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Trade ins?

12K views 91 replies 30 participants last post by  april77 
#1 ·
Is anyone else doing a trade-in on their Hellcat purchase? Did your dealer try to sc**w you over (like mine is) because they know you're stuck buying the car you ordered no matter what?
 
#3 ·
You'd be best off selling outright rather than trading. Why give the dealer any more leverage than they already have? I did not trade anything in my transaction.
 
#6 ·
I'd love to sell it outright, unfortunately, it takes a lot more work. I'm almost ready to accept the crappy price the dealer is offering (and refuses to budge on) just so I don't have to deal with the hassle.
 
#11 ·
I'll be trading in the 2012 SuperBee. They're giving me a fair price. If you look at what I save in tax by trading vs. selling and buying. The difference (approx. $2500) isn't worth the hassle.
 
#13 ·
I think it honestly depends. If you can get significantly more for your car selling it privately, then by all means, try and sell it privately. If a dealer decides not to screw you over on a trade in and you live in a state that allows you to pay the difference on sales tax with a trade in when you purchase a new vehicle, then it would probably be wiser to do that. Unless you can get more by selling it privately then you would with the trade in value AND tax break. When I bought my Shelby, the dealer offered to give me $24,000 for my trade in, which was a Focus ST that I paid $25,600 for brand new the year before, so it was a no brainer. It was almost like I lost nothing.

IF I decide to get a hellcat, then I would have to trade my Shelby for it. Whether or not I trade entirely depends on if the Dodge dealer wants to screw me on the trade or not. I wouldn't be making this move until there are charger hellcats on dealer lots, so I have some more time to decide.
 
#15 ·
I think it honestly depends. If you can get significantly more for your car selling it privately, then by all means, try and sell it privately. If a dealer decides not to screw you over on a trade in and you live in a state that allows you to pay the difference on sales tax with a trade in when you purchase a new vehicle, then it would probably be wiser to do that. Unless you can get more by selling it privately then you would with the trade in value AND tax break. When I bought my Shelby, the dealer offered to give me $24,000 for my trade in, which was a Focus ST that I paid $25,600 for brand new the year before, so it was a no brainer. It was almost like I lost nothing.

IF I decide to get a hellcat, then I would have to trade my Shelby for it. Whether or not I trade entirely depends on if the Dodge dealer wants to screw me on the trade or not. I wouldn't be making this move until there are charger hellcats on dealer lots, so I have some more time to decide.
You are spot on. I decided to sell my truck outright because I was afraid of getting taken on the trade piece. Doesn't do me any good to get the car at MSRP if they take me for $5k on the trade... My only issue is that now it looks like I am car-less for about a month. Looks like I'll be riding the Harley or borrowing my wife's car....
 
#16 · (Edited)
I think it honestly depends. If you can get significantly more for your car selling it privately, then by all means, try and sell it privately. If a dealer decides not to screw you over on a trade in and you live in a state that allows you to pay the difference on sales tax with a trade in when you purchase a new vehicle, then it would probably be wiser to do that. Unless you can get more by selling it privately then you would with the trade in value AND tax break. When I bought my Shelby, the dealer offered to give me $24,000 for my trade in, which was a Focus ST that I paid $25,600 for brand new the year before, so it was a no brainer. It was almost like I lost nothing.

IF I decide to get a hellcat, then I would have to trade my Shelby for it. Whether or not I trade entirely depends on if the Dodge dealer wants to screw me on the trade or not. I wouldn't be making this move until there are charger hellcats on dealer lots, so I have some more time to decide.
The dealer is in business to make a profit. That's what pays their bills, pure and simple. The dealer is not going to give a car away without a profit and they are not going to take a trade unless there is a profit involved. You can either keep that profit in your pocket or squander it and put it in theirs. I guess it just comes down to how much "sweat equity" you want to put into your purchase. Personally, I'd rather have the cash in my pocket.
 
#14 ·
I'm stopping in at CarMax on the way to pick up my hellcat and getting a quote from them. I'll use that quote as a ammo to help in the negotiating with my dealer. If CarMax offers me 10k and dealer offers like 9k...then I'll still just stick with the dealer for the tax break and the ease of transaction.

Caren....don't you have a CarMax in the area?? The quote is free and takes like 30 minutes and is independent of you buying a car there.
 
