Trade Ins - How?

[onewhippedpuppy]

I'm honestly baffled how anyone trades in a car. We have a 2017 Toyota Sienna XLE Premium AWD with 30k in mint condition, loaded with Toyota service records, window sticker, two fobs, clean and clear title, etc. Basically a turn-key car for a dealer, it could go into inventory on day 1. My wife is tired of driving a minivan, and so am I, so we are going to get a Ford Flex Limited Ecoboost which is a really nice driving wagon. For the sake of convenience I considered trading as the book trade in value aligns nicely with the retail value of a low mileage 2016 or 2017 Flex with our desired options. Seems fair, right? So thus far I spoke with a dealer in KS with a left over 2016 demo with 2,500 miles, they made me a low ball trade in offer that was under even Carmax, didn't give me any relief on their Flex from MSRP, then quit calling me back. Second dealer with a left over 2017 demo with X,XXX miles (never could even tell me how many) that made me an even lower offer, didn't move off of MSRP, and didn't call me back. WTF? Seriously, how does anyone in their right mind trade in a car? I can easily sell this thing for at least $4k more than the highest offer, then buy a lightly used Flex for about $16k less than these morons have offered me for comparable cars. I still have access to Manheim auction data so I can even see what similar vans are selling for at wholesale auction, what I'm being offered for trade in would allow these fools to make $5k+ just taking my van to auction. Absolutely insane.

[fastfredracing]

"Profit is not a dirty word " - sales manager at the dealer I used to work at -

[onewhippedpuppy]

What blows my mind is that I was offering them my car at trade in, for their car at retail, and we were still a mile apart. They could have easily turned mine for for a $3k profit.

[VincentVega]

Just like so many sales folks I've dealt with. Instead of hitting steady singles and doubles many are looking for the homerun or nothing.

[RKDinOKC]

Made me a sucky offer on a trade in and I started to walk. They took what they had offered on the trade in off the car without the trade in.

[Jims5543]

A few weeks ago I went out to see what an Electric Hybrid was all about. My research had pointed me to 2 contenders, the Volt and BMW i3, long story short we liked the i3 better and said so much to the salesman that let us drive one. We made it clear we were not buying just doing research.

Well, BMW being BMW they did not want us to walk away, they asked if we would deal that day and I said no, not because of money but more because of room, I needed to sell my 2005 Mini Cooper S JCW first.

They asked for the VIN# and ran it, they offered me $1500 for it. I laughed at them and told them they had no clue what I had. The sales manager walked away to "talk to someone" then came back 10 minutes later and offered $3500 and that was a "gift". I laughed again and told them they were clueless and I would be in touch once I sold the car.

The salesman asked me what was so special about my car that they were missing, I stared at him for a moment and told him to try to find a R53 Mini JCW for sale in AMERICA and let me know what he finds.

I will tell you what he would find, I searched when I got home. 2, two, TWO were for sale in all of the USA.

I listed my car on Autotrader and CL on Sunday for $8,500. 24 hours later it was sold for $8K even, what I paid for it 2 years and 35K miles ago.

I then texted them and offered them an out the door price on the pristine CPO i3 they had in the showroom, they balked, then took my offer. I emailed all my info to them that afternoon.

the next day I walked in, signed papers and walked out 45 minutes later with the keys.

I hate stealerships but wanted the 3 year unlimited mileage warranty the CPO car carried so I had to deal with them.

[Aerkuld]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

I'm honestly baffled how anyone trades in a car. . .
. . . For the sake of convenience I considered trading as the book trade in value aligns nicely . . .

This. Difference is, I'll bet the majority of people who trade a car in "for the sake of convenience" have not done their research and get suckered in to the "That's all these are worth" We don't make much when we resell" etc.

I recall talking to someone once who bought a car without doing a test drive, because they liked the color. That probably explains how Chrysler sold PT Cruisers.

It's easy for us to think the car buying masses are just like us, but they're not.

[motion]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

What blows my mind is that I was offering them my car at trade in, for their car at retail, and we were still a mile apart. They could have easily turned mine for for a $3k profit.

Its because you aren't who they want to deal with. They want to deal with complete idiots, which comprise about 95% of the population. They have it pretty good.

[ckelly78z]

Dealerships can afford to sell new cars at dealer invoice, because they make most of thier profit from a nice trade-in. My FIL once was going to trade a 5 year old high mileage Dodge Caravan on something new. He was mad that they were only offering him $3000 for the trade, and told me about it.

