Trade in or sell your old car?

[Dohc98vteC]

I have had this topic come up with my cousin and my friend who is in the market for a new truck. He has an 04 Avalanche he bought new and has 194k on the clock. He claims a friend at work traded his similar vehicle in and got a good price for it vs selling it on his own. I think that either you will get less off from the new vehicle, or you are mostly doing this to avoid selling it yourself...Discuss....

 

[Shrubitup]

IF you get a decent value for your trade then it reduces the purchase price of the vehicle and therefore the amount of sales tax that can be charged on this purchase. Add those tax savings to the trade value and determine if you can get more via private party sale elsewhere.

The usual dealer trick is to give you high trade in value which is overcome by high purchase price of the new vehicle.

 

[daves87rs]

Tough, because it will often depend on the make/model....

 

[userfriendly]

Selling a used vehicle is like trying to throw a boomerang away.
Give the old beaters to charity or someone in need for $50.

 

[901Memphis]

An 04 Avalanche would still have some solid value if it's in good condition, certainly worth trying to sell and using the money for a down payment

According to Kbb the private party value is approximately $5000-7000 while trade in is around $5000

 

[eljefino]

If you can squeeze them on your trade in on a lowball "newspaper special" you can come out ahead. Saturn dealers used to (claim to) overvalue trades to move fixed-price new cars.

As always, hammer out a good price on the new car before talking trade or financing.

 

[javacontour]

People always claim they got a good deal. The only way you will know is to shop around.

We tend to keep our cars to spaceship mileage. So we tend to sell them on for cash.

I would think on a trade with that sort of mileage, they are going to offer what they will get for it at auction.

 

[Donald]

The only way to really figure it out is to go through the whole haggling process for the new truck, then after the price is settled on, bring in the trade. It will probably be significantly less than you had hoped. Yes it helps reduce sales tax.

 

[Andrew1972]

The only way to find out what trade in really is avoid offering your vehicle for trade in and negotiate a price on new ride. Then once you are happy with selling price ask about trade in.

 

[Michael_P]

As Dave said, it depends on the make and model. I think the condition of the vehicle goes a long way. If it is in great condition and well maintained, you will have an easier time selling it and possibly get more money. If you do sell it yourself, disclose every problem or potential problem with it along with a mental note of maintenance. If not, it will be more likely to be that boomerang Used Oil describes. If you trade it in, you merely wipe you hands clean of the car.

 

[JHZR2]

It really is a case-by-case situation, because a lot of times trade-in values will be where auto dealers make up some of the deals and discounts they provide you on the purchase of the new car. So you really need to have a good grasp of what the retail price and private sale price of the car is your trading in is in your local area.

When I was looking at my accord hybrid there was a dealer just outside of town that had one of the color that I liked, but they gave me such a low ball of an offer on the car I was going to trade that I walked. I knew the cross-section of the valuations from the online tools as well as what feelings were asking for the cars in my area.

The benefit of trading in when you live in the state sales tax is that it reduces the purchase value of your vehicle. So for example if sales tax is 7% in New Jersey when I trade in the car I affectively save 7% on the value of what the trade is making it that much more valuable In other words different uses the taxable value of the car I'm buying by the amount of the trade.

But case in point, my 318 I had a lot of rust, and I got a very lowball offer for the trade of it. call got $1000 extra but I saw you myself on craigslist with absolutely no hassle, and that put the value of what I got for the car right where I thought it should be based upon the online valuation tool.

If you're won easily overwhelmed by the fact that people will be contacting you, coming to your house to see cars, and so on, trades might be a better deal because of the value added of walking away from the vehicle. In my situation I actually trees in multiple cars but the deals were rather good on top of the fact that the price for the vehicle I was buying was good. Find a good car is in good shape the only need minor repairs due to age and use. their biggest downside was the fact that they were manual transmission. But had I not gotten the deal that I was looking for I would've walked without any issue, so that's another part of the situation - don't be desperate so you can negotiate the best deal for yourself with an open and clear mind.

 

[Kira]

Hello, In short, very few dealers want to put an '04 Avalanche (or any other high mileage 11 year old vehicle) on their lot. It's going to be wholesaled away. That means low value.

A friend just went through this. His '03 S-10 was in beautiful shape outside and only had 52K. Glimmering body, top quality hard bed cover and new, quality tires would've sold this baby.

A private sale would've been OK for him except for a P0442 code. A new air purge valve didn't cure it and he didn't want to deal with an irate buyer.

He traded it in for an '08 Frontier w/82 on the clock. They said the wholesale trade in value was $4,300 to $4,900 but they "upped it" to $5,150. ...or did they lower the price of the Frontier?

'03 S-10 + $12,650 = '08 Frontier was the out-the-door final equation.

The surpriser was seeing two $399 service charges on their contract form. One of the $399's was said to be partially refundable upon completion of whatever it was.