#21 ·
I'm stopping in at CarMax on the way to pick up my hellcat and getting a quote from them. I'll use that quote as a ammo to help in the negotiating with my dealer. If CarMax offers me 10k and dealer offers like 9k...then I'll still just stick with the dealer for the tax break and the ease of transaction.

Caren....don't you have a CarMax in the area?? The quote is free and takes like 30 minutes and is independent of you buying a car there.
I'm her husband and we're not even bothering going to CarMax. Before I got the Challenger I took my 2010 B5 SRT8 to CarMax for kicks and they offered 20k for it. I laughed and walked away. Complete waste of time.

Edit: Should add that 20k was below 'rough' Black Book value for trade-in, LOL. That car was far from 'rough' condition.
 
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#17 ·
Dealers have to make something off your trades! Can't expect them to lose money on a car just because you want more. Sure you can get more for it, but it is a HASSLE selling it yourself!! No fuss, no muss with a trade-in. Worth leaving it where I parked it when I drive home in a new ride! I don't like getting ripped off either, but you are paying for the service of having your old car deposed of. Just my 2 cents worth! Jim in Minneapolis
 
#18 ·
Yes they do, but that goes into what I was saying about the tax break. It depends how much profit they want to make off of it. Let's say you have a car you can sell for 50 grand and you want to trade it in for a 60 grand car, but the dealer only wants to give you 45 grand. If they give you 45 grand for it on a trade in for a car that they're selling for 60 grand, when you register that car, you only have to pay tax on the difference, in this case it's 15 grand. So instead of paying tax on 60 grand, your paying tax on 15. New York sales tax is 8.65% If you sold the car privately and paid tax on 60 grand, you'd be paying $8,100 in tax, so you be spending 68,100 on the car. Sales tax on 15 grand is $2,025, so you'd be paying 62,025 for the car. The difference between 68,100 and $62,025 is $6,075, which is greater than the 5 grand difference you would of got if you sold the car privately so in this case, it would pay to trade in, even though your getting slightly less for the car.
 
#25 ·
Not sure what number you are using for your figures but tax on $68,100.00 at 8.65% would be $5890.65 :eek:
 
#19 ·
My dealer has always promised me whatever I owed for my trades. Since I don't put anything down and I don't keep them more than 3 years, its always been a win for me. I was able to get over book for my trade and msrp for my Hellbaby. I also had about $10k in mods on my trade so, it was a win/win for both.
 
#32 ·
Happy with mine, deal and pricing, New Hellcat is at Taylor waiting delivery, Old SRT8 is going bye bye and saves some sales tax. Win Win for me. They would not take the old car until the delivery day. I would have to get big bucks if I sell outright and then have to make up the sales tax difference plus deal with somebody and their bank on the old car.
 
#36 ·
Sales tax varies from state to state but the main thing is even if you find a person to purchase your old car for "retail" ( or a favorable number to you) they probably have to get a loan and that will dictate how much they can afford. You are looking for a wealthy cash buyer who wants a used car.
 
#45 ·
What was the issue that made it a lemon. Just curious.
 
#58 ·
i got about $3k over what i would have on a trade in.......which is a bit more than i would have saved in taxes...took 5 weeks, tons of people dreaming making low ball offers....sold it on ebay.....

reason i didnt consider a trade in is i wanted to be able to get my new HC anywhere....w/o the hassle....you finally find a HC for msrp and now you have to d*ck around with a trade in....no one wants it and it just adds another element to the frustration in finding one.....

sold mine in WI in the middle of winter to a guy 8 hours away who bought it sight unseen.....just pics off ebay.....when he showed up he didnt even really look at it
 
#67 ·
I am not huge on the clothes, shoes, makeup, purses, jewelry ... my husband tells everyone that I am low maintenance. The only problem is that the toys I like are expensive. Cars, guns, computers, etc. ... he likes those things, too, so we have to buy them in duplicate. That gets expensive fast, poor Marty. LOL!

April
 
#72 ·
I traded in my 2012 Challenger SRT8 with 31k miles on it. After all was said and done, I got about 30k for the car alone. I sold the supercharger separately. They hit you a little bit on the trade because they usually pay what auctions are bringing in, but you do get a tax savings on the Hellcat, so that adds to the overall amount you get towards the new car. Winter is a tough time to sell a car like this as well, so it was much easier.
 
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