Wholesale value of the 2011 Leaf @Auction March 2018

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If you can find someone willing to sell you a car for $4K, take it. That's dealer wholesale without commission.

There are some guys that have dealer licenses that will buy you a car at auction, and sell it to you for $500 above wholesale plus fees, but they are getting harder and harder to find.
 
Here is the June results for a 2011 SL. Manheim has a new presentation format that gives more options for estimating wholesale value of a vehicle now:

2011_LEAF_SL_Wholesale_06-06-17.png
 
Hello OrientExpress,

Could you help comment on the "trade-in" value of a 2011 Leaf SL with a new battery pack?
Will auto dealers "factor" that in as a consideration when it comes to establishing a trade-in value?

Here's my dilemma: I need the SF Bay Area carpool lane sticker next year, and we don't know what's the best thing to do with BOTH our 2011 Leaf SL's. From your latest (March 2018) data, does it mean "less than $4k" or worse, is the expected "trade-in" ?

Both our Leafs have new packs installed last year, via a 80/20 settlement with Nissan. They are still 12 bar vehicles. The mileage on one vehicle is 80k miles and another is 70k miles. My gut tells me to just keep the cars forever, maybe make some side money renting out both the cars on Turo.

Any advice is most appreciated! Thanks.
 
mxp said:
Could you help comment on the "trade-in" value of a 2011 Leaf SL with a new battery pack?
Will auto dealers "factor" that in as a consideration when it comes to establishing a trade-in value?

Here's my dilemma: I need the SF Bay Area carpool lane sticker next year, and we don't know what's the best thing to do with BOTH our 2011 Leaf SL's. From your latest (March 2018) data, does it mean "less than $4k" or worse, is the expected "trade-in" ?

Both our Leafs have new packs installed last year, via a 80/20 settlement with Nissan. They are still 12 bar vehicles. The mileage on one vehicle is 80k miles and another is 70k miles. My gut tells me to just keep the cars forever, maybe make some side money renting out both the cars on Turo.

Any advice is most appreciated! Thanks.

MXP:
Generally, dealers establish a trade-in value as the low end of the wholesale auctions values, and don't offer any consideration for things like a new battery (but may deduct if the battery is degraded). On the other hand, they will usually put a selling premium on the car if it does have a recently replaced traction battery. It's the nature of the business, buy low, sell high. A dealer will usually assume that you the customer have no insight into the wholesale values of your vehicle, and may try to lowball you even more depending on how well the car presents itself when you go to negotiate.

Everyone that I have talked to in the local community that have traded their 2011 LEAF for a 2018 have been reporting trade-in values of about $4K. The good thing is that values have bottomed out, and won't go much lower. Timing for obtaining a new car is also a consideration. You will get a better deal on a new 2018 if you wait till about August/September and the 2019 model year transition. You LEAFs will still be worth about the same at that time too.

You may want to consider selling your LEAF yourself, that may bring in an extra grand or so. Or you may want to keep them if they are serviceable and use them to generate rental income.

Keep in mind that the cars are almost 8 years old, and are entering the period that all cars go through where many of the soft items on the car like hoses, brakes, trim, and suspension pieces start to need replacement. Expect that you will end up spending at least a grand on general parts replacement in the next year or so for the car, assuming that a major assembly does not end up going bad.

If the carpool sticker is your primary concern you may want to reconsider that too, as even the carpool lanes here in the valley are jammed at drive time.

Hope this helps.
 
Many thanks for your advice.

OrientExpress said:
MXP:
Generally, dealers establish a trade-in value as the low end of the wholesale auctions values, and don't offer any consideration for things like a new battery (but may deduct if the battery is degraded). On the other hand, they will usually put a selling premium on the car if it does have a recently replaced traction battery. It's the nature of the business, buy low, sell high. A dealer will usually assume that you the customer have no insight into the wholesale values of your vehicle, and may try to lowball you even more depending on how well the car presents itself when you go to negotiate.

Everyone that I have talked to in the local community that have traded their 2011 LEAF for a 2018 have been reporting trade-in values of about $4K. The good thing is that values have bottomed out, and won't go much lower. Timing for obtaining a new car is also a consideration. You will get a better deal on a new 2018 if you wait till about August/September and the 2019 model year transition. You LEAFs will still be worth about the same at that time too.

You may want to consider selling your LEAF yourself, that may bring in an extra grand or so. Or you may want to keep them if they are serviceable and use them to generate rental income.

Keep in mind that the cars are almost 8 years old, and are entering the period that all cars go through where many of the soft items on the car like hoses, brakes, trim, and suspension pieces start to need replacement. Expect that you will end up spending at least a grand on general parts replacement in the next year or so for the car, assuming that a major assembly does not end up going bad.

If the carpool sticker is your primary concern you may want to reconsider that too, as even the carpool lanes here in the valley are jammed at drive time.

Hope this helps.
 
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