Trade-in

[ShadowFox]

For years I bought mostly GM vehicles because of an employee deal (I wasn't a GM employee but several decades ago GM actually valued their suppliers). It was a deal that was "X" percent off base price and a smaller percentage "Y" off options. The trick was to buy the high end trim that had a pile of options in the base price. Some seasoned members will remember cars like the the Pontiac 6000 STE with available 5 speed manual and earth scorching 135 horsepower. But that's also back when we used pagers and pay phones.

The reason I bring it up is that since the new car price was very good but non-negotiable you were essentially shopping around for a trade in price if you were adverse to selling yourself. What most discovered was that the offers varied wildly and it really came down to whether the used car manager wanted to put your car on his lot or if they thought they would end up sending it off to the auction. While what the guide books value your car at is valuable information it still depends on whether they thi k they can sell it, do they already have 20 similar vehicles sitting on the lot and will they need to put and refurbishment cost into it.

That’s fair, my trade in is a 2019 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon with nearly every feature so I can’t see it as a hard sell for them.

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[ShadowFox]

I’m interested how the prices will be reflected in the now to near future.

Low availability for trucks calls for increased prices.

High inflation rates and increasing gas prices call for decrease in demand for larger vehicles.

I wonder where it shall it go.

 

[Zengineer]

That’s fair, my trade in is a 2019 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon with nearly every feature so I can’t see it as a hard sell for them.

Plus this time of year people fall in love with "the idea of" anything that has an open roof.

 

[ShadowFox]

Emphasis on the idea… in reality it sucks. If you take your roof with you, there’s no storage space, if you leave it at home, you’re at the mercy of the sun and neature, plus heavily reduced security if you leave the vehicle for any reason. The one time I drove through downtown Denver with the top off I had the glock in the passenger seat because I felt so much more vulnerable.

I digress, back to trade ins ?

 

[Zengineer]

Emphasis on the idea… in reality it sucks. If you take your roof with you, there’s no storage space, if you leave it at home, you’re at the mercy of the sun and neature, plus heavily reduced security if you leave the vehicle for any reason. The one time I drove through downtown Denver with the top off I had the glock in the passenger seat because I felt so much more vulnerable.

I digress, back to trade ins ?

Real life isn't always like a Mountain Dew commercial is it?

 

[FrankThompson]

Yeah luckily my purchase price is set with x-plan, so they can’t play those games.

Hopefully they still honor it. X-plan pricing for my truck changed from when I found it until I could actually buy it.... by a few thousand. Because it was a dealer order, I could not get price protection, but my dealer still took care of me.

Just saying... Don't take it for granted.

 

[BIGSTUF]

I’m curious how everyone is handling their trade in. I’ve never ordered a vehicle before this, but I am worried that the dealer will lowball me on my trade since they know they already have me on the hook for the most part. Are you guys just bringing in offers from Carvana, Carmax, etc. and seeing if they match or beat it?

My 2017 Nissan Titan went to Vroom. They offered me $30k, which was higher than both Carvana and CarMax. They are now trying to sell it for $38k! Was almost too easy of a “selling” process. I would never actually BUY a vehicle from Vroom though…read WAY too many horror stories on the “buying” process. They even lost their accreditation with the BBB due to the amount of complaints.

In the end…I had NO problem taking their money ?


https://www.vroom.com/inventory/nissan-titan-2017-1N6AA1E5XHN556985

 

[texski]

I’m curious how everyone is handling their trade in. I’ve never ordered a vehicle before this, but I am worried that the dealer will lowball me on my trade since they know they already have me on the hook for the most part. Are you guys just bringing in offers from Carvana, Carmax, etc. and seeing if they match or beat it?

In Texas, you pay the difference between your trade and the new purchase. You buy a truck for $60k, trade is valued at $40k, you pay tax on $20k, or in this case $1,250. I don't know what your difference is, but YOU should. Like Mntman1 said, use KBB.com and NADA.com to get a fair market estimate of your trade. You know what you will pay for your new truck, subtract the highest trade value, NOT TRADE-IN!!!

But they will say ... blah blah blah. They will say, We don't use KBB or NADA. Ignore that. Use the highest of those numbers, the Retail number, not the Trade-In.

Now you have a starting point so start shopping for buyers. Call your local dealers and ask for the Used Car Sales Manager.The them what you have and what are they willing to offer. Tell them that you have a truck coming in at insert dealer name here, and tell them that you are shopping for offers. This lets them know that they must overcome the sales tax difference to compete. After that, work it.

When you call dealerships, be honest. Tell them the person you are working with at another dealership and let them know what they have offered. And continue to do this until you have a number you can live with.

Now, take that number we got above, (your trade in - purchase price of new) x .0625, and subtract that from your highest price. That's what you need from your dealer. When your truck comes in, go to your dealer and see what they offer. It may be that you can sell your truck somewhere else and cover the spread. Earlier this year, a dealership in DFW paid $4k over MSRP for a used XLT, $10k over MSRP for a F250 King Ranch.

And I you can use Carvana for a number to get other people's numbers up, but I would not sell to them. They are having ALOT of trouble transferring titles and are being investigated by States AG's.

Good luck!

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