How should I handle this situation (selling/buying vehicles) (auto, brakes, best)
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Ok, so I have a 2005 GMC Sierra regular cab 6.5ft bed, 5.3L V8, 3.73 G80 Posi, stock wheels, 85+% tread life, 115k miles, etc. etc. - It's worth about 10.5k private party on KBB, 12.5k retail, 8k trade in. I owe 6.1k on the truck.
I want to get rid of the truck for one reason and that is that I do not want a car payment and I don't want to hold full coverage.
I'd like to find a car around 3k that will get decent mileage (as decent as you can get in Dallas traffic) and will keep me cool. That's about all there is on my requirements list. I prefer a beat up, scratched, dented car that runs and drives well. I don't care about the looks, I don't care about the speed, I don't care about any of that. I just want something reliable, with a/c and decent mileage (my truck gets about 16-17 city driving, anything higher than that will be fine).
So now, I ask you the main question. Should I try going to a dealership for this? I'm hoping someone that works for a dealership can answer this for me.
If I walk into a dealership, and find a car that I want to buy for around 3 grand, and tell them "take this truck, pay it off and give me that car," will they do it?
My reasoning behind it:
My truck is worth about 12k for them to sell.
They are paying off my truck for about 6.1k
They are giving me a 3k car that they paid maybe 2k for (maybe more, maybe less)
So it looks like they would still make 3-4 grand off of me.......
Should I do this or attempt selling it on auto trader, craigslist, etc? I hear a lot of horror stories about trying to sell vehicles and getting constantly spammed, giving free rides, people interested and then at the last second don't show up, etc.........is it really worth the trouble? Can I really sell a car online without wanting to kill myself?
I'm basically just looking for some advice here, I don't want to sell my truck (I love it very dearly, there is not a single thing wrong with it and it has never left me stranded, it's a wonderful vehicle) but I need the money.....I can't afford the payments anymore.
Tradional in a sense that there is no manufacturer behind it. even though they sell NEW Chrysler's, I think.
I have purchased my last 4 vehicles from carmax because I have had good experiences.
It's been my expreience that most of the time you never get what you expect or want to get for your used trade-in at a tradiional dealer but I have had very good luck at Carmax. I once got 3k more than I was hoping for a trade in at carmax.. perhaps I got lucky once.. not sure. but I would certainly not hesitate to take this deal to a carmax dealership.
I would start out by shopping your truck at a few different dealers, especilly GMC and Chevy ones, as well as swinging by Carmax for a quote. After that you should have a handful of offers and you can see who gave you the best one.
As for the replacement car, are you capable of selling your truck without getting a replacement the same day? Shopping in the $3k range may be hard as a lot of dealers don't really get into that game and you are more or less going to be looking at used car lots and private sellers.
If you are able to find an actual dealer that has cheap used cars, it will all be about negotiation. One thing I do know is that dealers have a lot of wiggle room on those types of used cars. Generally one they are selling for $3k is one they bought for $500-$1,000 and then put a little bit of work into (brakes, tires, safety items). Of course, you will be basically held to whatever they have on the lot.
If you can swing it the best bet is to get quotes and sell the truck for as much as you can and then take the profits and shop for a good used car in your price range.
It would be very difficult to go without a vehicle, even for a day or two. I'd end up having to walk about 12 miles per day (girlfriend can drop me off at the rail station in the morning, take the rail to work and walk about 1.1 miles to work from the rail station, but after work she is still at work till 10pm so I would have to walk the 1.1 mi back, then take the train, then walk another 9 mi home). I'd much rather not have to do that :P
It would be very difficult to go without a vehicle, even for a day or two. I'd end up having to walk about 12 miles per day (girlfriend can drop me off at the rail station in the morning, take the rail to work and walk about 1.1 miles to work from the rail station, but after work she is still at work till 10pm so I would have to walk the 1.1 mi back, then take the train, then walk another 9 mi home). I'd much rather not have to do that :P
Well, since you DO have an option, I would shop the truck around at a few lots. Then I would look for the used car you think you want to buy. Selling your truck won't take more than an hour or so and you'll walk out with a check. You can then use the procedes to buy the used car.
Doing it this way, gives you a LOT more options in the used price range you are looking at then being held to whatever the dealer has laying around. Just be aware that whatever you end up buying may need a little work as well.
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