I usually drive my cars until the wheels are ready to fall off. Then comes one of the most unenjoyable times of my life - replacing the vehicle. I usually investigate Consumers Reports to get a reliable vehicle and then go shopping. I have sold my old car myself using KBB as a guide, but it is a hassle. So, this time I am considering trading in on a another vehicle. Do I just assume that a trade in at this point is of little value to me and that I really am just "giving" my car to the dealer without getting much value in return? I always feel like I'm at a big disadvantage when buying a car - used or otherwise, because I don't have access to the same info the dealer has during a negotiation. I don't begrudge the dealer making a profit - I just don't want to be his "retirement" program. An advice??

I guess you have to weigh the difference you might get by selling it yourself vs the trade route.
Is it (estimate) $100 or $1000 or $10000?
But yeah you would be giving up a lot but to make it hassle-less it might be worth it.
Or maybe sell to CarMax if it is a car they want.
Good Luck.

Like you, I drive them until they nearly have no trade-in value. I have sold them privately before, but now prefer to negotiate the trade-in up to equal the amount of sales tax. Seems like I'm getting just a bit more for them, and the number seems less arbitrary in negotiations.

I.e., my last vehicle was trading in a 2002 Dodge ram 1500 for a 2018 Ford F-150. Approx. trade in value of the dodge was 2200, but sales tax was about 2500 (can't the numbers remember exactly). Just asked the dealer if we could just go w/ my trade in paying the full amount of the sales tax instead of going back and forth on value of either vehicle. It seemed reasonable to him so he agreed. Once you get down to arguing about $2-300, it just doesn't seem worth it for either party.
s.

If the wheels are ready to fall off on your trade in vehicle. Your dealer doesn't want it and is going to wholesale it at an auction or to a wholesaler and get half of what you would get selling the car privately. To them it's a liability and it costs money to send it to auction, have someone deal with it, tow it to the auction etc. So you would get more privately selling it. The flip side is you don't pay sales tax on the new vehicle for the amount you get for the trade in.


A deal on a new car is ONLY a deal if it's really the car you want. Buying a new car that you don't enjoy or doesn't truly meet your needs because it is cheaper, is NOT a deal.

Thing of the buying process as a game and not a hassle. Be honest with the dealers and be firm and be willing to walk away.

You're BEST bet is to spend a day driving to different dealers and looking at new cars and test driving them to figure out what you want, what options you want, with NO intention of buying that day. Be honest with the salesman and tell him that is your intention and under no uncertain circumstances will you buy that day. Figure out what you want and go back right at the end of the month and then buy it. You can get a trade in value on your vehicle the day you are just checking out cars.

Edmunds does have the sticker prices as well as the invoice amount of the vehicle and the options (once you settle on a make/model/options). ALSO look at the rebates/incentives and figure that into the price and what direction (rebate) works best for you. From here you could search and email multiple dealers and get their prices via email. You can also email the salesman you met at the test drive.

Most car dealerships are pretty good these days, the surveys the manufacturers require keep them in line for the most part. There are still some that are cut throat and play all kinds of games. If they give you too much of a hassle threathen to call the manufacturer and report your experiences.

Honestly, on MOST new cars, the dealer is only making a fair profit. Remember, they have to pay interest on every single car sitting on the lot (Millions of dollars), pay insurance for them, keep them clean, electric, taxes, etc. etc.

For example on most $25k cars, they're only making a 5% profit at sticker, and there's usually only about a $1200 markup. That's not a whole lot when you consider what they're spending to have 200 cars on the lot, keep them safe, and clean as well as all of the employees. Used cars they easily make doubly the profit on average.

In my business, I would absolutely laugh at someone if they told me to put out $25k, to have it sit in a parking lot, to wait maybe up to 6 months to get my money back and maybe make $500-1000. I've have done $25k deals where I'm only making 10% but that's a deal with a customer I already have, and the entire deal is done in 2 weeks or less and I'm paid and a sure thing.

