Trading In Tips
 

I need some assistance on helping a family member trade in their car to a dealership.

Typically what % of kbb trade in value is realistic when trading into a dealership on trade? Say if a car is listed on kbb as $5k trade in,what in an honest guess at one could receive on the $5k value?

Are there any scams to be aware of? Fees that the dealerships may try to throw in?

First thing is they do not use KBB. They use a dealer's Black Book. This prices are derived from supply and demand at the auction. Like now, a good used small car getting good gas mileage with normal miles on it would fetch a good price whereas a Ford Expedition is a tank you cannot sell. Dealer's love to wheel and deal. Start with the KBB trade in price and they well offer you less. Then it becomes a, Who wears who down first. Good luck. :cheers:

is a trade in the best price you can get? It's usually the worst. You pay quiet a % for convenience. I guess when times were better and credit was flowing to everyone and his kid sister people didn't want to bother with private party sales. Nowadays people aren't so eager to leave money on the table.

Calculate what a reasonable value is for the vehicle you're buying. Then look at the trade-in value of your vehicle. Figure out the difference and then focus on that number when you go to negotiate. A dealer can tell you they're giving you any amt for your trade but the important number is the difference. And don't let them talk to you in terms of the payment amt. You don't know how long you'll be making those low payments and at what interest rate. Save the payment talk for after you've negotiated the amt required to trade.

And I guarantee no matter what you have to trade, they'll tell you the mkt for that vehicle is crap. Of course people are beating their door down for the car you're interested in, so you better move quick.

Block off a big chunk of time to negotiate. It can be a war of attrition. Don't be afraid to stand up and take a step towards the door. They can't sell a car to someone who walks. And if you do walk and they call in a day and ask if you're ready to buy, ask them if they're now ready to accept your offer.

And if they won't deal, forget 'em. My dad said there's always another car around the corner. I've found this to be true about women, too. ;)

Tip: If the real KBB trade in value is $5k and the car is really clean it will probably sell in 1 week pp for $6500 cash through Craigslist.

Bingo!!
$5k cash down beats a $5k trade value any day of the week, twice on weekends and three times the last weekend of the month!
See if that salesman can convince you your cash is in less demand than the car he's trying to sell you! :cheers:

To answer your question directly, one rule of thumb is to recognize that the dealer is going to have to clean, repair, and advertise your car for re-sale and he needs to make a $1,000 profit on it when he's done. Thus, expect a dealer to charge $1,500-$3,000 on cars less than $15,000.

I never treat this situation as a trade in.

Negotiate buying the new car and selling your old car to them as separate conversations.

Start with the new car, once you have their bottom price then ask what they will pay for your old car.

I’m with Paul; you will do better if you buy the new car without a trade-in and negotiate the selling price without having to hear the salesman talk-down your current ride. I have been able to get (on average) 20% knocked off sticker price of new vehicles. It takes a little work but it’s easier to do without a trade-in. You will get more for your trade-in vehicle if you sell it on your own (with a little work); dealers have to make money on the vehicles they purchase, they can’t offer you what the car is worth.

If you have a Carmax in your vicinity you will probably get a better price for your car than at the new car dealership. It will still be a wholesale price but in my experience selling them several cars, it was always better than any other kind of dealer.

A Ford dealer offered me $7k for my 2000 S that I bought only 6 months ago for $12k. I decided to keep the Boxster. There isn't much of a market in my area for high mileage Boxsters.

Hi all,

I'm in a slightly different situation. Sorry blinkwatt, not trying to hijack your thread, but thought some of the replies to my situation might help you too.

I live in a small town where there's little demand for a decent sports car, only family vans, pick up trucks and the occasional Mustang. I'm moving overseas at the end of the month and need to sell my '02 S. I've had a few less-than-serious enquiries so now I'm looking further afield. The nearest Carmax is a couple of hundred miles away but I'm heading there next weekend to give it a shot. There's also a P dealer nearby so I'll pay them a visit while I'm there.

Apart from Dale_K, has anyone else had any experience with Carmax, particularly if you're just selling and not trading in? What about Craigslist? I haven't had any experience with either, although I've heard there are more fake ads/scams than real ones on CL.

Oh, and in case anyone's interested, it's Artic Silver with 72k miles, 6 spd with a bunch of extras and spare parts. Price is negotiable depending on what spares and extras you want. Email me if you want more details. saf_069@hotmail.com

-Scott

Another option, instead of doing a trade-in, is find a dealership or used car lot that will sell your car on consignment. It works out great especially for the smaller car dealers. No outlay for the dealership having your vehicle on their lot and it gets your car out in public view. As long as you’re not in a hurry or need money ASAP, you set a price that you both agree to and let the dealership do the selling for you. I have been very happy going this route a couple times.

I sold a year old Honda Fit with 11,000 miles to Carmax in about 30 minutes. I paid $15,700 for it new, their offer was $14,000. KBB said trade in was $12,500. They even gave me a ride home (20 miles).

I've sold 2 cars in the last 6 months on CL. Don't list your phone number or email address. Once someone responds, google their phone number, etc. before responding.

FWIW I use both Carmax and CL regularly. I bought my Box and my wife's Lexus there, both were one owner cars in very fine condition. I was selling one of my daughters cars (98 Honda Civic Dx) as she was moving to France. I took it to Carmax first and they offered $1400. I sold it 1 week later on CL for $3400 cash. I have also taken a few service trucks to Carmax and received below market offers. I regularly sell these trucks quickly on CL for double the Carmax offers. All of these vehicles were 10 yr old, with high mileage and would not meet Carmax standards to resell so I suppose that explains the low offers.

If you owned a really pristine 3 year old car with low miles and no dings or damage you would probably get at least a fair trade in value because they could just detail it and put it on the lot. I have no problem with the Carmax business model and I understand they must make a profit on every transaction. I tend to keep cars a long time so my trade-ins just are not very interesting to them. YMMV

My wife is tired of shifting gears on her 03 E46 M3 so I went to a BMW dealer to trade for a CPO 5 series automatic, around 35k. They offered me 10k for the M3 with 35k miles. It is a 9 inside and out with the only flaws being curb rash on 3 of the 19 inch wheels. I just walked out without saying a word and they didn't try very hard to stop me. I've read that low mileage used cars are selling well, but out of warranty BMWs may be the exception, even those in great condition. I'm pretty sure I can get 20 to 23k out of it in a PP sale, maybe more if I just hold firm on a price.

As one who bought and sold 3 times in the last month
 

I was flat out amazed how easy/fast it was to sell a priced right car via Craigslist. I live 50 miles from a population center and had doubts but in the 2 selling cases I tried a simple honest priced right 4 line no pictures ad. I had multiple people calling me within 2 hours begging me to hold the car till they could get here. Both were low mileage 10 year old cars needing nothing. Cost me 3 hours each to clean up, answer the phone, deal with the buyers and get the deal done.

Each brought ~$2k more than any dealer was offering and getting rid of them meant the deal on the new car was easy to see, compare and get priced right. The cost of the new car wasn't clouded by the trade-in which meant the new car dealer had to price in a straightforward manner and not throw figures around until it took a spreadsheet to figure out what they were paying and what I was paying.

The bottom line on selling my wife's car on Craigslist and buying a new car from an out of state low cost dealer was about $4500 in my pocket versus the best of 6 offers I had from dealers. Exact same car.