Rando

Has anyone traded in a 2013 v6 premium? I think I want to get rid of this car before it becomes a huge money pit now that the warranty is up. Unfortunately I've had a lot of issues with it and I know I won't find a buyer on craigslist with so much cash on hand. I kind of want a truck but I don't think I'm going to find anything I want that isn't insanely priced.

Anyone that has traded a similar car, what can I expect? I've actually never traded a car in before so any tips would be appreciated.

2013 Mustang 3.7L Premium
Pic: http://imgur.com/jh7Yadx
Window Sticker: http://services.forddirect.fordvehic...BP8AM1D5254391

44,000 miles
Original Owner
I have all service and part receipts

Mods:

• Tuned with Bama X4/SF4
• Airaid Cold Air Intake
• Steeda Shifter Base Bushing
• Roush Axle-Back Exhaust
• Mustang AMR Charcoal Wheel & Mickey Thompson Tire Kit - 18x8
• Modern Billet Upper & Lower Grille (dipped black)
• Dipped black chrome surround
• Laser cut and professionally installed 40% SolarGard window tint all around (including windshield)
• Custom Mustang Running Pony Racing Stripe Shift **** (Grabber Blue/Black Stripe)
• Pioneer TSD6802R 6x8 front speakers
• Panavise InDash Adjustable Cellphone Mount
• Automatic headlight/fog switch
• Raxiom Map Light LEDs
• LED license plate lights
• After market waterpump overflow hose that prevents the common waterpump issues with air getting into the system

Damage: Not much. I park miles away from everyone but that doesn't stop all of the ********.

• Passenger window scratch 1" long
• Rear end bumper has minor paint scratch from a fender bender. Can be professionally touched up or touched up with touchup paint.
• Occasional rock chip on the hood, all touched up.
• Leather steering wheel has normal wear
• Driver seat leather is extra wrinkly... has been since the day I got it from the factory. Thanks Ford

Rodsmustang

I looked at trading mine, and the most I could get out of them, was 21,000 but the kbb had it at 20,500 with 15,000 miles on the odometer. I would guess you would get 17500.

dave07

I know I tried to trade in my 2013 Mustang Gt Premium with 20,000 miles on it last month and was getting low balled by dealers. They offered me 22k for it. Up north you will really take it hit trading it in going into fall/winter. Nobody wants a RWD muscle car for winter driving. Not sure where you live but it might be beneficial to wait until spring.

Rando

I'm in Ohio and spring time is probably when I'd be ready to sell

tukatz

Sorry to hear about you having issues with yours. Mine is a 2014 V6 Premium convertible and the only issue I've had is the SelectShift button had to be replaced. Mine is nearing 36K miles and doing just fine.

dave07

I would look at KBB/Nada average trade in values and subtract 1-2k from that. It should get you close to what dealerships will offer you. You would be smart to go to different dealerships in the area as they all will offer you different values for your car.

14BlackGT

What kind of issues are you having? How 'bout a pic?

3point7

Well it's a nice list of mods but as I'm sure you know the dealerships aren't going to give you anything for them. In fact, in some cases, the dealerships may be hesitant to trade for a car with obvious aftermarket mods because of the possibility that one or more of them have been improperly installed and resulted in a car with issues. Among these are when they see a cold air kit has been installed because it raises the issue of whether or not the ECM has had an aftermarket tune applied. It's a bit of a red flag to a dealer.

Secondly is the issue of your "premium package". I know that it's not fair but a dealership is not going to give you anything extra for your premium package content over a base package content. There was a lengthy article discussing this very aspect of used car trading on Jalopnik recently. I know it sucks and I know it doesn't seem fair but the fact is they almost never give you anything extra for your premium or upgraded factory content and even if they do it will likely be pennies on the dollar for what the extra content cost you at the time of purchase. The article in question pretty much stated that you should probably just really, really like what the upgraded package has to offer and plan to keep the car because you will almost never get the amount back or even considered on a trade in. A fact that I can personally tell you is true. I once purchased a special edition (RS) Scion tC (no judging lol). At any rate, when I started looking to trade it for my Mustang the car was not worth any more than a standard entry level tC on trade and yet the special edition package added about $4000 to the price tag when I bought it new. Lost my butt on that one. Never again with the Toyota / Scion crap and never again with Southeast Toyota Finance.

