Carmax offers what they deem the true value of the car since they also are a one-price store. No negotiations.

 

Dealers have flexibility based on how the deal is structured. Were you buying a new or used vehicle ?

 

Carmax also does a huge, huge auction business which is part of their model. This is how they can flat offer on just about any vehicle. They have a 100,000 / 5 year model that says either of those conditions, the car gets a short time on the lot, then straight to auction with limited added investment on their part.

Carmax also does a huge, huge auction business which is part of their model. This is how they can flat offer on just about any vehicle. They have a 100,000 / 5 year model that says either of those conditions, the car gets a short time on the lot, then straight to auction with limited added investment on their part.

 

Progressive/smart dealers will also not keep a used car very long. If it doesn't sell quickly it's just tying up cash to be used for other assets.

 

Plantman's truck will never see the light of day on a dealer's lot. It will go straight to a wholesaler/local used car lot.

Progressive/smart dealers will also not keep a used car very long. If it doesn't sell quickly it's just tying up cash to be used for other assets.

 

Plantman's truck will never see the light of day on a dealer's lot. It will go straight to a wholesaler/local used car lot.

 

:isurrender:

Clyde is right. The dealership will likely call one of the used car guys to come and look at the truck and make an offer for the trade rather than buy it themselves. Then it will be assigned directly to the used lot and never be put on the dealer lot.

Right.....:sssh:

 

I have plenty in my fleet. There is a Wittle person down here that needs one.

I have plenty in my fleet. There is a Wittle person down here that needs one.

 

:bag:

@plantmanky as a former car salesman I'd be glad to answer any and all questions. Just shoot me a PM. I'll give you enough ammo to get what you want.

One thing I've always done is negotiate an agreed upon sales price before ever bringing up the trade in.

 

Treat the trade-in as a completely separate transaction. Once you've agreed on the sale price of the new vehicle, then start the negotiating on the trade-in. The roles are reversed at this point.

 

You're the seller, they're the buyer, and don't accept anything less than your absolute bottom-dollar value you put on your car. I've found a lot of times they'll end up giving in on the trade-in value a lot easier than they do on the new vehicle selling price.

 

So what do you say when the salesman says, "Do you have a trade-in?" They usually do this pretty early in the process, long before they strike a deal on the sale price of their car.

So what do you say when the salesman says, "Do you have a trade-in?" They usually do this pretty early in the process, long before they strike a deal on the sale price of their car.

 

Tell them you're just checking things out, getting pricing , etc. I always shop online and have a few targets to look at, and if I'm serious about buying, I'll already have financing secured through my bank so I can jump right to negotiating if there is a car I like.

 

Again though, I haven't traded a car in a long time. But by using the method above, I have control over when the negotiating starts and have a little more control over the process.

Here's what dealers know. While buyers complain about the negotiation process (price of the car' date=' terms, and trade value) buyers have shown that they expect to negotiate. Otherwise, the one-price philosophy that was attempted by many stores in the 90s would have been a great success. What people fail to realize about the trade-in value that is given is that the dealer is buying an asset that has to have work done on it. A dealer will spend $400 to $1,000 or more on a trade-in to get it ready to go up for sale. Then add in that they also want to make a nice profit on the car ($1500 to $2500) and you can see that they cannot offer what the buyer would get selling the car on their own at the retail market price. The math doesn't work.[/quote']

 

I traded a car about 10 years ago in and at the time couldn't find the spare key, I had the dealership calling me 24 hours later telling me they needed the key ASAP, they must have flipped that thing pronto.

I traded a car about 10 years ago in and at the time couldn't find the spare key, I had the dealership calling me 24 hours later telling me they needed the key ASAP, they must have flipped that thing pronto.

 

I bought two used cars last year (both only a year old with low miles, and over $10k cheaper than new) and both only had 1 key. Both dealers were willing to make me a new key when I was ready to kill the deal over the missing key.

ALWAYS check the NADA guides when trading your vehicle in. KBB is a generalization but not what dealers will look at. NADA will tell you rough trade and clean trade price as well as the retail of said vehicle. This way, if they try and low ball you you can always have ammo. Also, lots of times, the dealer will "hold" on the trade meaning, they'll show you 6k but really they marked it at 10k in hopes you'll take the 6. When you say you need more than 6, they'll give you another 1-2k to make it look like they're helping out when in reality they already had that price figured in.

Any truck that runs dependably is worth at least a $1000.

 

Put it on Craigslist for $1500.

 

You'll sell it in a week.

So what did you do planman?

Any truck that runs dependably is worth at least a $1000.

 

Put it on Craigslist for $1500.

 

You'll sell it in a week.

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