I will be shopping for an evo in about 9 months and am wondering what I should expect to get for my trade in, which is an '03 Lancer with 80k on it. Also does the fact that my car is modded increase or decrease it's trade in value? I have basic mods: an intake, exhaust, rims, and the rrm ecu.

 

mods always decrease, your car is probably worth $5k

 

Damn that sucks that mods decrease value...I think I'll try to sell it privately for a couple months for like 6-7k then if no one buys it I'll bit the bullet and take the 4-5 that the dealer will give me.

 

Yeah, mods decrease in value to some. If you have mods and can't go back to stock set-up i suggest on selling it privately. Dealerships never give you your money back and im sure most people know that. I would also suggest looking on the KBB. I'm sure you can find someone that would love a lancer for a DD and likes mods on it. Other than that dealership is the only way to go. What type of Evolution you looking into getting?

 

i sent u a pm orange...

yeah the dealer will always undercut ya from the kbb.... i had a bad experience from what u are trying to do, so just becarefull... oh, stay away from hollywood motors in el cajon, ca at all costs

 

i got offered $3,000 trade in on my 03 with like 65,000miles and i was trading for an 07 civic si.. only mod i had was my window tint at the time
i said F#UCK that!

 

I sold my '02 OZ a few months ago for an Evo X. It had 60,000 miles and 2 carfax incidents (minor accidents). Dealer offered me like $3,500 at first, but I got them up to $4,500. They wouldn't budge over that - told me it was worth $5k but the accidents dropped it down.

I listed it on AutoTrader for $7,500 and had 4 or 5 different people interested but couldn't be bothered setting up times for everyone to come see it, I just wanted to get rid of it. I wound up selling it to a family friend for $5500.

Selling private is the way to go if you don't mind waiting and dealing with meeting prospective buyers after work, on the weekends, etc. I was about to just trade it in to the dealer but found a buyer at the last minute. You will get more money if the car is de-modded too.

 

WOW! Window tint should have made the value go up. Thats just a plain rip off!

 

yeah well the dealership didnt want my car on their lot
because they had all nice cars the guy straight out told me they didnt want my car on the lot so if i traded it in they would re-sell it to a cheapo used car lot

 

Dang thats messed up. I would never trade in my car now just because of that story

 

every one is diffrent i got $7300 for mine no mods except the front bumper. Some dealers are just dicks some are awesome it depends on them.

 

Things like tint, rims, and upgraded sound system like i have will not decrease the value...you will see some return on those.....I bought my car a year ago for $5500 and as of right now it still blue books at $6300.

 

except no dealer will pay blue book value unfortunatly except well i think carmax

 

u will never make ANY return on a traded-in car, mods or not. If you're selling it, go private party. Trade-ins will ALWAYS be an a**-raping no matter what dealership you go to anywhere in the country.

 

We just traded in our 08 GTS with leather and loaded with all factory options and ended up losing out about 2k on the deal. had the car almost exactly one year. Traded it in on a Evox GSR. All in all, 2k lost in 1 year on that car, I felt great.