jcfay

Seriously thinking of upgrading my '14 C63 to a '16 GTS, and I'm wondering if I should trade the car in or sell it independently? It's loaded, and with Klassen M52 19" wheels as well (I still have the OEM 18" wheels). 7700 miles. Suggestions? I have about 30K left on the loan, and could probably put a decent amount of cash down. But I'm wondering what will yield the best result? Obviously the trade in would be easier, but am I inevitably going to lose a bunch of $$ doing so? Thx

flubbernub

Sell it privately and move on. The dealership is going to give you a garbage offer on your trade-in.

AMG893

Dealerships are there to make money.
They will offer you much less than market, and sell it to turn a profit.

Having said that, its a headache free way to sell your car. Not having to deal with the time wasters and dreamers (there is alot of them)

Best thing, is to at least let them appraise your car as a trade in on a GTS, and they weigh it up in your mind if its worth it, or wait it out on the private market for those few extra $

I am Jeff

You have to factor in the tax savings in trading in your vehicle. If a private sale nets you only an additional $4k over the trade in offer, it is not worth it. NY Sales tax savings on trading in a vehicle will more than offset the additional money you would get via private sales. Don't forget about the time and effort spent on selling a vehicle privately.


For Example:
Private Sale = $54,000
Trade in = $50,000
NY Sales Tax = 8.875%
Tax Savings = $4437.50


You should at minimum, get the trade in appraisal from the dealership. You might get lucky and they will entice you by offering you a better than normal trade in value.

jcfay

Fantastic, thanks all. Helpful advice. Any idea how they'd handle the extra set of wheels that I have for the car? They've got about 3K on them and the rims are pristine, but standard OEM 18" spokes. Would they want them too? No other mods except for a Eurocharged tune. How do add ons figure in, or don't they? thx again

tasho3

EXACTLY what he said. In Chicago we pay 9.5% tax which can be huge. And you don't have to deal with the bullsh*t test drives and people that need financing.

flubbernub

Part out any aftermarket wheels, parts, etc. They add no value to your trade-in afaik.

alexmtl

+1 sell them privately !

jcfay

thanks. great advice. what if I purchase the vehicle in CT? I live in NY, but one of the larger dealers is just over the border in Greenwich. I'm assuming they would assess NY state tax, so the same tax benefit on trade in would apply, right?

beejAMG

if youre not in a hurry, you can...

...put it back to stock as much as possible and sell it privately then sell parts separately, youll get the best return of investment.

...ask the dealer how much theyll get your car with all the mods, it will definitely be lower but if you can haggle as close as the price you have in mind, do the trade in, so much easier.

...ask the dealer how much theyll take your car as bone stock and haggle the best trade in price then sell your other parts privately.


goodluck sir!

I am Jeff

Yes, the tax savings will be the same. Where the vehicle is sold has no effect on the amount of taxes paid, it only matters on where you register your vehicle. Being that Greenwich is right across the border from NY, I'm pretty sure the CT dealership will know this and adjust the amount of taxes they collect.


It never hurts to remind the finance manager of this, when you are reviewing and signing your paperwork.

otakki

As mentioned above, tax saving can certainly offset the additional gain from private sale, plus without all the headaches and hassles of a private sale.

sriniAMG

I usually trade in to dealer only because of lesser hassles compared to private sale. Yes, you will not get the best offer from dealers compared to private sale. But at least you don't have to worry about strangers test driving your car.

You also need to find the right dealer. Get your car appraised by multiple dealers.
When I recently sold my G37, I went to multiple Infiniti dealers to get the car appraised. One particular dealer offered way more than anyone else only because they had one of their highest sales months. They really wanted my car.

As some of the others mentioned, try returning your car back to stock. The mods will add no to very little value. Sell them separately on the forum.

good luck!

jcfay

thanks again for the solid feedback all. really helpful.

kb24forlife24

Try Carmax and if that doesn't work, go private sale.

jcfay

so you think carmax or a private sale would yield a better return than dealer trade in, even with the tax breaks with a trade in? is carmax that good?

rentzington

we sold one car to carmax and they pretty much gave kelly bluebook value for it, was quite surprised. I know several others with similar experiences who got much higher prices than other dealers offered.
Worth a shot to at least check, they're easy to get an appraisal from and its good negotiating power if you get a decent offer.

alboogiee

CarMax would negate the tax break---it will be like selling privately but with trade in pricing. It's a last resort to offload a car.

SteveE400

Just keep in mind that the dealer's basic business model is to buy your car for wholesale value and then sell it for retail. That is how they make money on used cars. If you sell it yourself, you may sell for more than wholesale, but maybe less than dealer retail since you cannot offer additional "services" along with the car. I always trade my cars because I do not want a buyer to know where the car came from. . . in case they have buyer's remorse or there is some hidden defect in the car that they think should qualify them for a price reduction after the fact. Of course, I "consume" my cars much more fully than you do, as the last two cars we traded were 13 and 14 years old.


Another reason not to bother with trying to sell a "high-bracket" car yourself is the issue of financing. Not many used car buyers around here have the cash to buy a higher-priced used car outright, and banks are more reluctant to finance younger or less-affluent buyers to purchase expensive used cars.

unagi1

This...+1. Even in the tri-state area, I got a wide variety of offers when looking to purchase -- you could run into a dealership with a customer who asked specifically for that type of car.

QWKSNKE

Man, you guys pay an assload for auto sales tax. I was complaining last year cause ours went to 3% (Alabama)

With that being said, I can't see a dealer offering within 8k -10k of what a private sale could bring

Tonycpa

/thread

VaclavSV

in Ontario we pay 13% Sales tax .... also did you get a trade in number from the dealer? Im just curious

jcfay

thanks for the input, folks. I just remembered that I read that one should wait until the sale would be nearly complete to confirm that one wanted to trade in a vehicle. First you negotiate "rock bottom" price and then bring the trade in, I guess to get any additional leverage? I'm sure the dealer is going to look to make profit anywhere and everywhere they can - but if I'm appraising a vehicle up front then this isn't possible. Any reason to do or to not do this? thx again

layzie12g

There is no leveraging a dealer. They used 54k retail and 50k on trade as an example.
That would be truth if you were being drastically over charged on your purchase vehicle. I would assume if your car was worth 54k private party you would be offered 42k, and then after its "reconditioned" you would see it on their lot for $58,999.
You will take a HUGE loss trading in to a dealer.

It seem like some people have they money where if they get $9,000 less then the car is worth they can eat it, but I can not. I have more time then money, so I can show the car to a few people on craigslist. It can be a pain, but most the time people that are going to spend 40-50k on a car are there to buy it. Selling cheap cars is where you run in to problems.

I've work for several car dealerships. I have seen some cases with higher end cars where the dealership will take it on trade and flip it literally the next day at a 40k profit. It is rare, but it gives you an idea of how they work. You will lose thousands and thousands of dollars trading a vehicle in.