy a $6,000 check of which is probably 50% profit for the repair guy, meaning that he is effectively paying about $23,000 for the repaired car.

You would be losing not only the different between what you paid and the $26,000, but also any sales tax decrease benefit that you might receive if you traded the car in at a dealership (6% of $26,000 is $1560 - not sure if it works that way in PA). So, assume that you originally agreed to pay $36,000 for the car (roughly what I paid for my 2011 Mustang GT), which would be $38,160 if you had to also pay 6% sales tax. If you sell the car to the repair person for what you owe on the car, you will effectively lose $38,160 - $26,000 + $1560 = $13,720 and not have a dime for a down payment on a replacement car that will likely have a sales price that is 4% higher than what you paid for your current car due to annual increases in the car's base price. That is a terrible depreciation hit for a one year old car.

On the other hand, if the repair person is willing to give you $26,000 for a badly damaged car, that is a sign that not only is he able to fix it well enough to recoup his $26,000, but also likely make a couple of thousand in profit when he sells the repaired car in a few weeks.

I suggest waiting the couple of extra days for the car to be repair. If the car that saved you twice does not feel like it is still your best friend, then wait for the 2018s to hit the lot to either trade in on a 2017 at a discount, or trade up to a 2018 model.

I appreciate the break down but I'm trying to understand your math. The repairs will cost 13,500 now (they found a few more pieces that need replaced). But I'm not sure how that factors in if he's still fixing the car either way and getting that check either way as well. From what I can tell, he's willing to give me 26k which I doubt I'd ever get if I traded it in to a dealer, so it seems like a good deal for me. I think the upside for him is he's worked on it so he doesn't care about the damage, and it's a few grand cheaper than retail on a fully loaded 2016 GT with 12k miles.

 

[JKL1031]

Heyyy Matt

 

[Bullitt]

I understand the want for Guard. I love mine.

That said, current offers on 2017 Mustangs are at 0% for 72 and $1000 cash...

Yeah, I'm sure the deals are good, but I dunno if they're as good as used still. The used one that's 30k was a 40k car. Even with a killer deal on a 17 I'd still end up paying more for a color I don't like as much, but I know the upsides are one year newer, no miles and better financing which will help on the eventual trade-in.

Sucks the 2018s aren't ready by this summer. My gut just wants to get this other Guard 2016. Others are telling me one extreme or the other. Either drive a beater death trap for 9 months and hope a Bullitt does come next spring, or buy a GT350 and hope it doesn't give me issues until a Bullitt comes next spring. I dunno what's up and what's down anymore lol. :frusty:

 

[Bullitt]

Hey Matt Maran the way I see it is yea it's now $13500 but how much of that is his labor? At least half? So in essence he'll give you $26k but $6,750 of that was labor paid to him so he's getting the car for <$20k

Gotcha that makes sense now, thanks. Well in that case it sounds like we'd both win. I get more for my car and he gets a great deal on a car, right? :cheers:

 

[Synyster06Gates]

Yeah, I'm sure the deals are good, but I dunno if they're as good as used still. The used one that's 30k was a 40k car. Even with a killer deal on a 17 I'd still end up paying more for a color I don't like as much, but I know the upsides are one year newer, no miles and better financing which will help on the eventual trade-in.

Sucks the 2018s aren't ready by this summer. My gut just wants to get this other Guard 2016. Others are telling me one extreme or the other. Either drive a beater death trap for 9 months and hope a Bullitt does come next spring, or buy a GT350 and hope it doesn't give me issues until a Bullitt comes next spring. I dunno what's up and what's down anymore lol. :frusty:

Depends on the dealer. I picked up my 2016 in October last year for $31,500. Sticker was $42,200. GT Premium w/ auto and nav.

 

[whysoserious]

I'm with the couple of other posters. Take the deal, find a decent 2008 or 2009 Bullitt, and see what happens over the next six months, and then go from there.

 

[Bullitt]

Current progress:

 

[aspensilver]

Did you try to negotiate? It's a deal he wants. If he'd do 26K, he'll do a little higher. Get *something* extra, even if its $500 or $1000 more. If you aren't that good at negotiating, just repeat "just go up a bit and the deal is done, I gotta get something."

 

[Bullitt]

Did you try to negotiate? It's a deal he wants. If he'd do 26K, he'll do a little higher. Get *something* extra, even if its $500 or $1000 more. If you aren't that good at negotiating, just repeat "just go up a bit and the deal is done, I gotta get something."

I'm good at negotiating and may try to get a little more but I almost feel like he's doing me a favor in a way so I probably won't push much if I decide to take the deal.

 

[thehunterooo]

Wow that's terrible to see that car is in pieces....

 

[mc68386]

It's a gift - take it. From your posts, it sounds like you'd never be happy with the repaired car, so you'll probably end up buying something else later and take a bath on the trade. Take the deal, just watch out for last minute details or changes that make it not-such-a-good deal.

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