Anyone trade in a car lately?

[sharbear]

I hate to admit it but I've never traded in a car. We usually drive our car's until they go to the junkyard but we have a car right now that we are not in love with.

We would like to trade it in. I looked on kelly blue book and it gives a trade in price. Has anyone traded a car in lately and do you know accurate kbb.com is? We would be happy to be done with this car but we still have to get a certain price for it.

TIA

 

[FlyingDumbo]

Clean it inside & out, take it to Carmax and get a written offer on your car. Go to autotrader.com get a trade in value print it out. Then only trade it in to places willing to meet or beat your price, otherwise sell it to Carmax. They offered me slightly under book value but they are really convienant. Also take a look on Edmunds .com to value AND kbb.com. By the time you complile all this info you will know how much is reasonable.

 

[seashoreCM]

Note that the trade-in offer your dealer give you comes off sticker price (manufacturer's suggested retail price) and you won't get much more wheeling and dealing. Whereas if you do not have a trade in you can often get considerable dollars off of sticker.

So trading in is mainly a convenience saving you the need to sell the old car on your own.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

 

[ssawka]

Take it to CarMax. Dealers play games with trade-ins!

 

[DisneyBill]

2 cents worth. Before following previously posted advice to sell your car rather than trading it on another, depending upon the state you live, you may come out better by trading because in many states, you only pay sales tax on the difference between trade value and new vehicle sales price. This can add up quickly on a 15-20k trade.

 

[BSil]

The used car market is very dry right now because sales of new cars are not as high as in years past. Dealerships will probably try to lowball you, but work your best deal on the new car, and once you are done haggling, then tell them you are going to trade. At least then they have negotiated the actual car price, and can't bury your trade in it somewhere. I bet a bunch of local used car dealers would jump at a chance for a good condition used car these days. I'd call some of them up, and see what they have to say. Either way, look at all the sites others have mentioned so you have a number in your head about what a good price for your car is. Set a price you want in your mind, and don't waiver from it.

 

[DisneyCher]

When we bought our Subaru last year, we traded in DH's Toyota Echo with some body imperfections & rust, over 115K, and was in a major car accident. I doubt we could have sold it on our own for more than $700 or so. The dealership agreed to $1K for the trade-in. I think we made out WAY better than we could have at a private sale.

 

[ssawka]

The used car market is very dry right now because sales of new cars are not as high as in years past. Dealerships will probably try to lowball you, but work your best deal on the new car, and once you are done haggling, then tell them you are going to trade. At least then they have negotiated the actual car price, and can't bury your trade in it somewhere. I bet a bunch of local used car dealers would jump at a chance for a good condition used car these days. I'd call some of them up, and see what they have to say. Either way, look at all the sites others have mentioned so you have a number in your head about what a good price for your car is. Set a price you want in your mind, and don't waiver from it.

Also, watch the numbers very carefully. I once asked them to give me the price on a new car both with and without the trade in. They offered me about $1000 for the trade in, but since CarMax offered more, I told them I was not going to trade. Anyway, they re-wrote the contract without the trade-in, but when the sales man came back out, the price was about $1300 more, not $1000. Anyway, when I called them out on this, they said it was an error and that it usually does not happen. Oh really? You made a math error adding $1000? We bought the car anyway, but only because at the time it was a difficult car to find.

 

[crjack]

We just traded in a car a few days ago when we purchased a new one and overall had a pretty good experience.

One thing I would suggest is checking out CarFax for your vehicle in advance. We did and knew exactly what it would show before going to the dealership. (No accidents, etc.) We cleaned it up somewhat but I wouldnt go too crazy....I definitely wasnt going to pay for a good cleaning or detailing because what they looked at was more how the a/c was working, engine, miles, etc.

We traded a Honda for another Honda and I didnt want the hassle of selling it myself. We negotiated the price of the new car online first and then brought in the trade. We had checked KBB and Edmunds, etc and had a pretty good idea of its value before bringing it in.

I live in MA which now has higher sales tax so having the trade come off the total price did save us $$ on tax.

Good luck.

 

[KerryCM]

I just traded in my 2008 Impala for a 2011 Traverse. We got an awesome deal. My Impala had 24,000 miles on it and I knew the dealership wanted it. I got 12,000 trade on it. When the salesman came back with the 1st price for the Traverse I let him know I didn't "need" a new car, so if they droped it to the price I wanted to pay I would buy it. Well, I got it for the price I wanted!!! Don't back down on what you want to pay, what you want payments to be, and do your research! We were given a choice of a $2,000 rebate or 0% financing. You just really have to be knowledgeable going in. Good Luck!

 

[tlbwriter]

Note that the trade-in offer your dealer give you comes off sticker price (manufacturer's suggested retail price) and you won't get much more wheeling and dealing. Whereas if you do not have a trade in you can often get considerable dollars off of sticker.

