Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm curious about how you dealt with dealers' offers for your trade in. How much do you counteroffer. Any tips/ strategies greatly appreciated. Looking to trade in a vehicle soon and I know they will offer low.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,260,275 times
Reputation: 57826
Sure, several times. They are perfectly willing to give you more for the trade in lieu of a bigger discount on the price of the new car. The advantage to the buyer is a lower interest rate with more down from the higher trade. Over 3-5 years it saves money even at a higher price on the new car. You can't have it both ways though, you will end up with the same total in trade and discount either way. You are far better off selling it yourself for the retail price, and rent or borrow until you make a deal for a new one.
Never traded a car, but we do take trades over KBB at work with reasonable consistency, that being said, more often than not, we're under, and frankly, KBB isn't very in tune with the market.
It depends on the car, and the local market for it. I used to have a Toyota Supra turbo... It's real value was well above what KBB said at the time, and dealerships knew it. I got almost $10k more than what the supposed trade in value was at the time. In the end, I actually made money on that car, after owning it 2 years I sold it for $1k more than what I paid for it.
Sell it yourself, the dealer only wanted to give me $5200 for my van, but I said "nah, I'll keep it" . I sold it myself last week for the full asking price of $6900.
Yes. Back in 1983, a Dodge dealer here in San Antonio placed an ad stating that they would pay a person exactly what they paid for their 1978 or 1979 model car if it met criteria like no body damage, less than 10,000 miles per year average on the odometer, etc. My 1978 VW Rabbit met all the criteria, and had a blue book value of $1900. I paid $5200. After a lot of threats when they tried to renege on the deal because they thought no five year old car would qualify, the dealer made good, and gave me the $5200 trade, of course one of the rules was that I had to pay full sticker price on the new Dodge. Still, I got one heck of a deal!
It's pretty easy to sell it yourself via Craigslist these days. Meet buyers in a public place and bring someone with you. Take at least 4-6 inside/outside photos of the car for the ad. Read other ads to see what is standard.
Take cash only. Once final price is agreed upon, go to your local bank with the buyer to exchange money/title and deposit the money into your acct at that time. Ask the bank to run the counterfeit pen over the bills.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. I sold it myself last week for the full asking price of $6900.
