| RichieH |
Hello Everyone!
I am new to the board. We tried to buy a MDX Touring this past week but were unsucessful in our attempt.
It seems as though the dealers wanted to RIP US OFF on our trade-in! Has anyone had a similar experience? What can you do other than try selling it yourself? Any bargaining tactics that have worked for any of you?
I am trying to sell the car on my own, but that can often take very long. I figured, well, I wouldn't mind sacraficing $1000 on the trade-in, but not $4000 like the dealer offered. I looked in the paper and on-line and the retail is somewhere about $12,500-$13,000 and the dealer offered $8500 (98 Accord, V6 Lthr, 4-door 74k mi.).
Now I'm no idiot, I did not expect retail from the dealer, nor did I expect WHOLESALE either.
The two dealers offered $1000 and $1100 off of MSRP respectively. Reading the threads on the board, that seems to be pretty good. Both said that price stand without a trade-in. One price was in person, one price over the internet.
ANYONE? WHAT TO DO?
THANKS!
Rich Hicks
MDX owner to be! |
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| A6MDX |
If you have a CarMax in the area go there and get a quote. You will get a good idea of the best price you can expect from a dealer. If that price is better than the Acura dealer, tell him. He can either negotiate with you or he can tell you to sell it at Carmax.
Then there's always the old standby of selling it yourself... |
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| m2pc |
Now the deal you got on the car is pretty good as you know.:4:
And yes, I had the unpleasant experience like you did of trading in.
MSRP at that time I could live with because in the NE, that was what you was going to get, but the trade-in :mad:
not only did they low ball me, but I realized that they based the car price on a lower condition of the car than what I thought it was, so I sold it myself.
Good luck in your purchase and selling your other car, your gonna love the X:D |
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| timbrwolf9 |
| Sometimes dealers will give you a respectable amount for a trade-in, other times not. I had one dealer offer me only $750 for a Celica I once had and sold it on my own for $3000. Another time I tried to sell my old TransAm on my own and was not able to get enough over the dealer trade in offer to make it worthwhile selling it on my own. Every case is different. |
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| Spud |
You really shouldn't expect anything better than wholesale on a trade in, especially if you've negotiated the vehicle down to a good cash price.
One thing that made my trade appealing was the tax savings. Even though the dealer gave me about 2000 less than I would have sold it for privately, the net tax savings more than made up for it. In other words, you only pay tax on the actual price you end up paying after the trade. Here was my scenario:
MDX price: 36,500.00
cash purchase tax @ 8%: 2920.00
trade in value: 21,500.00
street value of trade in: 23,500
immediate trade in loss: 2000.00
my net purchase price: 15,000.00 (36500-21500)
tax @ 8%: 1200.00
tax savings: 1720.00 (2920-1200)
So I ended up losing <$200 on the trade vs private sell. This was well worth the hassle factor of listing, viewing, etc. I just threw them the keys and drove away in my new MDX. |
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| Spud |
| sorry - math was a little off. That should read I lost <$300, not $200. |
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| jelbnl |
| I unforunately just went through the same thing with my trade in of my 2001 Volvo V70XC. I took it to several dealers and everyone gave me the same price, wholesale. The difference between wholesale and selling it myself was $4000. After I realized I'd lose the tax savings by not trading it in, the difference fell to $2500. I decided it just wasn't worth it. My future brother-in-law used to manage a car dealer and the entire trade-in process was explained to me. Most dealers now a days will usually only offer wholesale on a trade-in. They do that because if they either can't sell it out of their lot, or decide not to, they are guaranteed of recieving the money back they gave you for taking the car off their hands, so they don't incur a huge loss. If you get more than wholesale, the dealer is being VERY nice, either they think they'll be able to sell the car themselves, and recognize the profit, or they REALLY want to sell you the car. Not that I'm defending the dealers, I'm just reitering what was explained to me. |
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| diceboy |
I've never had a dealer do anything but attempt to rip me off on the trade in. They even try to hide it by coming back and saying "OK, we can do your new car for $xxx/month" - i.e. not even telling me what they are giving me for the trade-in OR the price of the new car! There must be alot of idiots out there because they attempt this alot.
