Well, we bought the second TM. I don't know if I'm happy or annoyed or relieved or what. The unit had had only one owner, a retired couple and I do not exaggerate when I say it was like new inside and out. It had always been stored in the garage too. And it had some options I hadn't included in my previous NADA calculation.
Before we went to see it I pulled a bunch of listed 2619's from Craigslist and other sources with their NADA values to see what the average asking price was as compared to the values. 1.35% of NADA average seems to be the average asking price. They were asking 1.85% for this unit. Since all the other units are in other states, we also had to factor in our cost of lost work time and travel to buy elsewhere than close to home. Even with figuring in those extras over high retail NADA, the dealership turned down my highest offer. Luckily or unluckily my husband overrode me, went up again and they accepted.
But I did think of something that made me feel a little better. There is a huge underground market for TM's in the sense that most exceptional units are sold before they are even listed, like this one was with us. If all I have for value data is NADA and asking prices, it is a very small part of the picture. The demand out here is very high(Colorado Springs area). We've been shopping seriously for half a year and the ones prices under $15K usually go before I even get a chance to look at them. And who knows about the ones that never make it to the listing stage. And
every unit we'd seen at other dealerships or from private sellers were listed at 1.1-1.5% of NADA and had a serious issue or two that would need correction. Which means $$. At least with this one we paid more but everything is pristine and ready to go.
I just wish the pricing and values of this stuff were more transparent so I could make sense of the math of it.