People mention the sales tax savings when trading in. Nobody ever mentions the admin fees.

He absolutely should've sold his S-10 privately or driven it himself to reap its value.
Researching a truck more thoroughly in the first place and buying the Frontier instead of the S-10 would've been the REALLY SMARTEST thing to do.

Don't go to the grocery store hungry. Kira

 

[javacontour]

Kira et al.

If I trade, I negotiate the difference, including all fees.

I.E. I'll give you my car and $5000 O.T.D. for your car.

If they play games, I simply take my car home.

But as I said, I usually get to spaceship mileage and end up selling to a private party.

Even with just buying the car, I always give the O.T.D. price. That way, there is no shock for extra fees. The business office can put the bottom line figure in and calculate the lines above to reach that value, tax, tag, title etc.

I don't really care what they do above the line. If I say I'll write a $5000 check, I expect to write a check for $5000 or less. Otherwise, there is always another dealer willing to sell me a car.

I've been known to drop my offer if I detect a run-around game playing. I say my time is worth something and if you waste another 30 minutes, I'll drop my offer again.

It usually makes the point.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I've never had an issue selling a vehicle myself. I don't get into a situation where I need to sell it "now", so I can wait until the right buyer comes along with a reasonable offer. Then, with cash in hand, I begin shopping for a replacement.

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
call got $1000 extra but I saw you myself on craigslist with absolutely no hassle,
In my situation I actually trees in multiple cars
If you're won easily overwhelmed


I have to ask-what exactly does that mean?

 

[KrisZ]

Selling the car privately is just like buying. You need to learn to say no to the low ballers and be prepared that it might take a while.
Buying a car is the same. It may take a while to find a good deal and you may have to say no to a lot of sellers.

If one is in a hurry either to sell or buy or wants a convenient, no hassle experience, then they should be prepared that the deal they get may not be good.

 

[hattaresguy]

I have always found selling vehicles especially on Craigslist which attracts all the scum of the earth around here to be painful.

Lots of lookers with no money, and no one will ever be happy.

If they will give you a somewhat reasonable offer just trade it in and be done with it.

 

[Eddie]

Depends on the vehicle, the price wanted and the general economics of the area. I could sell lots of $8-10K vehicle here but, not many 2-4K vehicles. Ed

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
call got $1000 extra but I saw you myself on craigslist with absolutely no hassle,
In my situation I actually trees in multiple cars
If you're won easily overwhelmed


I have to ask-what exactly does that mean?



This is attributed to autocorrect on my phone, and working too fast to get a post out in limited time...

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[philipp10]

Originally Posted By: used_0il
Selling a used vehicle is like trying to throw a boomerang away.
Give the old beaters to charity or someone in need for $50.


boomerang? I sold every vehicle I have ever owned, over 30 cars and truck. They never, ever come back. What are you selling them to friends that come back soon as there is a issue? I never sell them to friends, and not because they are in bad shape. I just figure, no one can predict when a tranny will go. Selling on your own CAN be a PITA, but if you price them right, they go.

No way can you get as much with a trade in, after all, the dealer doesn't work for free. Of course, anything I sell is never worth more then 4k. And yes, do factor in sales tax, it can play a part.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: philipp10
Originally Posted By: used_0il
Selling a used vehicle is like trying to throw a boomerang away.
Give the old beaters to charity or someone in need for $50.


boomerang? I sold every vehicle I have ever owned, over 30 cars and truck. They never, ever come back. What are you selling them to friends that come back soon as there is a issue? I never sell them to friends, and not because they are in bad shape. I just figure, no one can predict when a tranny will go. Selling on your own CAN be a PITA, but if you price them right, they go.

No way can you get as much with a trade in, after all, the dealer doesn't work for free. Of course, anything I sell is never worth more then 4k. And yes, do factor in sales tax, it can play a part.


You got me beat, I've traded one... Then I have owned around 200 in the last 49 years(several bought to resell)... Only one ever came back and not once, not twice but three times... Was a '78 Granada, 1st time I repo'd it(a P/S hose had failed) and they decided not to finish paying for it... Second time I took a '79 Mustang in trade(had been my older daughter's), I'd sold them a little over a year before... After a couple months(payments), they decided they didn't want the Granada it so I took it back and called it square... The Mustang got repainted and became the younger daughters first car... I finally GAVE it to my mother in law and a couple years later she gave it back because she'd bought a year old Pontiac Sunbird... I stuck it up on the corner a couple blocks from house and got(I think) $350 for it, never saw it again... In later years I've mostly sold to friends, one has bought six from me... All these but one were family vehicles...

About three years ago I did sell the older daughter's Explorer on Craigslist... Priced it right, posted very detailed pictures, was sold same day... Guy was buying it for his daughter, took a short drive and started stuffing $100 bills at me, never even opened hood... I asked if he wanted to see engine, said naaah, I know what a 4.0 Explorer engine looks like... Earlier this year they still had it...