It seems as though right now the S197 Mustangs are not bringing what a lot of owners would hope they should bring on trade in. A good friend of mine recently looked at trading his 2011 V6 Convertible with just 38K miles for a new 2015 Mustang. The dealership would only offer him $9000. He kept his convertible.

Personally I plan to just keep mine until its paid off and then use it as a weekend car. I figure over time the values will rise again. Once it's paid off I might get myself a truck for a daily driver. I'm sorry to hear that you have had issues with your car. Aside from a bit of hood corrosion mine has been trouble free. I am meticulous about maintenance and only run 93 octane but other than that not much. My only mod thus far has been a front strut brace and I got rid of the crappy Pirelli tires. What sort of issues have you had with yours?

shouldhavegottheGT

I was at the dealership this weekend looking at 2015 GTs. I've got a 13 premium with Nav and around the same miles as you. They offered $11k for my car. They really wouldn't budge from there. They had a bunch for sale starting at $15k-18k.

Mine also has mods but I would take them off. I don't know why you think this would become a money pit since the warranty is up. The new car becomes a money pit if you roll $5k into the new one. There are quite a few mustangs on here over 100k. Just take care of the car and it will take care of you.

Rando

Honestly, to many to post on here - water pump, LCA bushings, pony lights (4x now), notchy transmission, differential, trunk lid paint, steering wheel buttons not working properly, etc. I'd have to spend a few hours going through my service receipts. The biggest problem started in January.

Took my car in for a rough idle. They fixed the idle by replacing a valve but they also noticed a leak in the rear differential. The only thing they did was replace the gasket... genius. I did not notice they did this work otherwise I would have made them rebuild the entire rear on the spot.
Fast forward to August and I hear terrible sounds coming from the rear. I took it back to the dealership and they replaced my pinion bearing among other bearings. I've essentially been driving with rear end issues for over 6 months - that cannot be good for the longevity of my car. I only have 20,000 miles left on my powertrain warranty. My goal is to get rid of the car before that happens.

I know the mods and premium package aren't worth much if anything at all, but I have put together a super bad *** and unique v6 that has been babied. It won't sit on a lot for more than a week before some kid comes by and buys it. I have a nice trade piece on my hands but judging by the numbers you guys are throwing at me, it doesn't seem worth my time. I may wait a year or two and then put it on craigslist when the value becomes for reasonable for craigslist shoppers.

3point7

Waiting is probably your best bet unless you can find someone who really wants the car and is willing to pay what you want. Right now the dealerships just aren't giving worth while money for the S197's on a trade in. They will basically try to steal your car for as little as they can get it for.

The rough idle / valve replacement was likely a PCV valve. It's a $3 part from Rock Auto and a snap to replace. They probably charged you $20 to $40 to do that.

LCA bushings is a common issue with this car. Mine squeaks over speed bumps too. There is nothing Ford can do about it. Even if they replace your lower control arms the squeak is likely to come back. The problem is the bushings. The only thing I can suggest for it is to get some better aftermarket LCA's with better bushings in them.

With respect to the transmission, what do you mean by "notchy"? Is it difficult to shift or does it just feel like it's not grabbing like it should when you accelerate?

The steering wheel buttons I can't really comment on. It's not a common problem for sure. Mine have been flawless.

Trunk lid paint is unusual as well. Usually its the hood paint that has the issue due to corrosion. Mine had a few corrosion spots and the dealership repaired and repainted it under warranty.

