How to shop for the best trade-in deal?
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Are you already committed to trading versus selling? Do you know the sales tax benefits if any in your state for trading? Do you know your sales tax %?
All of the above need to be known first.
"Trade in" is generally done at the dealer you are purchasing the new vehicle from and sometimes has tax advantages that balance a potentially lower offer than a private sale, depending on what state you live in. Going to Carmax is pretty much the same as a private sale...you sell the vehicle to them and they give you money. You can then use that money to partially fund the new vehicle.
Trade-in will be deducted from the total sale price to reduce sale tax which is close to 7%. Private sale is too much hassle for me.
in that case, the strategy tree is easier to move forward. You should already know the price of the new Ascent from the dealership. You seperately negotiate a trade in price for your existing vehicle at the dealership and compare that with offers from the other buyers such as Carmax, other dealerships, etc. If the net cost from the dealership after deducting the 7% is less than the net going through Carmax et al. than use the dealership. I just went through this when I sold my 2019 Ascent Limited and bought my 2023 Limited. Despite the dealership's slightly lower trade in value they offered, the tax benefits netted me more to reduce the overall cost of the new purchase. In addition, there was the added benefit of convenience to complete the entire transaction in one day at the dealership. I ended up saving $$. I not only had explored the selling of my 2019 to Carmax etc, but also to other Subaru dealerships that I was not going to buy the new Ascent through (the dealership I bought the 23' from had no dealer fees). I was able to bring up the other dealerships' used vehicle offers, but not sufficient to offset the tax savings. My purchase price for my 23' was fixed through the VIP program as was the financing at Subaru/Chase lowest rates.
I recently noticed cars loaded in the vending machine, but - "The machine is open from Monday through Saturday by appointment only. As mentioned previously, every one of the 27 cars on display have been purchased already and are waiting for pickup." Therefore you can not simply go there to purchase a vehicle. - IMO, simply an expensive gimmick that will send them further into debt. They were getting grief locally, so they decided to hold the posse off and create some level of positive press. It doesn't change their bottom line.
Carvana's eight-story 'vending machine' opens in Denver
Reports of the demise of the eight-story, glass Carvana "Car Vending Machine" in Denver, were exaggerated.
BACKGROUND:
Carvana put millions into a Denver "vending machine" and got nothing back
It catches eyes of drivers on Interstate 25, but perhaps not for the reason the company hopes it will.
Empty Carvana vending machine in Denver a billboard for company troubles
An empty, eight-story Carvana vending machine in Denver has become a billboard for Carvana's troubles and a magnet for news reports.
www.autoblog.com
The car price and the finance have been fixed so the trade in is the last negotiation. When we bought my wife’s car we used car max. My worry is that the dealer can easily find out approximately how much Carmax is offering and will thus give a lower offer thinking that I will give in because the savings on taxes.
I was wondering besides Carmax, are there other places that are equally convenient and competitive in the offers. I was watching Driven on YouTube and the guy mention Carmigo which sounds intriguing.
It is an out the door calculus regardless of how they get to the price. try other local dealers and carwiser.
They figure that "tax savings" all the time and tell you they are doing you a favor by low-balling your trade by exactly that amount. I had it happen twice and walked away.
Has anybody tried Edmund.com. I went through the on line trade in estimate there and then someone tried to reach me by text. Not sure if there are any benefits working with this person when I can (and need to) go to Carmax to get it on paper. I figure all final trade in needs at least some sort of inspection and/or test drive.
For sure. All estimates will have in fine print "subject to inspection".
there can be two different type of offers. sight unseen and one with a full inspection. sight unseen offer will be lower.
My Subaru dealer ridiculously lowballed the trade in value of my 2015 Kia Soul that was the top model because I suspect they did not want to mess with nonSubaru vehicles. I took it to Carmax which gave me $3000 more than Subaru offered. It was such an in demand vehicle Carmax sold it the next day for $6000 over that….I did not want to sell it myself because I just plain hate dealing with potential buyers so I was fine with that but I made a point to call the Subaru dealership to tell them how they missed out.
I did a couple years ago. I would get offers from dealerships who just wanted to get me in the door but then they would back-peddle and offer half. I sold it myself for double but hated dealing with buyers so much I used Carmax this time.
I just traded my 2023 Outback Touring XT with 6000 miles for my 2023 Ascent Touring. I’m fortunate to have an outstanding local dealer who values my business. I didn’t have to go to a car offer site. They gave me 41k trade in and took about 3k off the msrp on the ascent, and sold me the Gold Plus warranty at cost. I see on their site they are listing my Outback for just under 43k - and they have a few new Outbacks on their lot. I feel like I got a solid deal.
My point is - dealers have to make money on your trade but work with them if you have a good relationship. It sure wouldn’t be worth it to me to buy farther away nor to save maybe a few hundred bucks. You are absolutely correct that the halcyon days of used car values are gone - but so are the markup above MSRP days. I think it was all relative unless you were just selling your car.
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That seems like a very good deal on the trade. No wonder you made the move to the significantly larger Ascent.
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