Trade-In

dredhaus

New member
I have been steadily falling in love with the 05 4runner. I recieved an offer in the mail today from Dayton saying that they are conducting a "special marketing test event" and that they will buy back my current vehicle at over 100% of it's current trade-in market value. They are doing this because of "exteremely high new vehicle inventories, low interest rates and demand for quality used vehicles." They also included an additional savings voucher for up to $1000. What do you guys think? Do they normally buy back vehicles under 100% of it's current trade-in market value?
 
Register to hide this ad
It's all a game. They will buy it from you for as low as they can, period.

There is no one source on trade-in value so that you have a benchmark. And beyond that it also relies on opinions for the condition of the vehicle.

That being said you have to want and know how to get the best possible price from them. There will always be bargaining in the deal if you want a really good price.
 
My best suggestion is to go in knowing what you want to pay for new (I wouldn't go much over invoice if at all) and knowing what is a reasonable amout for your trade in. Go in with the title for your truck in your hand. Tell them exactly what you want to pay and what you will take for the trade. Tell them you are buying a car TODAY and that is why you brought your title. Tell them you will either buy from them or go to the next dealer.

I have never make it past the second dealer.

I paid $29,400 (Sticker $35,500) for my new '03 sport edition V8 with sun roof and 6 disc JBL

I just bought another Sienna xle for $1000 under invoice. The salesman couldn't believe his manager gave me the deal.
 
I guess they are saying they'll buy the vehicle at blue (or black/pink/whatever) book value. That may or may not be a good thing depending on vehicle condition, kms, options, and the area you live in.

I also agree with Toybox......have a good idea of what is a reasonable difference before visiting the dealer.
 
Last edited:
Keep the deals separate!

Agree on a selling price of your old vehicle.

Shake hands, now for the other deal......

Agree on a selling price for the new Runner. Pay Edmunds.com TMV pricing. Know before hand if there are any manufacturing rebates. Then apply the rebate to the lowest new vehicle selling price. I got an addition $500 bucks off the lowest price when I inquired about a small pop-up ad the dealerships website annoyed me with. Turns out the pop-up ad was for a teachers rebate of $500, I had my wife with me and we qualified.

If I had not know about this ad, thanks to the dealer and it's #@#$*& pop-up ad, they would have split the $500 among the sales staff. And you wouldn't be the wiser in knowing this.

Don't get caught up in the 'how much do you want your payments to be', 'you want low monthly payments?'. You'll end up paying $40K for a $30K vehicle with finance charges.

Buy it, don't lease. Put as much $$ down upfront as you can. Runners have great depreciation, but this way you essentially buy down your depreciation and when you sell it, you won't be 'upside' down, or owing the bank more money than what the vehicle is worth.

And don't be 'in love with it', if you walk into the dealer with that outlook you are a sheep to slaughter.

Off my soap box.

Moe, Larry, Cheese!
 
Sure no problem at all

They can easily give you more than your trade is worth, but you pay MSRP or really close to it for the new vehicle.

Watch how fast they abort the deal if you agree on an above 100% trade for your used truck, then tell them you just want the cash, you'll be buying your new truck at another stealership, I mean "deal"ership. Dealerships will ALWAYS make money, period.

Look at the "deals" where they will "pay off your current loan no matter how much you owe!!". ALl they do is roll the difference between what you might owe into the new loan. How does 72 months sound??

Put down enough money on the new vehicle so you aren't upside down on the loan when you drive it off the lot. Your insurance company will only pay blue-book, minus your deductable, if it gets wrecked. It would suck to borrow 100% and have an accident , or have it stolen. You still owe the difference on the loan.
 
Northof49 said:
That's a blanket statement, leasing is a great alternative for some depending on their financial situation/needs.

It is my opinion. I wrote it.

If you can't afford it, don't buy it. Plain and simple philosophy. I got sucked into the perpetual lease trap out of college. It took three rollovers of negative equity to get me out of that brand. Along with making money and bettering my financial situation.

I got hosed and if you drive more than 15K miles a year you will get hosed. Who drives less than 15K a year? Grandpa Munster?

An automobile is the only 'asset' that depreciates. Anyway you slice it financially you lose in a lease(as a personal consumer).

Obviously you are leasing?

Leasing is good if you are Bill Gates where money is no object and you can afford to burn $2-3K every two years sinking it in lost depreciation and excess mileage. Maybe Japanese cars are a little better because of their high resale. Lease a domestic and the value of the car drops 50% in 24 months.
 
Last edited:
Re: Sure no problem at all

ToolmanJohn said:
They can easily give you more than your trade is worth, but you pay MSRP or really close to it for the new vehicle.

Watch how fast they abort the deal if you agree on an above 100% trade for your used truck, then tell them you just want the cash, you'll be buying your new truck at another stealership, I mean "deal"ership. Dealerships will ALWAYS make money, period.

Look at the "deals" where they will "pay off your current loan no matter how much you owe!!". ALl they do is roll the difference between what you might owe into the new loan. How does 72 months sound??

Put down enough money on the new vehicle so you aren't upside down on the loan when you drive it off the lot. Your insurance company will only pay blue-book, minus your deductable, if it gets wrecked. It would suck to borrow 100% and have an accident , or have it stolen. You still owe the difference on the loan.

No, you don't take the cash. I was using that as an example of not getting sucked into 'monthly payments' and extended payoffs. They and you know you are buying the other car. Hike your request and say you will sell it on your own and will get back to them when you sell it as you need the cash to buy the new vehicle. They will magically offer you more money on the trade to facilitate the deal.

Even if they give you high blue book and a low selling price the dealer STILL makes money on the 3% holdback from the MFG. And some dealers roll them out the door knowing they will make their money on hiked service fees and outrageous billbacks to Toyota for warranty work.

