F1_Ape

I know all about the no haggle pricing. So I went to the dealer today, and ordered a new TC. On the trade in I was offered about $1k less than KBB. I tried to get him to raise the value, but he wouldnt work with me, and says "its the scion way" blah blah blah. Now I decided to sell it on my own. So are all dealers this way?

the_whoster

that's bull.

which is why i always sell cars on my own.

TurboMe

all dealerships try to rip u off on a trade in

Eiso

Thats bull!

lowrightor

The way it was supposed to work is the dealership puts a fair number on the trade-in and holds firm. Problem is, another dealership is always willing to beat that figure by $100 so then the original dealer has to choose to match it or let the other dealership have it. And around and around we go...

You will always get more $ if you sell if yourself but it's not as convenient: you have strange people calling and coming to your house, it may take a while, you may not get that much more for it, etc. It's a big PITA for a lot of people. You have to remember that dealerships base their trade in values on what cars like that are actually selling for, not what KBB says. Most dealerships around here use Black Book as their standard. Just because you think your car is in "GOOD" shape doesn't mean it is. The dealer must pay for someone to inspect your vehicle, fix everything wrong with your vehicle (at least they're supposed to), and clean your vehicle. It costs money to pay salesmen to show your vehicle over and over and keep the lights on and the water running. Also keep in mind that the dealership has a reputation they must uphold and a private seller does not. If they sell your car and it breaks within their warranty period, guess who needs to fix it for free? The dealership! The private seller doesn't have to worry about that.

Of course the dealership is trying to make a profit on your vehicle but they never claimed to be a not-for-profit business. They wouldn't take trade-ins if they were looking to break even.

Sorry, I just got done working for a car dealership so I still feel the need to defend them. Hope this helps.

yaron_usa

Of course you can get a higher than expected amount on the trade in, I received 93% of KBB. So, it is possible. Don't let them be in control of the sale, keep interupting saying you know what they are talking about and then ask them a question they know nothing about, show them you are more knowledgeble, it is these little ways you earn their respect, and they'll learn they will lose the sale if they play stupid games with you. Also, if they have a very small allocation of TC's , they may not want to sell below a certain level, because they know that someone else may buy it. I bought it from a place that has sold only about 10 TC's in 1 year, which I think is pretty low.

sciontc_mich

yeah the dealer will always screw you on the trade in.. plus they'll use the "scion pricing" as an excuse.. one dealer tried that with me and i just laughed since scion pricing is about the scion cars NOT the trade in..

hey if you don't like the way they've treated you tell them they've lost the sale and go to another dealer..

lowrightor

They're not screwing you always, they're just trying to make as big a profit as possible. Plenty of people trade in their vehicles not feeling screwed or getting screwed.

Also keep in mind that profit in all Scions is not all that much. Dealerships can't pull the I'll-give-you-want-you-want-for-your-trade-and-you-will-be-so-happy-that-you-will-not-notice-you're-getting-a-bad-deal-on-the-price-of-the-vehicle flim-flam

lowrightor

Honestly, used car managers appraise 100's of cars a month and there is nothing you know about the car business that they don't already know. Your best strategy is to say that you are sold on the car and will put down a deposit if the trade value is right. Do your research to find out what a fair trade value is and play the dealerships against each other. Research includes KBB (and being honest about the condition of your vehicle) to get a gauge and looking at used car prices from private party fully expecting your trade-in value to be less than that for the reasons I explained earlier. Dealerships hate when you do your research and play them against each other. Don't be afraid to tell them how much you want for your trade and why.

A good deal is perception.

Souljah347

my brother owns a used car dealership and they use the "Yellow book", i asked him about the black book and he said the quality of it has gone down a bit, and it's just barely better then the blue book when giving the real market value of the car. he said another thing to keep in mind is the region you are in. you can get more for a convertible in florida then you would in a much colder region. just like in a region where you get alot of snow you could sell a awd or 4x4 faster and for more money then you could a miata

Ryhian

When I went in to purchase a TC with a trade in they looked up the value of my car online then came back with a figure 600 less than the KBB value. I told them that I wanted xxx amount which was 200 below KBB value. After a few minutes of me saying well Ill go try another dealership they gave in and gave me $200 less than the KBB value.

sciontc_mich

yeah well i think it's funny that some of you think that the dealer is actually going to give you a good deal.. fact is when i went to trade my civic in. the guy basically was trying to give me below wholesale.. wanted to give me only $1000 for a civic in excellent shape.. I laughed at them for offering me such a ridiculous amount for the car.. i turned around and sold it for $5500.. kelley blue book at $5500, at that time..so no i don't see how this dealer is knowing exactly what the market is, they only want to make a profit.. they even made fun of me for using kelley and said that i "would be dreaming" if i thought I could get that amount for the car.. guess they don't realize Honda's actually DO hold their value.. duh.. and then using the "pure pricing" of scion as an excuse for what they could only offer me for the car..

lowrightor

I think it is funny how people repeatedly use anecdotal evidence to blanket the entire car business. The used car manager you took the car to probably took you for a dumb kid and tried to get the car for next to nothing. They know exactly how much a car like yours is worth. You would be surprised how many times that works. My point is, do your research and you can't get ripped off.

