Hey Guys, Just wondering if anyone has traded a 3x8 in at a dealer, and how it went. I've been looking to upgrade my '86 328 to something a little newer, and during a few visits to dealers in the Chicago area, I was offered a range from 23 to 'low 30's' for my car. Obviously you take a huge hit doing trade in vs. selling yourself, and I know these cars aren't a normal trade in, and the dealers are going through car brokers etc. - but a range of 10k seemed like a lot. Any others see values with this type of range? - or have any other thoughs beyond the obvious: sell it yourself. Thanks, Battman
I think you should sell it to one of us on the board. This is a tough time and trading in always loses. But there are definitely advantages to avoiding the "tire-kickers". Ace
i went to several dealers when i wanted to trade in my 86 328. went to the local porsche dealer first, and they were giving me 31k assuming i bought a car from them. i went to another porsche dealer who gave me 18k (trade for boxster), and a merc dealer who gave 20k for a trade with a vette. carmax was giving me 24k.
5 years ago, when I bought my TR, LFSC had a couple good driver 308's "asking" $30k. Continental had some pristine time warp 328's "asking" high 40's... The world has changed since then. Honestly, a good 308 would have a hard time getting 30k right now...25k is more likely. 328's (drivers) seem to sell in the low mid 30's from what I gather on this board... Is a brutal time. If you have a dealer offering you anything above 30k for a 328, I would grab it... thats seems very generous from a dealer... I asked the dealer flat out, what he would give me for the testarossa in 3 months if I brought it back in... He said mid 30's... I had paid 55k$. At least he was honest...
Contact Peter: http://www.forzamotorsports.com/default.htm , he sometimes does consignments. He's a good guy with a good reputation here. Regards, Art S.
Trading in is always a mess because car dealers (even good ones) play all kinds of stupid games. Like, they sense you're sensitive about trade-in value, so they'll give you a good/reasonably trade-in value but then jack up the price of the car you're purchasing (either obviously, or with sneaky methods) to make up for the higher trade-in. Keep in mind, every dollar higher they give you for a trade-in is one less dollar for them ultimately. Expect to experience some games and goofy back and forth. I've rarely traded in a car (because of the above) but when I have I negotiate down and settle the price on the car being purchased, and THEN talk about trade-in. Now, I no longer buy from dealers because a) there's never a good deal, b) the car is just as likely (if not more) to be a lemon mechanically than if purchased through a (infinitely more straight forward/honest) private party, and c) the buying experience is a lot more transparent and pleasant through a private party in my experience. Personally, unless the buyer is a total idiot, I think dealers add absolutely zero to the equation...and, in fact, lessen the overall outcome because they ultimately add cost to the consumer. Just my $.02.
" thats seems very generous from a dealer..." It is not a generous offer - don't believe that for a second. If a dealer is offering a good price for your car, he's making up for it with the price on his car. If you really do the math, and have objective figures, you will fine that a dealer that is offering you more money on your trade-in than some other dealer is just adding the difference into the price of the new car. You can't stay in business as a dealer by making deals in the customer's favor.
Careful!, Not too far back an enthusiastic Fchatter got lambasted, raked over the coals, and publicly humiliated when he traded in his 308 for a Nissan 370z. It wasn't pretty. Dave
This was my thought on the difference in trade in values. More markup in the car you were looking to trade on. The selling market is hard right now. I suggest if you trade it in or are getting serious give the folks who pretend they are ready a couple days with a buy it now in F-ads, then do the deed. Please take all service records you have, and hide them somewhere on the car and post you vin here so down the road, maybe 10 years an owner here will find all record. Maybe inside the spare tire.
The only time it makes sense to trade any car to a dealer is when the residual value is so little that it isn't worth your trouble to advertise and sell, or it has so much stuff wrong with it that it would be too expensive to prepare for private sale. In the latter case you probably come out ahead letting the dealer wholesale it and take what you can get.
That's not really true. I recently decided against trading in a car because the dealer offered so little. I ended up selling it privately for 6x the amount. I would say the only time it makes sense to trade a car to a dealer is when the "I just don't want to deal with it" factor is high.
We're on the same page. I'm basically saying the same thing in a different way. I run my daily drivers into the ground to the point they are only worth a couple grand. At that point the "don't want to deal with it factor" is worth more to me than the extra couple of hundred I could get from a private sale. If the car has any value at all (say 4K plus) you will pocket at least 1K selling privately, which for me is definitely worth the hassle. For others it may take more.
