Determining what price to pay for a used car?

Can anyone please tell me what to make of these price ranges and how I am supposed to determine what the dealer paid for trade-in and what I should pay for the car?

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2005 Toyota Corolla CE Sedan 4D with 35,289 miles

- asking price $11,991



KBB.com:

Vehicle Condition:

Retail Excellent: $14,225

Private Party (Fair Good Excellent):

$10,090 $11,080 $11,845

Trade-in (Fair Good Excellent):

$7,820 $8,910 $9,550



Edumunds.com:

2005 Toyota Corolla CE 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl 5M)

Trade-In - Private Party - Dealer Retail

$8,730 - $9,724 - $10,521



Nadaguides.com

Clean Trade-In - Clean Retail Value

$9,700 - $11,650Determining what price to pay for a used car?
1) You will never be able to determine what the dealer paid for the car.



2) It doesn't matter what the dealer paid for the car because his cost doesn't change the price he will ask.



3) The dealer's objective is to allow you to pay the absolute maximum you will pay for the car.



Read item 3 carefully because it is the key to buying the car. The dealer will work you in all possible ways to get you to increase your offer. Starts with a salesman, then a closer, maybe a second closer, and ultimately a deal. Until he is convinced you are ready to walk out the door, he will work you.



Brief explanation of prices and car grading:



1) Each car is evaluated for its quality relative to cars of that same age. The fair, good, excellent refer to this evaluation and determine an approximate value corresponding to the three prices you list. A car rated as "good" that is 10 years old will not have the same apperance or wear as a 2 year old car that is rated as "good." This rating is based on how it fits into the population of all cars that are the same age as the car being evaluated. Only about the top 5% of used cars will grade as excellent. If a dealer has a lot full of cars that he proclaims are graded as excellent, he probably isn't being honest. "Clean" and "good" have basically the same meaning in this context. This is the category for most used cars. A car graded as "fair" has a lot of wear and tear for its age.



2) A private party price is the price you would expect to pay if you bought from an individual rather than a dealer. It is usually about half way between the trade-in price and the dealer retail price. This way, both the buyer and seller win. Selller gets more than trade-in and buyer gets a car below retail.



3) Depending on how good you are at negotiating, you should be able to buy the car at roughly the dealer retail price. He won't sell much below retail because he knows that someone else is willing to pay that price or more. Set a hard price limit for yourself at the "good" dealer retail price. Don't go above that price. Try to get a deal at a few hundred $ less. Walk away if they won't meet your hard price limit, there are other dealers/cars that you can buy at that price. Once you have reached agreement on price, condition the sale on a third party inspection that requires the car grades as "good" or better, and if not, the dealer will do the necessary repairs to bring it to the "good" or better level. The 3rd party inspection will cost you about $100-$150, depending on location, and can be done at the dealers lot.Determining what price to pay for a used car?
With the trade-in, the dealer is paying a customer ALOT less and they will go on to mark a car price up significantly when they try to se it.



With any car sell, talk them down as much as possible!Determining what price to pay for a used car?
I would throw out the KBB value...they are always inflated. The average for the Edmunds and NADA value is around $11000...I would start at $10000 and work your way up slowly. If you can get it for under $11000 you did ok.
i think 10 grand would bea fair pricebased on the numbers you gave