I agree with "shouldhave", you got a decent car and it's got some nice mods on it. The dealerships just aren't going to give you what it's worth right now and probably not for the foreseeable future. If it was me I would just have the rear chunk completely rebuilt by a shop that knows what they are doing, not some "maybe so" "maybe not" crew at the dealership. While I was at it I'd replace the drive shaft with a one piece and look at aftermarket LCA's
The Mustang is a fun car but keep in mind that Ford, like every other car company, looks for ways to cut corners during the manufacturing process. This is why your rear axle isn't painted and probably has surface rust. It probably saves Ford 10 bucks an axle and that money goes into some corporate executives bonus for finding creative ways to save the company money. What we have in the Mustang is a car with a good foundation that suffers from bean counter disease. You have to make into the bulletproof and bad *** car that it fully can be.

JonsMustang

Didn't the Trade in Value dropped because of the airbag recall?

SpectreH

Possibly. I wonder how bad VW's have dropped in value with their emissions scandal.

WhiteBird00

I'm afraid that in this case Jalopnik is full of hot air. Depending on what is included in a premium package, it can often make a significant difference in trade-in value. In this case, premium includes leather seating which always has value. In fact, the difference between my premium '11 V6 and a base V6 is about $800 according to KBB (even more when the Pony package and Nav are added). Granted, that's not a huge difference but it's better in my pocket than the dealers. I've worked in and around the automotive industry for 40 years (including 15 in dealerships) and I've never heard of factory premium options being worthless at trade-in... aftermarket mods certainly but not factory additions.

JCStang

When I bought my 14 GT got a great deal because of rebates and the additional cash....when I traded it in got right around 90% of what I paid for it. I didn't feel too bad with that.....of course it had very low miles and was mint....

3point7

Yes but keep in mind that almost no dealership is going to use KBB. They will almost always use the NADA value. Additionally I should have been clear in saying that added option content is not necessarily worth zero on a trade it. It's just not going to bring anywhere near what the customer paid for it new and overall the added price of the added content declines much farther and faster than that of the overall value of the car. So for instance on NADA a Premium Mustang vs a Base Mustang V6 is wroth about $800 to $1200 more depending on content but that's a package that adds anywhere from $3000 to $5000 at time of purchase. It all just depends on how much you like it.

See the following numbers to see what I mean. Might make better sense than just describing it.

2013 V6 Mustang prices

V6
$22200 Retail
$20924 Invoice
$18,181 Instant Market Value

V6 Premium
$26200 Retail
$24170 Invoice
$19,015 Instant Market Value

So an added cost of $4000 two years ago gets you an extra $834 today. That's a loss of 79% of the value of the cost of the premium package content in two years. Makes one wonder if its worth it no?

Unfortunately its even worse for the GT drivers with a difference of just shy of $700 in trade in value between the Base GT and Premium GT. Ouch!!!


I had not considered the airbag recall affecting the trade in value but it makes sense.

http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/2013-Fo...g-Price-c23252

WhiteBird00

Agreed... there is no doubt that the "add-on" options usually depreciate much faster than the rest of the vehicle. They still add value to a trade-in but not nearly what they cost so it's not a good idea to buy them for their value. Buy them because you want what's included for your own appreciation. There are some exceptions that can actually increase in value like certain limited edition packages or engine/tranny combinations that become desirable when a car starts to be collectible.

And now that I think about it, there have been some premium options that become worthless over time because of changes in technology. I spent a chunk of change getting the AM stereo/FM stereo/cassette premium sound system in a 3rd generation Camaro only to find that a few years later there were no AM stereo stations left to listen to.

3point7

There are still several AM stations here but they are all talk radio oriented. The sound quality on FM is just so much better for music but we even have a number of FM stations that are talk radio. Truth be told I listen to talk radio more than music stations because modern day music is just such a let down. I'm usually listening to either political radio or ESPN radio.

Springer200

Exactly!
The current example of this is Navigation systems. Road & Track had a good article on that a while back, confirming what I was thinking - those are often several thousand dollar options that are essentially worth $0, or potentially even negative, if you trade the car in. (Technology changes in cell phones has rendered Nav systems essentially useless, and upgrading the maps, etc is a pain, and expensive.


The "collectability" example is good, but I would assume really rare. You would typically have to hold on to the car for a long time, or find a buyer who recognizes the rarity and places some value on it.

JonsMustang

Hey! Leave the Nav system out of this lol...