Your Car-In
Trade Value
One aspect of
the car trade in process that was always... well interesting to deal
with was the price that a potential car buyer would think that their
car trade value was worth.
As a sales manager this was
always an interesting conundrum.
In a off beat kind of way for the
buyer; now the shoe is on the other foot for this moment in time.
When discussing the trade value of their car the owner would
undoubtedly be wanting a near retail price for their car. Of course,
that's what you should want, but you really can't expect the dealer
to give you a retail price for the trade-in car.
Now keep in mind,
when I say 'give you' I want to keep that in the context of ACV
(actual cash value). Dealers can and do shuffle numbers on paper all
over the place as part of the shell game, just get you to 'feel
good' about what you are getting for your trade.
I will discuss
things such as ACV, and more of the specifics of trading in your car
in other articles but for now I just want to set your expectations
and get you started in this area. Just know that the world of used
cars, trade-ins, automobile auctions, and such is pretty nebulous
subject matter that we'll discuss a bit later.
For now, suffice
it to say that you will probably not get as much for your old car in
trade as you would if you'd sold it yourself. All the number
shuffling aside, a dealer can't pay you a retail price (or too close
to it) and then try to turn that car around and sell it for what?
Retail plus a bit of profit?
Would you buy your car now at a price
above the retail market? Of course not, so let's be a bit fair here.
Having said that, I can assure you, even with all the number
shuffling taking place, after the dust settles, that dealer knows
exactly IN CASH, what they put into your trade-in.
Trading your car
in will offer you some advantages though. Certainly the cost of
running an advertisement in the local papers won't be incurred. And
you won't have to deal with tire kickers calling you up and coming
by your residence only to insult you with what they offer... hey the
dealer can do that! And as part of the car buying process you
can unload what might be a difficult car to sell right there at the
dealership.
The first step
you should take is to look up your car's trade-in value on
Edmunds.com.
Edmunds you can plug in all the necessary information about
your old car such as year, make, model, mileage, etc and Edmunds
True
Market Value® (TMV®) Used Vehicle Appraiser will give you trade-in
values.
Now keep in mind at this point this is just an estimate, but
it does give you a good place to start. At the dealership there are
other factors that come into play specific to the dealer like the
state of the dealer's used car inventory, do they already have many
cars similar to yours, the time of year it is,... what kind of day
the used car manager is having. Even what make and model of new car
your looking at will affect the amount of trade-in allowance you may
get.
Since the idea
here is for you to get the maximum trade allowance (note that I said
allowance and not ACV) for your car, you should visit other
dealerships and shop your car around.
The time spent doing this may
surprise you as to the numbers put on your car in trade value.
Just remember that the legwork and time you spend doing this will
very likely pay off for you and may ultimately be a better deal than
actually selling your old car yourself.
- Instant online access to your credit report.
- Checking your own credit report does not affect your
credit score.
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