I told him I would offer him $3000 cash (we needed something different), and he could go back to the dealership, and offer $3000 less for the same new car....sure enough, they accepted the offer, so he would have GIVEN his older Caravan to the dealership, if he would have traded.

[ckelly78z]

I did make an acceptable trade on a 1981 Datsun 280ZX (in 1988) a dealership had for sale. They took my 1980 full size Bronco, and $1000, so we were both happy. A week later, I drove by the dealership to see my 1986 Bronco for sale....wait a minute.....1986 ??? I called them on it, and demanded to see the title......which was changed to reflect a newer vehicle.

[Por_sha911]

When it comes to "deals' on cars its all about supply and demand. If you want the hot selling vehicle be prepared for the dealer to not want to discount. Why? Well duh, there is another customer willing to pay close to MSRP. Next, don't look so shocked when the dealer tries to make top dollar. You want your best deal well, so does the seller. The negotiation dance brings the two of you to a number everyone is happy with.
Trade in? Everyone thinks their car is a cream puff. Nope. Everyone thinks that their trade is dependable because they've never had any problems. Maybe but the used car buyer doesn't know that. Many folks can't afford to buy the new car without the equity in the trade. Most folks don't want the hassle of selling off the driveway. Don't forget extra insurance cost until it sells, wasted time with "be back"s, and tax incentive to trade.

[rattlsnak]

For the sake of convenience Exactly. There have been a few times when I just don't want to deal with the tire kickers and spammers from CL and am willing to take less than it's worth just to move it quickly..

[legion]

The first rule of avoiding a trap is knowing that it exists.

I've never traded in a car to a dealership. I've always found their offers to be insulting, generally in the 10-20% of what I can sell the car for private party.

[dafischer]

And then there is the other end of the spectrum. My wife had a 2003 F150 4x4 Stepside, which we bought new. 60K miles, and looked beautiful topsides, but was a rusted POS on the underside, to the point of frame rot, by 2013. After having a new section of frame fabricated, I had a firm offer to buy it for $2,500 and was ready to sell. My wife wanted a new Toyota FJ, so we took it to the dealer to see what they'd give us for it in trade.
We took a ride in a 14 FJ, and liked it, and decided to talk numbers. So I told them what we had to trade, and disclosed the full extent of the rot to them. The appraiser looked at it, and they wound up giving us 5K for trade, to close the deal that day. The "Black Pig" was gone and we drove away in a nice FJ.

[Tervuren]

Basic rule, don't try to negotiate new car and trade in at the same time.

Best to start with the price of what you're trying to buy.

After that, work on trade in.

If trade in doesn't go well, try to sell it to other dealers, and if you get a better deal, sell your car to dealer, buy car you negotiated.

Trying to negotiate both at once indicates you feel under pressure, and are likely to be a poor decision maker. Humans are also worse at balancing multiple thoughts, so it will be default keep someone from thinking properly.

[speeder]

Imagine if real estate was sold like that. Your house plus $500k for a new house of the same value. It just makes no sense but people don't like old cars.

Of course, Matt's Toyota isn't even old. But "new car fever" will cause people to make unbelievably bad financial decisions regarding transportation. The good new is that you should be able to sell that 2017 Sienna for book retail within days.

[onewhippedpuppy]

The crazy thing to me is that I was interested in the slowest selling car that Ford makes, and both were left over models that Ford would incentivize the dealership to sell. Oh well, it’s going up for sale on Saturday then I’ll lowball them with cash.

[speeder]

There ya go.

[exc911ence]

Here, the value of the trade-in gets deducted from the sale price of the new vehicle before the 12% sales tax is calculated so you can save a bundle (thus adding value to your trade) if the vehicles are not too far apart price-wise.

That's a major incentive to take less cash on trade vs. a private sale and as stated before, frees you from entertaining a long line of time-wasters walking up your driveway.

[JackDidley]

Never thought about this before but, Ive only traded in 3 times in the last 49 years of driving. Last time was around 92. Never felt abused after the trade but always dislike the dealing. Cayman was a private deal. I paid the going rate for a manual S and in 3 years the only problem was a water pump failure a few weeks ago. I may never buy from a dealer again. Hell I may never buy another car, I am 65 years old.