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This confused me as well. I have only traded one car in. I traded my VW Passat for my BMW. at the time I owed a couple of thousand on the VW. They added the trade in vaule to the poayment of the car, & used that as a down payment. In the end I borrowed the amount of money I wanted to borrow, but I was still confused than & now.
You will get some good info online by going to a site that is the equivalent of car buying for dummies
When you are buying that new car do get the dealers final price on that new car before telling him about the trade in or he'll play some numbers games and factor in the price of the trade in in all the number crunching he can do, remember these guys are pro's they buy and sell cars everyday,you may buy and sell a car once every 5 years or so.
So final out the door price of car you are buying is settled at $20K now you talk trade in value and deduct it from the $20K.If the dealer wont negotiate until he knows what the trade in is i usually walk.
You will get some good info online by going to a site that is the equivalent of car buying for dummies
When you are buying that new car do get the dealers final price on that new car before telling him about the trade in or he'll play some numbers games and factor in the price of the trade in in all the number crunching he can do, remember these guys are pro's they buy and sell cars everyday,you may buy and sell a car once every 5 years or so.
So final out the door price of car you are buying is settled at $20K now you talk trade in value and deduct it from the $20K.If the dealer wont negotiate until he knows what the trade in is i usually walk.
I think they've seen that one before, though. If you're afraid of getting fudged, then you slap a FOR SALE sign and hope it sells quickly. If a dealer gives a bit after the trade is figured in, it's because they've got room to deal, anyway. Otherwise, you're getting LOL'd at and that's that.
So I floated this question a long time ago but not sure I got clarity on the answers. If I were to go buy a car at a dealership for $20,000. Negotiate a $5000 trade in for my used car, how does it work?
$20,000 - $5,000 net $15,000 then taxes, fees etc.... ending up around $18,000
OR
$20,000, taxes, fees etc.....ending up around $23,000 then they take the $5,000 off??????
Is this a black and white transaction or can the dealer go either way on this? If scenerio #2 they could be making some extra profits in there, couldn't they?
Anyone working at dealerships shed some light on this for me.
Thanks!
Negotiating with a dealer is always a fluid situation.
Try talking down the price of the vehicle you want.
Dealer will make you an offer on your present set of wheels, but be advised that most dealers offer only wholesale value of your wheels. e.g., if you use kbb.com, find your vehicle, if it's worth $10K, then the wholesale value would be as much as 50% less than that. My wheels are worth $10K, but that is in very pristine condition, my tires need replacing, it has some dings, the interior isn't the best of condition, I have one stone peck in my windshield, my car is worth about $7K wholesale value, but dealers will usually go even lower than that on a trade, they might try to lowball your trade.
May I suggest you attempt selling your wheels outright to a buyer from the passing traffic? You might get more than your asking price, remember, start high because you can always come down a bit to your comfort price. You can try listing it on craiglist, auto trader, a card placed on your local supermarket bulletin board, putting a for sale sign on it, etc.
Be sure to keep your wheels clean and tidy too, a clean car sells better than something that's lesser. Sometimes you can find people in your area that do detailing for around $125.00, if you can, get your old car detailed, it could bring you more money.
I'm posting a link to Kelly Blue Book dot com below so you can check and see what your car is worth.
good luck!
For me trading that car in was just easier for me at the time. I wanted to get it done & over with. I usually lease my cars, lease drive, turn in repeat. My 2nd car ie.. fun car i would sell privately & buy another one. In the case of my VW. I had leased one. I like dit so much I bought the 2nd one out right.it would been payed off in 10 months.I kind of stumbled on to my BMW, I wasn't really looking to buy one. I was car shopping with my friend. I did not want to miss out on the BMW & taking the time to privately sell the VW may have caused me to miss out on the BMW
One of the reasons treading the VW in was that I knew i would make out ok since I owed so little on it . think I owed $3300 at the time & the dealer gave me $9000 & that went right towards the BMW.
So if turning in a car for trade at the dealership, is there a certain mileage or years limit before they just low ball your vehicle ( ie. 100,000 miles, 10 years etc...)? Turning in at the dealer is a convenience factor plain and simple.
So if turning in a car for trade at the dealership, is there a certain mileage or years limit before they just low ball your vehicle ( ie. 100,000 miles, 10 years etc...)? Turning in at the dealer is a convenience factor plain and simple.
Depends on the dealership. Take a drive around the lot on a Sunday and see if they have vehicles similar to yours in stock (not counting those parked on the back row). If they do you might get a legitimate ACV (actual cash value) offer on your trade with the same "fluff" factor added as a newer car. If they don't have any older, higher-mileage cars on the lot they will probably give a flat ~$500 ACV plus the fluff as they will probably either haul the car to the auction or wholesale it direct to a used car lot.
In both scenarios you are still ending up at $18,000 total. In Ma. on the P+S everything, the trade in, rebates, fees are all tallied down to the bottom. The tax is paid on the purchase price after the rebates and trade in.
Bottom line the dealer will make money on your financing and on your trade in plus whatever incentives the manufacturer gives them for selling their cars.
You got understand that every dealer may use "methods" different from others. I know of a dealer who would spot people driving in with a car they might be wanting to trade in and then quickly tell them they will get several more thousand "in trade" than they figure their old car in worth. This gets them interested enough to come in and talk and the special low prices and discounts etc etc make them want to do business. Lets say a new car is advertised at a special 19k price ( sticker price is a jacked up 26k) When the closer at the dealer does his math they give you the big trade in allowance all right BUTS ITS DEDUCTED FROM THE FULL PRICE STICKER....They are at this point stealing your trade from you. Beware and never ever believe the sticker price is anywhere close to the value of the car or what they really sell it for....
Never trade a car in for another in the same transaction. The used car department is separate from the new car department. You should negotiate the trade on your used car with the used car manager FIRST. You then negotiate the price on the new car with the new car manager. If not, they will end up not giving you a very good discount and steal your trade.
Another tactic is to tell the new car manager you DO NOT have a trade. That will get you their best price. You can then introduce the trade at the end AFTER they locked in their price.
Another tactic is to tell the new car manager you DO NOT have a trade. That will get you their best price. You can then introduce the trade at the end AFTER they locked in their price.
I see and hear this over and over, but it doesn't really work at all.
If you introduce the trade up front they will show you an inflated price for your trade-in and charge you an inflated price for the car you are buying. If you negotiate a cash deal then put the trade on the table after the fact you will pay less for the car but also get less for your car as the fluff has already been negotiated away.
The deal you make will be the product of your negotiating skills combined with what the dealer has invested in the car you want and what he can get for the car you're trading in. The difference will be the same either way, with or without the fluff. If you want to feel like you really chiseled the guy down on the price, keep the trade off the table until the end. If you want to feel like you talked him in to giving you a great price for your trade, show it up front. In the end it won't make any difference.
Last edited by duster1979; 01-02-2013 at 01:34 PM..
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