I hate to say it, but the dealers have more room to deal than you think. I bought my 04 Hemi 2x4 Single cab sport slt package, 20's with all the goodies including leather for 19,650. It was Dec 29 and they wanted to deal. I think I got a good deal. Eric

 

Check with your dealer and get me a price or I could buy yours.

 

I got what I think is a real good deal on my truck (but keep in mind that mine is an '03). I got it right when the '04's came out, so they were trying to get rid of all the '03's. I got an '03 quad cab with the 20's, body side molding, tow package, fog lights, fold-flat storage, 3.92 rearend, out the door with TTL for $24,500.

 

I began to wonder about depreciation. Everyone talks about how autos depreciate most in first couple of years. The question I have is how is depreciation calculated?

From the MSRP or that actual price you pay for the vehicle. If they use the MSRP, then depreciation is terrible.

Most dealers I spoke with just about matched the rebate amount in dealer discount.

BTW, I found out an interesting tidbit. Everyone knows the end of the month is the best time to buy, right. Well the dealers pay interest on the inventory based upon what is in stock on the 2nd day of the month. So you actually have 1 more day to deal! You have to take delivery by the 1st to make the best deal.

 

Wow thanks for all the great responses It appears to be a good deal as I used cars.com and edmunds.com to send out for quotes from dealers and only one of them beat this price, but that truck did not have the Hemi which I want. So how do these Dodges hold up ?? I have never owned a full size truck before but I have had 3 Toyota 4X4's and I currently own a 98 Durango 4X4 but I looked at new Tacoma's and they just feel to small. I am selling my 03 Cobra so I hope the Hemi has enough HP to keep me happy Are there any known issues with the Hemi engines ??

Thanks.

Jeff B.

 

Klute, depreciation has no formula to calculate it when it comes to used vehicles. The value of a used vehicle is what it can be sold for. When trading in a truck, the dealer either wants to sell it himself, or if it doesn't fit into his inventory he will wholesale the truck. Wholesale auctions happen at least once a week, and sometimes 2 or 3 times depending on the location and market. In Texas you don't have such high depreciation on trucks and suv's because you can sell them yourself and make a good price and it'll move quickly. The higher demand their is for a used vehicle the higher its resale. Unfortunately with Dodge discounting the heck out our trucks we start at a lower price than what we paid. After all, if it retailed for 30K and a year later its worth 18K, we know that almost nobody must have paid 30K when it was new. Another factor of demand of course is supply. In north Tx Dodge passed GM for truck sales summer before last, so the market was flooded with Dodges and the values dropped. Anyway, the value is only what someone is willing to buy it for.

 

Edmunds.com has True Cost to Own calculations for most vehicles. It assumes 15,000 miles per year, financing cost, taxes, insurance and fuel costs, as well as initial cost and trade-in value. I checked before I bought my truck and for my truck, Dodge faired pretty well. My regular cab short bed 4x4 came in at 53 cents per mile and that includes $3000 in finance charge, or 4 cents per mile, which I won't end up paying. FYI, Chevy Silverado 1500 - 51 cents, GMC Sierra 1500 - 55 cents, Ford F-150 - 56 cents, Toyota Tundra - 52 cents, & the Nissan Titan - 53 cents. These numbers vary several cents in either direction depend on truck configuration. Hope this helps.

 

what???? for how much, not that i have a dollar to offer, but that is my dream car. i'll trade ya the hemi for a week[sm=tongue.gif]