So I recently got in a little fender bender with my '02 Sonata, ended up I had hail damage on the roof too (who looks at their roof anyways?). After about a week, the insurance company decided to total it. I can either take the car and recieve $2200 (the fender bender repairs cost $3800), or I can choose to get rid of it and recieve $3000 to put towards a new car.

I'm specifically set on a Sonata after owning one already. I've been trying to shop around a bit, but I haven't seen any 2002 models around. I've seen several 2003 and 2004 models. One in particular is a 2004 Sonata (base trim) at a Kia dealership, listed for $7,990 with a total milage of 99,581. Don't get me wrong, I'd love something with less milage, but I simply don't have the money. I'm not having a good feeling about this pricing though either.

I could use some pointers on how I can talk this guy down and I'm looking for the price to go down about $2,000 for how many miles are on the car.

A friend is going with tomorrow morning to help bargain for me; he doesn't believe this car to be worth more than $5,000 and all things considered, he thinks that's pretty generous in itself. There is some minor paint problems on the driver's side door; some paint is chipping around the handle and similar areas. I believe that will give me some leverage, but I'm unsure how to talk him down a couple thousand.

Any pointers? Is this dealers pricing legitimate?

Also: the salesman told me the kelley bluebook value of '04 Sonata with around 100,000 mi. was around $9000. I looked it up online and it turned out being only $8,000 for Excellent condition. This car is probably Good at tops, but not excellent.

This post has been edited by shinycow: Aug 30 2008, 01:11 AM

dude i got an 03 lx with all the options for 8,500 and 72k on the odo. your friend is right if its base, i would say act like your really interested in the car and talk about all the features it doesnt have right in front of the salesman then talk about its high milage. if he still wants that for it get rediculous and tell him you'll just have to go elsewhere. they usually come down quick when you threaten to leave a sale. i would say 6k is fair for that car, maybe 6.5 if the dealer refuses to go that low