If you sold the Civic for $5500 I can assure you it was not in excellent shape. Excellent only applies to car less than a year old.

sciontc_mich

nice that you've tried to say i'm a dumb kid.. how funny.. even though i'm in my late 20's.. and that the used car manager i dealt with here was not just anecdotal but have seen other dealers do the same exact thing! then again I don't really care what you think. If you want to think that the dealer is your friend and that they tell you the truth when you trade your car in, i'm glad you live in a fantasy world. As far as the civic and how you can "assure me" of that it wasn't in excellent condition, I'm glad you're such the expert and that I am not after owning many cars and having independent appraisals of the car. Fact is the car was 9 years old and it was in excellent condition, sorry to shatter your view that no car older than a year old could POSSIBLY be in excellent shape.. oh brother..

so i really don't think that you, sir, have all the facts.. and for a 9 year old civic to go for that is exactly what Kelley Blue book among others indicated.. but thanks for playing along..

lowrightor

I assumed your age incorrectly, true, but no where did I say you were a dumb kid. You would have been dumb if you took their offer but you did the smart thing and sold the car on your own. All I was saying is that used car managers often try to low-ball younger people because they are more likely to not know what there car is worth because they haven't done this sort of thing before.

I never assume the dealership is my friend and what they give you is always fair. I worked at a car dealership for two years so believe me, I know. If you read my previous posts I told the original poster how I would work the dealerships against each other, never assuming what the dealership is offering is a fair price.

How did you possibly keep this 9 year old Civic in excellent condition? Read KBB's description of excellent:
http://kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/ke.kb.sp?kb...44240&68&terms

You may have taken excellent care of your Civic but unless you only took this car out every Sunday in the summer and kept it garaged and covered, I don't believe it. So many people came into the dealership I worked at saying their car was in excellent condition and a overinflated value of what their car was worth as a result.

Everyone thinks they're an above average driver too, but I digress...

sciontc_mich

let's just say i was a fanatic about keeping the car clean and always washed under the car even in michigan winters.. never ate in the car, no one ever ate in it either.. don't smoke and no one who smoked were ever in the car. Would wax the car even into late november, first time I could get to it again would be march.. Meguairs Gold Class definitely helped in the wax/protection dept. After 100,000 miles things had to be replaced and that was quite expensive, but the car saw excellent care not to mention continuous maintenance and preventative care. a lot of parts were also repaired/replaced after 100,000 miles..

That's how it got to be in excellent condition, plus the only thing wrong with it was the pit marks from road debris on the front bumper cover..
I just read the description of KBB.. and yes that was mine.. but it takes a lot of work and $$ to get to keep that level going for 9 years.. it's not easy.. once i got it to a point I said I've had enough of keeping it up and got a tC..

Dyah

I bought my tc last month. I was on a deadline b/c i was dealing with an insurance settlement. I looked all over SoCal and finally found what I wanted. There was this one dealership that had a used flint mica stick, 1000 mi. There were selling it for more than the MSRP becasue they didnt have to stay within the no haggle price guidlines.
Dealers=D!cks.
You should get a lot more cash from a private sale., more of a pain in the rear, but you'll get more money.
Just do it soon before the 06's flood

cliffy1

Sellers are always trying to sell their product at the highest possible price. They will often lie about the product, lie about how much they are willing to sell it for and always try to maximize their profit. That's the nature of a market based system of commerce.

Buyers never want to overpay. They don't want to get screwed or pay more than another customer. They will often make rediculous offers in order to accomplish this end. Again, its the nature of a market based system.

In the case of your trade in, you are the seller. The dealer is the buyer and this buyer may not really want to buy your car. If that is the case, they may offer you less than you think the car is worth. That's nothing to get upset about. Just find another buyer. We do it all the time.

niksmr2

I got the full retail KBB on my Integra when I traded it in. And heck, they turned around and sold it for way above KBB within 2 weeks.

It helps that I used to work at a Toyota dealership. I know a few secrets to getting a good deal

When a car is traded in, the dealership will spend several hundred dollars doing a full detail, possible dent/paint repair, and put it through a full mechanical inspection. Then if anything comes up on the inspection, they HAVE to take care of it. Cars can't be sold that have unsafe tire tread levels, cracked windshields, or shot brake pads, for example. Therefore, you can't EXPECT to be offered close to KBB. There would be no room for the dealer to make a profit.