Topic: '02 Aerio Sedan

[wtd]

So, the wife and I currently have an '85 Civic sedan.  It's beginning to show its age, and we've begun thinking about replacing it.  I had not given even the slightest thought to Suzuki (the Swift+ being the first thing to come to mind), but then I saw about half a million posts on this forum praising the Aerio, especially as a used buy.

The wife tracked down a used Aerio sedan in the area and we took it for a test drive today.  I was not entirely thrown off by the digital cluster, and overall left feeling somewhat impressed.  The only real fault I found was that the turn signal lever was shorter than I'm used to.  Yes the interior is a whole lot of hard plastic, but that's something of a given in the kind of vehicle we're considering. 

My wife was more impressed than I.  Of course, coming from the twenty year old Civic, it might not take a whole lot to impress, and there's a certain "oooh... shiny" factor in it for both of us.

They want around $14k for it, with 50k kilometers.  It's the SX Sport version, fully loaded aside from keyless entry.  Is this a reasonable price?

Additionally, when asked the dealer informed us that this car has been on their lot (Chrysler dealer) for five weeks.  If we decided to pursue this, would that amount of time provide us any advantage in terms of price negotiation?

Thanks in advance for any ideas you can provide.

[yugrus]

Of course it depends on where you live, but $14K sounds quite steep to me. Or is this "on-the-road"?
As far as I remember, sedans were called GL and GLX in 2002. SX and S were hatchbacks.
"Sport" is unknown "version" I'm sure. Is it heavily "modded"? Manual or automatic?

For this kind of money you can get '05 demo (manual, but with keyless) in GTA. 2002 sedan I'm sure could be bought for about $9K without bargaining. C'mon, the brand new '06 SX Auto, packed with everything could be bought for about $19K now, including analog dash, side airbags and automatic climate control...

[wtd]

Yes, I belatedly realized I should have mentioned location.  It's automatic, and I'm in Vancouver.

[yugrus]

Yeah, you guys have different market then... Still, $5K new vs '02 does not seem right. I assume prices on the new vehicles are the same? 
Oh, with '06 you also get 2.3L 155hp engine, instead of 2.0L 140hp...
Something still does not add up, like why did they call it SX Sport(?) if it is in fact sedan? I assume they gave it "Sport" version because of some "performance" mods?

[wtd]

Honestly I didn't look that closely at the badging, so it's possible the person who listed the Aerio on their site simply screwed up.  (But, if it's on the web it must be true!)

KBB seems to suggest a retail price in the neighborhood of $12,500CAD when adjusted from USD, so as you alluded to, ~$14,000 incorporating taxes would seem reasonable. 

In looking futher, the same source suggests the trade-in value of the same vehicle, when being conservative and saying it qualifies as "excellent" condition, is roughly $8000.  Even at around $14,000 w/ taxes included, the dealer is making about a fifty percent profit.  Is this unreasonable? 

I did all of the pricing based on a Bellingham, WA zip code as it is the nearest U.S. location to where we live.

[Zoo]

Not a bad deal if you can get the dealer closer to $14000. Of course with any used vehicle purchase get it checked out by a mechanic. Real Suzukis (not rebadged Daewoo like the new Swift+) are very well built, underappreciated cars. This would be a good choice if you can swing a decent deal for yourself.

        Good luck!

[sterling]

Canadian Black Book is $8900-$10000 on that car. Black Book lists a sedan and fastback variant for every trim level, GL, GLX,and SX.

[siwash]

14K?  Buddy, do your self a favour and book a flight to toronto and buy a brand new one here for that much!!! I know for a fact that Downtown Suzuki still has a few new 05's and their listing them at about $14500. I know this b/c i was recently in the market for a new Aerio and I decided not to buy new.

You can get even better deals on year-old demos of the same vintage.



Walk away from that deal for sure...


If that's normal pricing Vancouverites are getting ripped off big time

[wtd]

Saw an '03 hatchback at a Suzuki dealer that's a bit further way.  41,000km and asking $12,995.

[Scaerio]

Saw an '03 hatchback at a Suzuki dealer that's a bit further way.  41,000km and asking $12,995.

That makes more sense, but the trip to TO makes the most!

[wtd]

Talked the Suzuki dealer with the '03 hatch down to $11,700.