Maximizing trade in offer?

[TrapperL]

I detail mine before taking it in. Most often, the car/truck sells before I leave with the new one. I've been trading at the same dealer since 1986 and have become friends with the owners. Makes a huge difference if you bother to stay at one dealer and get to know the folks.

[hal2814]

Definitely clean your car and fix anything cosmetic that you can. If you have Car Max nearby, use it to give you an idea of what a dealership should offer. If not, try some online services like clearbook or KBB. But at the end of the day, you should have in idea of what the entire transaction should cost. Armed with knowledge of a reasonable out the door price and prearranged financing, all the little dealer games are moot. They can shuffle numbers all they want but only one number matters: what you end up paying. If a salesman tries to shift your focus away from out the door price, don't let them. They can get to that number however they want, whether it's by offering me more on trade or lowering the price of the vehicle.

[jonesg]

Originally Posted by ahawes

Are there any tactics to keep in mind for maximizing the offer you get on trade in? I know some places have a very set in stone methodology to how and what they offer you but if you've found anything that works better than anything else I would love to hear it.

Sell it for retail instead of trading at wholesale.

[wellshii]

Sell personally. A little more effort involved,but worth it.
You'll get pennies from a dealer compared to selling it personally.
Just have bill of sale ready,title ready, and don't accept personal checks.
Meet them at their bank. If the car is expensive enough,
then they would need to have financing ready . This is where the problems comes in as people don't have a clue how to even buy a car personally without enough funds.
As far as tactics,not really much. it's a dealer ,not a person. They end up cleaning the car,doing what is immediately needed ,then turn it for profit.
If anything is wrong with the car,you dont have to mention it unless asked.Even then.
And even if they give you what you think is a good deal,that just means they wont move much on the price on the new car. It's a business.
Curious,what vehicle are you wanting to trade?

[orca17]

Negotiate the trade-in price separately from the purchase of the replacement vehicle. Otherwise the water gets muddied and the dealer may show on paper that they are giving you a lot more than they actually are, just making up the difference in markup on the sale.


The best price will come from selling it yourself, as others have said. It is quicker and easier to trade in, but unless it is a very old car with a negligible difference between wholesale and retail value, you are leaving money on the table.

[WyoNewk]

Originally Posted by louie0406

Selling it yourself will get you the most for your trade.

Dealerships are going to offer you wholesale value. They'll deduct from there for things like tires and imperfections.

Originally Posted by jonesg

Sell it for retail instead of trading at wholesale.

Quoting for emphasis, because this is the best answer.

I was going to trade my Toyota pickup for a 3/4 ton several years ago, but the salesman I talked with (and knew personally) told me to just put an ad in the paper and I'd get far more than his dealership could offer. So I did -- and sold it before my newspaper was delivered. The buyer had picked up his newspaper at the newspaper office minutes after it was printed, called me and asked if I still had it and if it had any problems. He was at my front door 15 minutes later with cash ($4500) in hand. I went to the dealer and bought the bigger pickup that I needed.