Anyway, I no longer do trade-ins as a result. However some of the members here have a good point about the tax savings - just be sure you understand ALL the numbers (i.e. the price of the new car, the offer for the trade-in, the tax implications, etc.) before saying "yes." |
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| Bnuke |
I have yet to get a dealer to offer anything other than wholesale on my last 4 new car purchases. I've even come to expect it. However, I like to use that to see what they'll do with the purchase price.
Take your car and sell it yourself but hold the dealer to 1000 below MSRP. He is probably using your trade-in to absorb the drop from MSRP. I'd be surprised if he kept the deal on the table after you pull your trade-in. If he does keep the deal w/o your trade, make sure that he doesn't clobber you with dealer installed options.
Good Luck! |
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| RichieH |
Bnuke,
The first dealer said that the price of the MDX would stand alone, no trade-in. They also offered, if I find a buyer on my own, to do the title work for the trade-in so that I could get credit for tax purposes (the buyer would give the dealership the money for the car, then they would pay me), which I thought was an EXTREMELY nice gesture.
All things considered, and especially after reading all of the other stories, it seems as though they were being very straight with me. If I find a buyer, I am going to see if they would be agreeable of doing it through the dealership (since we owe on the trade-in, we would have to go to the bank anyhow).
Rich |
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| Blueflame |
| I don't understand the tax thing. Please correct me if I am wrong, if I buy a car, I have to paid a sales tax. When I sell it, I do not have to paid any tax since I am not making any money out of it, therefore when I sell the car, I do not owe any tax on it. On the other hand, who ever buy the car will have to pay a sales tax on the car. Also in Ca. the seller will have to paid for the smog check. |
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| srpbep |
Blueflame,
Each state has different "rules" on sales tax:
You are right, in CA you pay tax on the full purchase price of the new vehicle, the value of the trade-in has no bearing on what you pay.
In other states, you pay sales tax on the net purchase cost (e.g. new car price less value of trade-in). |
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| srpbep |
"wholesale price" is simply a number, there is nothing guaranteed about it!!
1st of all, the trade-in price is determined by the used car manager. In my experience, the used car manager and the new ca sales manager don't usually see eye to eye!!
If a dealer is going to "keep the trade for resale", in many (most? all?) states, they have to put on new tires, new brakes, etc. In CA I think new tires and brakes must be put on if remaining tires/brakes are below 50%. Thus, even if reselling, they figure the "recon" costs (e.g. reconditioning). This includes tires, brakes, smog, detail, etc.
On top of this, they want to be able to "crawl out from under" the trade if they can't sell it on their lot (e.g. have to wholesale the car). Normally, the best they can expect is the "wholesale price".
With all that said:
** I am NOT defending dealers. They have a well deserved reputation IMHO.
** The "value of a trade-in" depends on a lot of things. Some are listed below:
** Convertible in NY winter vs NY summer vs. CA anytime.
** Some cars are "hot" and some are not!!
** A Chevy trade-in is usually not a great buy for a Volvo dealer!
** A Honda trade-in is usually not a great buy for a Toyota dealer!
Anyway ... selling it yourself is almost always going to net you more BUT there is work involved. Sooooo, such is life ... |
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| MoogieBoogie |
Sell the car yourself. It's not that difficult - Honda's are in high demand in the used car market.
Trading the car in will save you $8500 times your state sales tax rate, off the price of a new MDX. For example, in NJ, the sales tax is 6%, so you will $9010 towards the purchase of a MDX. Since the market value of the car is $12000 (according to you), it would probably be better just to sell the car yourself and go purchase an MDX. It might be a little more hassle, but isn't it worth it to save almost $3000? I guess that's a personal decision.