So trading in is mainly a convenience saving you the need to sell the old car on your own.

That is SO not true. I've traded in several cars and have NEVER paid sticker price (or anything close to sticker) on the car I was buying. Even when it had to be specially ordered.

Here's how to trade in a car and get the maximum return.

1. Figure out what your car is worth as a trade-in. Go to KBB and Edmunds and do not be optimistic about its condition. Very few used cars are truly going to be in "excellent" condition. Getting a written offer from Carmax is a really good idea.

2. Find out the going price for the car you want to buy. Edmunds is good for this.

3. Figure out the difference between what you want for your trade, and what you want to pay for the new car (the "trade difference"). For example, say I decide I should be able to get the new car I want for $25,000, and I decide my trade should be worth $10,000. That means the trade difference is $15,000. Keep that in your mind; it is an important number that will keep you on track.

4. Visit the car dealership, do the test drive. When they ask if you'll be trading your old car, tell them you haven't decided yet. Refuse to discuss it until you've negotiated a price on the new car. Do not let them negotiate in terms of monthly payments - tell them you want their lowest out the door price, in writing.

5. Once you've settled on a price for the new car, let them look at your trade. Tell them your decision to trade or sell the car on your own depends on their offer, and that you need a trade difference of $15,000. They can give you less for the trade, or charge you less for the new car, it doesn't matter to you, as long as the trade difference is no more than $15,000. And if you've got that written offer from Carmax in your pocket, you can use it as a bargaining chip as well. "If you won't give me at least this much, there's no reason for me to trade it. I'll go down the street and sell it to Carmax."

 

[lakelandgal70]

We just traded in our 2005 Focus for a 2009 Nissan Frontier Crew Cab 4x4 and they were very generous with how much they gave us for trade! We didn't even clean the car before we went in. Still amazed how well we were treated.

 

[Lewisc]

Note that the trade-in offer your dealer give you comes off sticker price (manufacturer's suggested retail price) and you won't get much more wheeling and dealing. Whereas if you do not have a trade in you can often get considerable dollars off of sticker.

So trading in is mainly a convenience saving you the need to sell the old car on your own.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

Not true.
Even you can't believe what you posted. I assume this is another one of your "make up facts" for the sake of continuing a thread posts.


Anything more then the "real value" of your trade in is probably a margin that you could have gotten as an additional discount if you didn't have a trade in.

 

[seashoreCM]

Anything more then the "real value" of your trade in is probably a margin that you could have gotten as an additional discount if you didn't have a trade in.

Correct.

Let's say that the new car sticker price is $1000. and your old car blue book price shows $200. Let's say the dealer has $900. in mind as his rock bottom price. He offers you the $200., estimating $100. in prepping and selling expenses. He expects to sell the car for the $200. This gets him back to his $900. figure.

Another buyer has no trade in. He might get the dealer down to $900.

So you traded in the car you were told was worth $200. and got a new car price $100. lower than the person who traded in nothing.

Now let's say the dealer's rock bottom was $850. instead of $900. You might have squeezed an additional $50. off of the price. Meanwhile the buyer with no trade in might have gotten $150. off of the $1000. sticker. Here you end up turning in your $200. car and paying $750. The other buyer turns in nothing and pays $850.

 

[Dacky619]

That is SO not true. I've traded in several cars and have NEVER paid sticker price (or anything close to sticker) on the car I was buying. Even when it had to be specially ordered.

Here's how to trade in a car and get the maximum return.

1. Figure out what your car is worth as a trade-in. Go to KBB and Edmunds and do not be optimistic about its condition. Very few used cars are truly going to be in "excellent" condition. Getting a written offer from Carmax is a really good idea.

2. Find out the going price for the car you want to buy. Edmunds is good for this.

3. Figure out the difference between what you want for your trade, and what you want to pay for the new car (the "trade difference"). For example, say I decide I should be able to get the new car I want for $25,000, and I decide my trade should be worth $10,000. That means the trade difference is $15,000. Keep that in your mind; it is an important number that will keep you on track.

4. Visit the car dealership, do the test drive. When they ask if you'll be trading your old car, tell them you haven't decided yet. Refuse to discuss it until you've negotiated a price on the new car. Do not let them negotiate in terms of monthly payments - tell them you want their lowest out the door price, in writing.

5. Once you've settled on a price for the new car, let them look at your trade. Tell them your decision to trade or sell the car on your own depends on their offer, and that you need a trade difference of $15,000. They can give you less for the trade, or charge you less for the new car, it doesn't matter to you, as long as the trade difference is no more than $15,000. And if you've got that written offer from Carmax in your pocket, you can use it as a bargaining chip as well. "If you won't give me at least this much, there's no reason for me to trade it. I'll go down the street and sell it to Carmax."

This is exactly what we do. You have to negotiate the new car price and then the trade-in separately with your total price difference in mind. It has worked out very well from us.