WTB 2009+ 370Z Coupe 6MT w/Sport Package [300 miles around NYC]

JDubya

Trade prices are not vague in the manner you are describing, they are vague based on things like location(supply/demand in the area's market) and maybe the dealer itself and how flexible they are. The dealer does not care what you paid for the car, they care what they will give you and resell it at. They care what the overall market pays for the car, which you can get a pretty solid understanding of.

The price you specifically pay with the USAA discount is that of a very very small percentage of the market. I mean, I completely understand what you're saying about buying a used car not being worth it unless you can personally save $4000(this number varies person to person obviously) or more. Either way, ultimately the price is set by the overall market, so you can't expect everyone to just drop their price because you and a very small percentage of other 370z buyers can get a better discount on a new 370z. If we're telling you that dealers are offering us 24-25k for our 370z on a trade-in, we can get a shade more on private party on top of that from someone else. You can't expect us to say "oh well he has that USAA discount so i'll just sell to him at a lower price instead of the other guy who wants to give me $2000 more." I understand you aren't telling us to drop our prices however, but it's going to be hard to find a used Z at the prices you are looking for, due to the overall market.