tips for trading in a used car? what to expect?
 

hey,

i'm looking to trade in my 1999 bmw 323i for another bmw of a similar year. my car is a standard and i'm just looking to trade it for an automatic so my mom can use it too. most reputable dealerships that i have looked into don't carry early year e46. are there any tips for trading in a used car? how to not let the stealership take advantage of you?

Your not going to get as much as you would privately.. Some dealerships dont even take cars beyond a certain year... Its reallly up to you, sell it cheap no hassle or sell it yourself and get a couple extra hundred bucks...

sell it yourself, dealership rips you off.

Prepare the dealer to give you 1/10 the price you want to get it for, only to see it listed a few days later for 10 times more at the dealership.

I'm a dealer, so here's my advice:

#1, This is our business, and we're in it to earn a living.

#2, Understand the difference between wholesale, trade-in, and retail price.

- "wholesale" or "book" is what the car is worth on auction, or between dealers.

- "trade-in" is what the dealer shows you on paper. It may be more or less than wholesale. If you get $500 more than wholesale for your trade, it is the same as getting a $500 discount on the price of the vehicle you are buying.

- "retail" is wholesale+markup, and it's what we need to sell the vehicle for in order to earn a living.

SO, if you think your stick BMW is worth $5000 because that what they are going for on craigslist, and you see a $10,000 auto BMW at a dealer, understand that you will NOT get the auto BMW for an extra $5000. You will get "trade-in" for your BMW, which will likely be $2000 or something like that, and you will need to pay $8000 + fees and taxes to take the auto BMW. (this is just an example)

Look up the value of your BMW on http://www.canadianblackbook.com/black-book-values

Once you are educated on what book/wholesale value is on your car, then look around and see what kind of asking prices there are on craigslist/buysell/autotrader for your car. As long as the dealer offers you somewhere near "book" value, you are not getting 'ripped off' - but it is your responsibility to decide if you want to trade-in, or if it's worth it for you to try to sell it privately.

Remember that if you are buying a $10,000 car, and are offered $3000 for your trade, you only pay taxes on $7000. That means you would need to sell the car privately for at least $3400 from a private sale to make it worth your time to sell it privately. In some situations, the tax savings is big enough to offset the difference between retail and trade-in.

Lastly, make sure the car you are buying is priced competitively compared to similar cars nearby. If it is priced a lot higher, it should be a lot lower kms or nicer condition. If it is priced wayyy less than any of the other similar cars nearby, it may have some serious issues, like accident history, or excessive kms.

haha, I wish it was 10x more. I'd be rolling in a Lambo by now if that was the case.

It really depends on the dealer. Some dealers never pay book for trade-ins, and put a huge $7000 markup, with no safety or detail. (Kingsway dealers...)

We quite often pay more than book, and we always do a safety and detail, and fix lots of shit, and sometimes we barely have $3000 markup after all that.
(but then on the North Shore, our customers have higher standards, and we have a lot of return customers because we don't sell crap cars)

I was just being factious really and it does depend on the dealership.

Here is my personal experience:

I attempted to purchase a civic privately but he went ahead and traded into the local Honda dealership. Being curious I asked how much he traded it in for, which was $3000. I went over to the dealership and they priced it at $8888. I am keeping in mind though that they are trying to maintain a profit here.

much appreciated for the tips, thanks for the info, im going to take the loss with a private sale

I would suggest calling a BMW dealer and asking the "market value" on your car.

The mark up there may appear to be 5888 to you which is on the high side but you have to realize that the dealer actually spends a lot of money on it after. Depending on what car it is, they might put new tires on it, new brakes, oil change, safety inspection, honda certified, full detail etc.
This all cost a lot of money and then we have about 3000 markup maybe 4000 on that car, who knows. Then the person that comes in to buy it wants $2000 off so the dealer actually makes $1888. Is that such a bad thing? You get a car that was inspected and had all things that needed to be taken care of done for you including the history and all.
There is a reason a dealer can sell a car for more then a private owner because everything is taken care of whereas private sales are all buyer beware.



A bmw dealer is not going to know the "market value" of a 1999 bmw. They need to see the car too. I don't think they carry anything that old so just look at the canadian black book value that rich linked up there and add 2000-3000 to that. And look on craigslist for something comparable.

1999 BMW 3 Series 323i 4D Sedan with 120000km(guessed, tell me actual km and ill edit it)
Average Trade in : $3,500
Averate Retail: $5,350

This is using Canadian Black Book on the BCAA website(need to be a member to use)

Also these prices are dependent on the vehicles condition, km's, and options(only option it let me chose was auto transmission or not)

This thread needs to be stickied somewhere because it has some really good information courtesy of Rich.

Harder to sell cars privately now as well. No tax benefit with the glorious HST so more people buying from trusted dealerships rather than some dude they don't know. On top of safety inspection, new parts (if needed) etc, trusted dealerships will make good on an issue should you find one soon after purchase... something most, if not all private sellers wouldn't do.

I had my car on CL for over a month with only a couple nibbles here and there whereas in the past, I'd have several emails a week. In fact, it's never taken me more than 2 weeks to sell a car privately (sold 4) Took a bath and traded it in and the dealer sold it in 2 frickin days for 5k more than they gave me.

Damn you HST! Damn you all to hell!

I just want to add to what the two experienced guys already offered....

At the dealership, we are ripped off just as much, if not more than the consumer. You wouldn't believe how many people lie about accidents, problems, history, service etc. Often times we will buy a car at a good price to later find out it needs a tranny.

Our trade walk around is quite short, we do a quick history check and trust that you disclose everything like we do. If you don't like what the dealership offers, then don't take it. If you claim you can get 10 grand for your car privately, then sell it privately. We aren't forcing you to trade it in, and frankly, 9 times out of 10 we don't want your peice of shit anyways.