My new 350 sport will be on the dock soon and I'm certainly anxious to pick it up. When I was at my Benz dealership, they didn't seem overly excited in wanting to deal on a trade-in of my current vehicle--an Infiniti G35. This will be my first MB and I don't have any experience on how good of a deal I'll get on a trade-in of a non-MB vehicle. Should I just head to Carmax???

 

Always try to sell the vehicle yourself. MB dealers don't like the option of reselling your vehicle unless their lot is close to empty. I suggest you better hurry and post it on your local ad or online.

 

I tried trading in my Acura TL and they just low ball you with a price that is half of the black book value to discourage you with trade-in.

 

Honestly carmax is not that bad of a place to sell your car. I bought (from MB) my '05 c230 in dec '05 used for $24,200 w/ 19k, sold it (to carmax) june '07 with 39k for $22,500. Cant ask for a better deal... a year and a half of ownership for only $1,700.

 

Most MB dealers don't keep other brands of used cars on their lot. They usually sell them to the local dealer of that brand, so you end up getting for your trade what ever the local dealer will give the MB dealer for it.

 

Unless you try and trade in a BMW. They just love to sell a Mercedes-Benz to a BMW owner. Sometimes they even have a program on that assists the dealership in that regard.

Jorg

 

I ordered my C350 in August. At the time, I had a 2006 Acura TSX w/Navi and 10K miles. As I figured they would try to screw me on the trade, I got them to appraise it: $21K . Now, the TSX has one of the strongest resale values around and I knew they were blowing smoke. So, I went to Carmax and they offered $23K. I looked at their inventory and found a car exactly like mine for $25.5K. So, I spoke to the MB dealer and they agreed to do a wash-thru where I find a buyer for my car and negotiate a price with them. Then, we go to my MB dealer and he would trade the car in for the same price that the buyer is paying and MB would take care of all the title transfers, etc for their dealer fee of $500. Well, I did this with the help of Auto Trader and got $24K for my TSX + the tax savings (approx $1,680) by doing it through the dealer! Maybe this could be an option?

 

I wonder how true that is. I got a strange vibe when everybody at the dealership kept asking me how I liked the MB over the BMW when they found out I was trading mine in.

But they still didn't give me that great a price.

Any brand that does a lot of leasing isn't going to want your trade. Even if it's the same brand. They've got a lot of lease returns to push to auction, and yours is just another headache.

But, at least in my state, the sales tax credit can outweigh what you can get for the car private sale. That is, if you factor in the time. I'd sold my last two privately and I'm just done with the hassle. I got to the point where I felt like a jaded car salesman ... I knew instantly talking to somebody if they were a lookie-loo just out browsing and was too passive/aggressive to deal with car lots, a low-baller searching for a hardship deal, or someone who knew what they wanted and was ready to buy.

If you do sell privately, watch out for the legal, 'we'll guarantee you asking price' selling scams. They cruise the for sale ads on auto trader and try to pitch you their consignment service. The small print is, you have to agree to their "asking price" and it's $75-$100/wk (the one that kept bugging me) for them to list it. Which, if you list it on your own in auto trader and craigslist (where I sold both mine) with plenty of decent res pictures and a good description you can do your self.

Also be wary of the guy who calls/emails and starts the negotiation off with, 'what's your best price'? They'll offer you up a startlingly low ball offer, like if you list at 32, they'll offer 24, and then hound you for a few weeks to try to get you to agree. I guess the tactic has paid off; maybe people with cars that are paid off get desperate after a few weeks?

 

on edmunds .com and be very objective.Treat it like you no longer are the owner ,sell it like you are a salesman.Then list it on craigslist.org and sell it.
Why have you ordered a car and not finalized the details yet?If you have not you may be in for more surprises,than just their reluctance to take in your trade.
ohlord

 

Most dealers won't agree to a trade in price 3mo prior to the car arriving when you go in to order the car.

 

It was merely an appraisal for trade in. I didn't even negotiate my C350 price at the time.

 

I inquired about trading in my Passat, they took my car to be inspected and appraised by a local VW dealership but the trade in value was about 25% less than Kelly Blue Book trade in value even though it is in excellent condition. Since the car I ordered won't be ready for a little while I have some time to sell it privately.
A lot of my friends had huge success advertising on Craig's List (and it's free) and I decided to give it a try and list it as a few grand above trade in value and around the same price what others are selling on Craig's List. In less than a day of posting my sale I already have 3 interested buyers.

The dealer promised to keep the appraised trade in value if I do decide to trade it in later, as a last resort.

Right now is also a hard time for dealerships to get rid or accept used cars as they are trying to clear out their 2007 models and many upscale dealerships do not have a large used lot like other dealerships do.