Spud's scenario only works if you own the car, title in hand. If you owe money on the car, the tax savings is reduced. Also, it seems the dealer gave him a good price on his car, with the difference only being $2000. |
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| renov8r |
I am not abig fan of Edmunds TownHall (too much static/topic drift in most threads) but, the Real World Trade In Values has a great poster: Terry (rrroyce10) that is an actual buyer/seller of used cars. He is frequently at the auctions and makes living on the spread between what buyers are willing to spend and what a used car costs.
I'd post the DETAILED description of what equipement & condition your vehicle is in before you reject any offer:
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/We...@.ee9c851/12194
Good Luck! |
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| Spud |
quote:
Originally posted by MoogieBoogie
Spud's scenario only works if you own the car, title in hand. If you owe money on the car, the tax savings is reduced. Also, it seems the dealer gave him a good price on his car, with the difference only being $2000.
You are exactly right MB - I owned the car outright and they gave me a great price. Of course I paid MSRP for the X - you get it on one end or the other. My trade in was an 01 Lexus IS300 which are still semi-popular so that may have also added to the dealers calculations.
Having said that, nobody should get pissed off at dealers for giving you wholesale (or worse) for your trade-in. It's pretty simple math and if the dealer is moving units (most MDXs don't stay on the lot long) then they're not neccesarily compelled to give you an attractive trade-in deal. Even though my situation worked out ok IMO, you're still better off with a private sell 99% of the time. |
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| Blueflame |
quote:
Originally posted by Spud
IMO, you're still better off with a private sell 99% of the time.
Yes, there is that 1% that will cause you problems. Just think, you sold the car and you send the DMV the Release Of Liability form, but If the buyer is an A-HOLE and does not register the car under his/her name. You are going to get screwed. Think of unpaid parking tickets, or worst the car gets into an accident. The safest way is to trade the car in, but if you want to make more money, you will have to take the chance. |
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| Bnuke |
quote:
Originally posted by RichieH
Bnuke,
The first dealer said that the price of the MDX would stand alone, no trade-in. They also offered, if I find a buyer on my own, to do the title work for the trade-in so that I could get credit for tax purposes (the buyer would give the dealership the money for the car, then they would pay me), which I thought was an EXTREMELY nice gesture.
All things considered, and especially after reading all of the other stories, it seems as though they were being very straight with me. If I find a buyer, I am going to see if they would be agreeable of doing it through the dealership (since we owe on the trade-in, we would have to go to the bank anyhow).
Rich
Rich,
It sounds good on the surface. Assume a reasonable selling price for your car to a private seller. Ask the dealer to put on paper EVERY charge including admin fees, registration processing, tax estimate, etc. Don't put on any dealer options; buy them from Tim at hondacuraworld.com. If the deal still seems fair I'd go for it.
There are still some dealers that believe in customer service and you may be dealing with one of them. My dealer told me the price within $10 with no surprise fees.
Let us know how it goes.
Bnuke |
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| MoogieBoogie |
quote:
Originally posted by Blueflame
Yes, there is that 1% that will cause you problems. Just think, you sold the car and you send the DMV the Release Of Liability form, but If the buyer is an A-HOLE and does not register the car under his/her name. You are going to get screwed. Think of unpaid parking tickets, or worst the car gets into an accident. The safest way is to trade the car in, but if you want to make more money, you will have to take the chance.
When you sell the car and turn in the plates, the car is no longer your responsibility. Then again, I've never had this problem, so I can't really relate. |
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| srpbep |
quote:
MoogieBoogie wrote:
When you sell the car and turn in the plates, the car is no longer your responsibility. Then again, I've never had this problem, so I can't really relate.
I suspect that the above may be true in some states, but NOT all:
Here in California, the plates and registration decals go WITH the car. You must file a release of liabilty with CA DMV to "get off the hook".
In other states, I expect the seller turns in the plates as suggested by MoogieBoogie.
Yet in other states, I expect that there are yet different rules. |
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| renov8r |
California is unique in that the PLATES are transferable and often stay with the car for decades.
In Illinois (and many/most) other states the plates stay with the owner (who can then transfer them to their new car or cancel the registration and discard them..) |
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