Date:         Sun, 2 Feb 1997 00:45:39 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Rick Gordon <rickgo@halcyon.com>
Subject:      re  EV Pricing and EV sightings

>
>1. How much above or below retail book value did you end up paying?=20
>2. Which is more relevant, Kelley's or Edmunds?
>3. When those books give the value to the options and accessories, are =
>those the retail value or the trade in value?
>4. When buying a VW from a non-VW dealer, are they more motivated to get =
>the van off their lot?=20
>4a. Is that dealer likely to low ball a trade in when it's not his =
>brand?

Matt, out of all your questions the only one I can answer from experience
is #2:
Kelley's pricing guides seemed to be more accurate a reflection of prices
for Vanagons in the PNW.
As far as negotiating goes: the usual advice is to get the best bargain
that you can for the vehicle you're buying, only after that should you
attempt to deal on the trade-in. The goal is to try to eliminate the
padding that the dealer is building into the sales price - often they will
give you a higher price for your tradein only to add it to the purchase
price of the one you're buying.

Regarding the EV K2 sighting in Vermont - I saw an EV painted up weird in
front of a snowboard shop in downtown Seattle the other night. I didn't see
the front, but the back had a "Drivers Wanted" logo on it, and it was some
color scheme that looked almost tie-dyed. (It was also dusk and this thing
was parked under the Alaska Way Viaduct so who knows what it looked like in
daylight!)

-rick

Rick Gordon
Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
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