Trade In Tip?
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Everything is negotiable, remember that. Sometimes it does require someone to walk away from a deal, but it is negotiable in the end.
I have almost always traded in my vehicles. I am in MN and we have state sales tax on vehicles at a rate of 6.875% Sales tax is only charged on the trade DIFFERENCE. That is $68.75 on every $1000 dollars. So, if they allow me $20K for my trade, that comes off the top and saves $1375 in sales tax paid. In this example, I would have to sell this vehicle outright for $21375 in order to come out. I also feel my time is worth something and I don't have to waste my time driving to meet people, have them test drive, negotiate with them and hope their money is good. I find value in this.
Before trading, I will do a full detail on my vehicle and will work this in as part of the deal. Normally I have been able to get them to adjust my trade $200-250 since they will not have to perform a full detail. I keep our cars clean, so doing a final detail does not take that long and I already have the components to do it. I also realize and let them know that I am aware they need to make money on my vehicle. I will take the time to look at the market and see what similar vehicles are listing out for. I try to get about $2000 less than what the market is showing. This give them room to do their inspection, carry the vehicle for a bit, pay out a commission... I feel it is fair and seems to work as my vehicles don't sit on the lot long.
I also remind them that if they want full MSRP for their car, I want my trade valued at MSRP. Retail to retail or wholesale to wholesale. Based on this, I also determine what I feel the trade difference should be. I don't really care what pricing they show for their car or my trade, just that the difference to trade is where I think it should be based on this.
I admittedly am not a hard negotiator. I am always willing to settle for a deal that I feel is fair to me and fair to the other party. Everyone should walk away feeling good, this builds relationships and helps with getting some extras now and then and getting treated right for service. I am sure others may have some harder tactics, but this is what has worked for me and what I feel good about.
Good Luck
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111 Posts
Clean your car up nice, and drop by Carmax to get it appraised. They'll do that for you, for free, and give you an offer on the spot that's good for 7 days. It's a good starting point for you know know what your car is worth at trade in. Usually in larger markets, Carmax will have competition that will offer you $500 or more OVER whatever your Carmax offer is, so keep that in mind.
Once at the dealership, I usually keep that Carmax offer in my back pocket, and see what they offer me. If it's more, I'll leave that offer in my pocket and try to get more for my trade via the salesman. Usually you can work them a little bit. If they come in low, you can usually at least get them to match it. If they won't, at least you know you can take it over to Carmax and get a check in 15 minutes, and make your Ascent purchase simpler.
Once at the dealership, I usually keep that Carmax offer in my back pocket, and see what they offer me. If it's more, I'll leave that offer in my pocket and try to get more for my trade via the salesman. Usually you can work them a little bit. If they come in low, you can usually at least get them to match it. If they won't, at least you know you can take it over to Carmax and get a check in 15 minutes, and make your Ascent purchase simpler.
This has been discussed....be sure to do a search before starting new threads. Lots of good info on this thread:
https://www.ascentforums.com/forum/...689-trading-v-selling-car-replace-ascent.html
https://www.ascentforums.com/forum/...689-trading-v-selling-car-replace-ascent.html
Joined
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238 Posts
Negotiate and get a written price for the Ascent. You can also try Costco Auto, Edmunds Tru Car, or look into getting VIP from Subaru to get the best price.
Negotiate the price of your trade in as a separate transaction. The minute it all gets rolled into one number some dealers will play the numbers and it adds to the confusion when the focus is monthly payments.
Also go to Carmax and get a written 7 day offer for your car. It takes about 30 minutes. You can present this to the dealer and say "match this". Almost no dealer will be able to match Carmax which has a huge network and sells cars on lots and at Auction.
On another note be careful what you see in KBB, there are many factors not considered in those estimates.
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978 Posts
Edmunds has a great how to on this.
Last time I bought then did a trade in in that order it went like this.
I put a piece of paper down and with wide black marker. I wrote the negotiated new car price large on the paper. After that I drew a big line bisecting the paper and wrote trade in. Prior to that the sales man had no idea.
Think of each car as a stand alone deal but if the dealer wants your business his buying your old car needs to be fair!
We started off at below auction value. $2000. We settled on $5000 I wrote this bigger than the new car deal. Then moved to the Finance crooks office. I placed the paper on his desk pointed at him. I told him before we start here. If at any point those numbers change pointed at the paper you loose my business.
10minutes later and with a check for the trade in hand we left with the new car.
When a dealer tries to combine ie confuse ghe two deals into one you need to stop the process cold. And be ready to either walk away, or take both cars home.
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165 Posts
Hi, I recently ordered the Ascent. I had printed off KBB TRUCAR trade in info. When it came time for negotions I left them give me price. Then I provided my doc as to back me up ad to why I expected more. The dealers I went to would not budge from MSRP so I wanted top dollar for my trade. Surprising I found a dealer who took 1400 off mSPR and gave me top dollar for my trade. BTW my trade in is in perfect condition so I was not going to take low offers that many dealers were saying. Also be prepared to walk away. The dealer I ended up ordering from, I left saying I need to think about their offer, he came out the door shortly thereafter and asked me to come back in. They met what I wanted.?
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82 Posts
Anyone have any experience with CarGurus? I checked my price on KBB and then on CarGuru and there was a pretty significant price difference. CarGuru suggested my car was worth about 2k more than KBB.
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978 Posts
So everyone needs to know that KBB, Auto Trader.com are both owned by a Auto Group network. Think of it this way the dealers selling new cars to you basically own KBB and Auto Trader.com.
So think of it this way when a dealer us selling a car to you their number one tool is KBB and Auto Trader comparisons.
Independent valuations like CarGurus or a few others like Edmunds give you more realistic value numbers.
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