Oh, they make money. Ever hear of the razor and razor blade story?
 
Sac State said:
It is my opinion. I wrote it.

If you can't afford it, don't buy it. Plain and simple philosophy. I got sucked into the perpetual lease trap out of college. It took three rollovers of negative equity to get me out of that brand. Along with making money and bettering my financial situation.

I got hosed and if you drive more than 15K miles a year you will get hosed. Who drives less than 15K a year? Grandpa Munster?

An automobile is the only 'asset' that depreciates. Anyway you slice it financially you lose in a lease.

Obviously you are leasing?

Leasing is good if you are Bill Gates where money is no object and you can afford to burn $2-3K every two years sinking it in lost depreciation and excess mileage. Maybe Japanese cars are a little better because of their high resale. Lease a domestic and the value of the car drops 50% in 24 months.
Of course it's your opinion, and I never told you to lease a vehicle. So far, I haven't leased either. That said, I will be leasing within the next month (not a Runner).

In the simplest of terms, a lease payment shows up as an expense on an income statement, and a finance contract shows as a liability on your balance sheet. If one owns a small (or large) business, this has obvious inherent tax benefits.

Leasing is definetly not the best option for everyone, yet it IS a viable alternative depending on ones' situation.....
 
Last edited:
Northof49 said:
Of course it's your opinion, and I never told you to lease a vehicle. So far, I haven't leased either. That said, I will be leasing within the next month (not a Runner).

In the simplest of terms, a lease payment shows up as an expense on an income statement, and a finance contract shows as a liability on your balance sheet. If one owns a small (or large) business, this has obvious inherent tax benefits.

Leasing is definetly not the best option for everyone, yet it IS a viable alternative depending on ones' situation.....

Yes, a business or LLC is different than your average Joe or Jane terminal consumer. Most businesses lease their vehicles.
 
<I> Your insurance company will only pay blue-book, minus your deductable, if it gets wrecked. It would suck to borrow 100% and have an accident , or have it stolen. You still owe the difference on the loan. </I>

That is what GAP Insurance is for.. It covers what the insurance company doesn't and it's a good CYA option especially if you lease. It is available on both loans and leases... ask your lender if they offer it. Its also available from third party companies, but shop carefully.
 
Trade-in values

You really have to watch yourself in accepting trade-in values that dealers offer. It's often the NADA book value, and that is likely terrible when compared to a private party sale. Some dealers make more money on the trade-in than on the new car sale. Remember that trade-in value is the low number; private party sale is the middle number, and a dealer sale of a used car is the high number. It's not unusual for there to be $1500-$3000 difference between trade-in and dealer sale numbers.

Specific example: When I bought the 4Runner the dealer was only offering me $900 (the NADA trade-in book value) and didn't seem excited about it. I had already checked out edmunds.com and kbb.com, and knew the private party sale figure was about $2250-2500. I decided the difference was big enough for me to market the car myself. I cleaned up the car and waxed it, did a newspaper and an internet ad, and priced the car at $2750. It took a total of 10 days and I got $2500. I could have gotten $2750 if I had waited a few more days.

So check internet resources and figure out what the vehicle is worth, both as a trade-in and by private sale. If you have an hour or two, drive your current car around to some local used-car dealers and offer it to them. Then you'll know the real numbers and you can make intelligent decisions at the new-car dealership.

As for buying vs. leasing, I agree that leasing is almost always a poor financial choice for individuals. It can make sense for businesses, though, or for people who just want a new car every few years and don't care abut the financial loss.
 
my 2 cents :) You have to know what your vehicle is worth (really worth) take it to several dealers and get offers, look at what people are selling the same vehicle for in your local paper and track the add. Call a couple of weeks later to see if they sold it and if they did tell them you have a similar vehicle and would like to know what they sold their vehicle for so you can price your's. after you do all of that you will now be able to deal for the new vehicle and really know what kind of a deal your are getting. I would deal with the internet manager.
 
I did not really read this thread but I would put the 4Runner in the local paper, many times parents are looking for a good used car for their kids and can't bite the bullet of 30k new car prices, I'd much rather sell the car myself for say 15k then get screwed at the dealer on a trade for 10k then have the dealer whore themselves out and screw someone buying it for 18k or more;):

Ever really look at pre-owned cars, they only qualify if they look new, remember looking new is a big difference between kept like new;): right before I got the ES the Toyota dealer wanted to sell me a loaded Avalon with 43k on the clock, car had an oil change every 12k according to the records but it also got state inspected along with the oil change so maybe the guy took it to his local quick change place to avoid the headache of the dealer.

When I worked on cars, I noticed that people abused the leased cars but to the same degree the owned cars where abused just as much, I've seen $40-$50k cars bought&financed come into the shop with knocking issues after 35k without an oil change, some higher mileage usually 40,000 and the owners just forgot to change the oil, they usually walk out with a new car on a good trade and someone picks the car up with a new engine for a good deal;):
 
Pitbull said:
my 2 cents :) You have to know what your vehicle is worth (really worth) take it to several dealers and get offers, look at what people are selling the same vehicle for in your local paper and track the add. Call a couple of weeks later to see if they sold it and if they did tell them you have a similar vehicle and would like to know what they sold their vehicle for so you can price your's. after you do all of that you will now be able to deal for the new vehicle and really know what kind of a deal your are getting. I would deal with the internet manager.

very good advise but I find dumping the vehicle and having the insurance pay you full KBB for it is the best bet, thats how I got 22k for a vehicle worth 13k:D

j/k it was strategicly totalled:arrow:
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
278,307
Messages
3,554,056
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Trending content

Back
Top