www.kbb.com has the trade in value for the car at $41.2K to $45.2K. Figure at 10% mark up that puts the car's retail price in the $50K range.
(I took a guess at the color and options. If you want a more "precise" estimate go there and enter all the details. Check out
www.nada.com too.)
At $55K that's a pretty optimistic price. 'course, that's how dealers roll.
(FWIW, back in 2009 I traded in a very good condition 2006 GTO with just under 50K miles.Got $15K and change. Porsche dealer owner also owned a GM dealer and a few weeks later I found the car on its used car lot for $18999, marked down from $21999.)
If you want the car and decide after a careful inspection of the car it is worth owning offer less. I'm pretty aggressive when it comes to negotiating car prices so I'd start out close to "trade in" and put a cap on how high I'd go and it would stop well short of $55K.
Financing an extended warranty is going to be expensive. In fact financing the used car is likely to be expensive. But if you have to finance you have to finance. Just thinking out loud maybe that's a bit too much (in terms of dollars) car for you?
But an extended warranty might be called for. With just 4K miles the car is still very new and can manifest a number of possible new car problems as you use it and add miles to it.
General rule of thumb with a used car is to have 10% of the car's purchase price in reserve to have just in case something goes wrong. You have the cash on hand to get the car repaired and back on the road. So in the case of the Hellcat you are looking at around $5K and maybe more is called for. That's a pretty expensive car and as a result service and especially repairs are going to run you more than a lower cost model.
For used car inspection let me paste something you might find of some value:
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The Dodge Charger Hellcat (and pretty much any Dodge or for that matter any used car) is just a used car so you should inspect/check everything.
My general advice is to visit the car cold, open the hood and check the oil level, leaving the hood open. Give the other vital fluids level a good look to see if any are low. Any low fluid levels could be a warning sign. (I mean if the seller can't be bothered to top up the fluids before offering the car for sale...)
In the car start the engine. Be sure all warning lights come on and then go off once the engine has started. Pay particular attention to the CEL. Be sure the A/C is off. You test the A/C later.
Let the engine idle from cold. You want to listen for any signs of ticking/noises or any other signs the engine, or in the case of a Hellcat the supercharger, may not be healthy. A rough idle, backfires, spitting back, anything out of the ordinary. This includes any untoward supercharger noises.
Get out of the car and walk around the car checking body panel finish, alignment, and gaps. Check tail light fit.
Note the condition of the wheels, looking for any curb rash. Wheel contact with a curb hard enough to cause rash can put the alignment out. Check the tires. Ideally they should be factory sanctioned tires and in good condition. Check the brakes, look at the rotors for signs of damage/excessive wear. A big lip around the rotor outer diameter suggests a lot of wear and new front rotors are hella expensive.
Check the hood and trunk hinges for any signs the fasteners have had wrenches on them. At the front carefully check the radiator fasteners for any signs of wrenching. Check the front fender fasteners have no wrench sign. You might save this for after the test ride/drive so the engine is off.
After some few minutes -- the longer the better -- and with the engine still running ok and sounding ok have the seller take you on a test ride. The route should be around 15 miles long and chosen to give the driver a chance to demo the car as you intend to use it. What is wanted is a mix of city driving with stop and go, steady moderate speed cruising on like a boulevard, and some highway/freeway driving.
If equipped with an automatic while it is still "cold" have the driver perform an K-turn to see how the transmission responds to repeated and rapid changes in direction.
Ideally there should be some opportunities -- once the engine is up to temperature -- for some rather hard acceleration with the driver starting out from a standstill or a slow roll and accelerating hard up through at least a couple of gears. No need to smoke the tires or try to duplicate the factory's 0 to 60mph time -- believe me the Hellcat is one fast car and if you end up owning one you can experience this -- in stages -- on your own at your own speed -- but you want to experience the engine under hard acceleration to verify it pulls good, runs right, and afterwards shows no ill effects from the hard acceleration. Also, that the auto shifts ok or if a manual the driver has no difficulties in going from gear to gear.
While as a passenger of course pay attention to how the transmission shifts, how the car rides, feels. The car should not want to pull to one side or the other and the hard acceleration should give the driver a chance to perform a hard braking. No tire lock up but you want to verify the brakes have plenty of bite and the car tracks straight under hard braking.
With the transmission up to temperature, or at least warmer -- have the driver do the K-turn test again.
After the 15 mile test ride then back at the starting point -- leaving the engine running -- get behind the wheel and drive the car over the same 15 mile test route and drive it pretty much the same way although since the car is unknown to you you can dial back on the hard acceleration test. You don't want to let the car get away from you and wrap it around a telephone pole.
Before you shut off the engine after all the above if you want to be really thorough have an OBD2 code reader with you and know how to use it to check for any active (CEL will be on but if the CEL is burned out...), pending, or permanent error codes. Pending can arise if the engine controller is having difficulty with the readiness monitors. Permanent codes are codes that while they can be "cleared" to extinguish the CEL only the engine controller can erase the code after so many warm up cycles with error condition absent.
Ideally you would want the readiness monitors all set to complete. The engine controller has managed this during the test ride/drive and this is a good sign the engine and its sensors and emissions control hardware (like the converters) is healthy.
After your 15 mile test drive then at the starting point if you still like the car confirm all systems work. From the head lights to the tail lights. From the horn to the back up camera (if fitted). The A/C. Check all the controls. The wipers. Everything.
At this point if you still like the car and believe you can buy it for a good price -- based on your market research -- it is good idea to arrange to have the car given a pre-purchase inspection (PPI) by a tech who is qualified to evaluate the car. A Dodge dealer tech can be used. These guys evaluate trade ins all the time.
This gets the car in the air so a check can be made for any leak sign. At the same time a check can be made for any signs of damage or damage repair.
The road test is important. You want to really experience the car in its natural state: Engine running and on the road. All cars generally look good on the lot. But it is how they look and run and feel and sound and smell on the road, or after being on the road, that really matters.
Unless the seller can supply paper work the services are current or you can run the VIN through a Dodge dealer and get a list of services budget for various services: oil/filter, brake fluid flush/bleed, etc.
Tires should be on good condition as so should brakes. If tires are worn unevenly budget for an alignment assuming wear is not severe enough to suspect the car's bent. In this case you don't want an alignment you want to walk away from the car.
Be sure you get some reliable confirmation of what warranty is in effect and when it expires on either time or at what miles.
Remember these things: Price is not fact only an opinion. And there is always another car. If you find something seriously negative about this car don't feel you have to buy it. There is another car out there you'll like just as much if not more than this one and it won't have any negatives.
