(First-time poster, if the way I write my message doesn't give it away . . .)
I've searched the internet for a couple of days now and can't find anywhere on Edmund's, etc., that addresses my situation very well at all. I hope y'all don't mind me asking for advice. I have no clue. I'm including all the information I can think about that might be important. If I'm leaving out important facts, please tell me.
I've been looking to buy a relatively new, low-mileage Durango. Finally went to dealership yesterday, they're able to locate a "new" Durango within my budget. The "new" ones they're finding for me are '08s, though. Still cool, though, since it would mean that many more miles I can put on it myself instead of worrying about who had it before me. Also, this would give me a lifetime limited powertrain warranty, which would be good. I want to keep a vehicle and use it for many years until I feel like I've really gotten my money's worth, so if it'll last me
100-150k miles for a reasonable price, I'm fine with that.
The question I'm having is how such a vehicle should be priced. I can find all kinds of comparisons on "new" vehicles that are '09s or '10s, but nothing on am '08 that a dealer just didn't sell. I asked them why such a vehicle would still be on a dealer's lot (and there are quite a few of them like that), and most of them are there because either they're V6s that weren't very desirable or they just ordered too many new '08s back before the price of gas went way up and the economy tanked. Or so they said, at least.
We're now talking about a deal on an '08 Durango with the V8 upgrade, third-row seats (not the split, 3-person kind, though), running boards,
18" wheels instead of 17" . . . basically it's the SXT "D" upgrade package that comes with the V8. It's "new" MSRP is $30,775, it's base price before the 26D (I think that's what it's called, I'm not looking at the printout) upgrade was $26,875.
My trade-in is a 2002 Explorer SLT that has 135k miles on it, unrepaired (pretty substantial) hail damage, needs new tires badly and the interior looks like my two kids have ridden in it for a million miles since they were babies. Which, of course, they have. It runs fine, though, and I keep wondering if I should even mess with trading it in at all, but . . . I'm afraid it's on borrowed time, and I have a little cash to use for bargaining right now, which isn't always the case.
The deal they quoted me was, after my trade-in (which they have not seen), $24,000. TT&L on top of that.
Now, this whole process upsets me and makes me want to go and hide somewhere, but the most confusing part of it to me is . . . even though this car is "new" and I'll be the first owner, it is still a 2008. Seems like they'd be more ready to get rid of it than that. Of course, it isn't on MY dealer's inventory . . . they're going to have to go all the way from smack in the middle of Texas to somewhere in Oklahoma to pick it up. If it were just sitting around their own lot, I'm sure they'd be more ready to deal.
What I really want is 3 rows of seats, AC for the back row, V8, and the security of knowing that it's got plenty of time left for me to put a zillion miles on it over the next 7-10 years. Personally, I don't care about whether it's an '08 or an '09. I just don't want to get screwed on the deal and have to stew about it for the next four years while I'm paying for it AND every day when I get into it to go to work.
??? If you don't have time to answer, I'd be happy if you sent me to a website that addresses the situation of a previous model year Durango still being "new" on a dealer's lot, and how that should affect its price.
Thank you for reading through all this.
--Kristi