The new car sales at a dealership make about 10% of the entire profit for the dealership. Used cars is about 20%. Service and parts sales is where they make ALL of their money. BUT, the more new cars they sell, the more service business customers they get generally.

Last new car we bought, I took the vehicle that we were going to get rid of, to CarMax. They gave me a written offer of $6,500.00 -- the offer good for seven days.

We then went to the new car dealer, negotiated the price of the new car with no mention of the trade-in vehicle. When we had come to an agreement, I asked them, sort of as an afterthought, to tell me what they would give for trade-in on the old vehicle. They quoted $6,000.00. I said that was too low and showed them the CarMax offer. They met the $6,500.00 offer from CarMax, which was actually worth more, since the trade-in also reduced the amount of sales tax by a bit over $400.00. Easy peasy. No muss, no fuss.

You are going to give up significant money trading it in depending on what it actually is, but it sounds like not dealing with the hassle is pretty high on your list of priorities so it might be worth it to you.

It depends on what your trade is. Year, miles and condition. Most dealers will make you an offer via email or phone. If they say they need to see the trade to give you an offer, move on. Don't over think this, sit back in your chair and let them impress you with pricing and trade value.

As said, check with your states DMV, title office for a tax break with a trade. Could be a factor

quote:

Originally posted by Perception:
You are going to give up significant money trading it in depending on what it actually is, but it sounds like not dealing with the hassle is pretty high on your list of priorities so it might be worth it to you.

This is usually the case but not always. I bought a 2018 expedition Plan D (discounted set price from ford, no negotiation) in June. The dealer gave me $8500 for my 2008 Eddie Bauer expedition with 103k miles on it because it was clean and they had someone looking for one. That was ALL of the money I figured I'd get for it if I sold it privately.

do you have ANY idea your current vehicles worth?

if it runs okay - you shouldn't have any issues selling it yourself for cash 'As Is'

just take the appropriate cautions

as far as Carmax - I have gone that route before and it is pretty painless - they can have you a check in about 2 hours

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quote:

Originally posted by Perception:
You are going to give up significant money trading it in depending on what it actually is, but it sounds like not dealing with the hassle is pretty high on your list of priorities so it might be worth it to you.

Depends how you look at it.
If OP decides to sell vehicle privately, he will have to get it to selling condition(cleaning it up, making it presentable)
Then has to list it, take time to answer inquiries, then show the vehicle and deal with lowball offers. If people are getting a loan, he will have to provide info to the bank and most likely but not always will have to go to the bank for the check.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Last new car we bought, I took the vehicle that we were going to get rid of, to CarMax. They gave me a written offer of $6,500.00 -- the offer good for seven days.

We then went to the new car dealer, negotiated the price of the new car with no mention of the trade-in vehicle. When we had come to an agreement, I asked them, sort of as an afterthought, to tell me what they would give for trade-in on the old vehicle. They quoted $6,000.00. I said that was too low and showed them the CarMax offer. They met the $6,500.00 offer from CarMax, which was actually worth more, since the trade-in also reduced the amount of sales tax by a bit over $400.00. Easy peasy. No muss, no fuss.

I would go with V-Tail.

quote:

Originally posted by scsigs:

quote:

Originally posted by Perception:
You are going to give up significant money trading it in depending on what it actually is, but it sounds like not dealing with the hassle is pretty high on your list of priorities so it might be worth it to you.

Depends how you look at it.
If OP decides to sell vehicle privately, he will have to get it to selling condition(cleaning it up, making it presentable)
Then has to list it, take time to answer inquiries, then show the vehicle and deal with lowball offers. If people are getting a loan, he will have to provide info to the bank and most likely but not always will have to go to the bank for the check.

and that is why it should be noted 'CASH ONLY' in the sale ad... (assuming its not a high priced vehicle obviously...)

the lower the cost - the faster the sale

people are always looking for $1,000 to $2,500 cars in decent shape IMO - for a second / back-up car, for a teenager, a hobby car, etc

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My no hassle solution is to donate the car to charity, and take the tax write off. If you think you're giving it away anyway, give it away for real. You'll feel good, the write off may help, and there is no heartburn at all.