Local dealership writes my mom a one page letter stating that her car is in high demand and to call him to make an offer on her car.

Is this true or just a tactic to get her in to buy a new car? I've never seen this way of advertising before and figured he just wants her to come to the dealership so he can talk her into updating. lol

She has a 2002 Volvo S40 with less than 40,000 miles so it is in great shape. She's an older lady that drives around locally. She is very active but most of her friends live close by so she either walks or rides her bike. If they play bridge or she goes to circle meeting they carpool. She prides herself on her low miles and she keeps it in good shape.

Is there really a demand on her car?

Not knowing all the details of her car because I'm not a car person, I tried estimating her car's worth on Edmunds site and it was like 5,000 that she could maybe get if she tried to sell it locally which isn't that much to show demand. 5,000 would never be enough for her to sell it.

Thanks!

 

Oh, that's nice.

Volvo wants your money, and only your money. Now, what happens here, is the car has very low miles. They know they can sell it for between 10-$12000 to a volvo passionate (dealer prices are higher than market value). But, they will offer her a nice $4000. So yes, they know they are making good money on this. As for the market value, if she is selling it by herself, I would guess a reasonable price would be around $8500.

Of course, the best for her is to keep it as long as she keeps driving.

 

It's just a generic letter that gets sent out to many people in hopes they come and buy a new car. Of course, there are people in the internet who think its some ploy to rip her off. The mailer goes out to people with older cars to get them to come check out the new models so they can fall in love and buy one.

Your dealer is certainly not the only one to do this. If she is happy with the car, keep it.

 

I am a dealer in Florida. $4000 is a LOT of money for that car. I just checked on auction values, and these are the prices dealers are paying for that year, and model. Remember a couple of things. 40,000 miles is very rare on a 2002 model. I am ssuming showroom condition. So both of these will bump up the price. The average Joe won't pay anywhere near 10-12 K for that car. You can buy a 2010 Altima down here for that price. A dealer would love to have that car, but he is going to need to buy it at a price that will allow him to resell it at a profit. Check CL and Autotrader as to what the year make and model is selling for. And deduct 1500 from that as to what a dealer would pay for that car. Hope this helped and feel free to ask me any questions
05/06/14STATESVLRegular$650152,518AvgBLUE4GTAYes
05/06/14OHIORegular$1,200167,902AvgBLACK4GTAYes
05/07/14NEW MEX Regular$1,200152,674AvgBLUE4GTAYe
s05/08/14NYMETSKYRegular$450172,922BelowGOLD4GTEYes
05/08/14NEVADARegular$4001BelowBLUE4GTANo
05/15/14LOUISVLLRegular$1,850144,405AvgWHITE4GTAYes
05/20/14STATESVLLease$1,500123,998AvgWHITE4GTAYes
05/21/14SF BAYRegular$2,550125,370AboveORANGE4GTAYes
05/21/14SF BAYRegular$2,250132,194AboveBLUE4GTAYes
05/21/14NYRegular$1,200115,973AvgSILVER4GTAYes0
5/22/14CHICAGORegular$1,900101,412AboveBLUE4GTYes
05/23/14DFWRegular$1,050170,675AvgGOLD4GTAYes
05/27/14NYMETSKYRegular$550155,499BelowSILVER4GTAYes
05/28/14SAN DIEGRegular$700263,416AvgBLACK4GTAYes

Bod numbers are the prices a dealer paid. Above is the condition. And that means that particular car is ready to sell. Recon done. detailed, etc. Avg condition is your car as it is right now. Below is basically junk. The number following the price is mileage

 

Thanks guys for the quick responses. I think she'll just hold onto it. Figured it might be a ploy to get her to come back into the dealership to take a look around and fall in love.

You know older people...they don't like change. She likes her car just fine.

 

Dealers will sell a 2002 S40 with 100k miles for more than $4000. Yes, a 40k miles car is a rarity and people pay more for rarities since it's a Volvo. There was a recent post on Volvo forums about a 2003 S60 with 30k miles selling at the dealer for 19K. The poster was wondering if it's a good price to buy it. Volvo dealers are terribly greedy, and what they don't realize is in the end, it's the brand that will suffer. They were so greedy when it came with the XC90 transmission issues. They were simply lying in face the clients. And then they get along with it, careless. These people are in denial.

 

I have a question, since you are a dealer. Do you buy lists that have the names of people who recently bought a used car? Or is there a database you subscribe to?

The reason i am asking is that I used to get letters like this for a VW Jetta I bought from a private owner, no dealer involved. I also get letters from dealers and companies selling extended warranties for the vehicels I own. In the letters they know the make model and approximate mileage of my vehicles.

I have always wondered how they are getting this information, and have assumed the city/state is selling it to them.

 

You are misinformed. I know you like to paint with a broad brush that all dealers are greedy con artists and that's what forums like this are for. But you are misinformed.

 

You did not catch the fact that the thread you are referring to had been recently bumped by another poster, but the original question was asked back in 2007 when that 2003 would have been 4 years old. You also don't seem to realize that it is not the dealers that let down customers if there isn't an extended warranty period for a common major failure, but rather the factory. The dealer would go under in a hurry giving away free transmissions with no factory backing. Your view of dealers is terribly one sided.

 

Anybody who would even consider an 03 S 60 for $19K in 2014 would have to be classified as an....... Oh, I just can't say it. You guys fill in the blank