OT: Selling a car and buying a car

[Knight177lb]

I need to buy a new car for my wife. Every time I trade the old one in, I get a lousy deal. I always take it because I don't want the hassle of selling it on my own. Does anyone have any experience selling a car to Car Max? I don't want to buy from them, I want to buy a new one from the dealer. I'm just wondering if I would get a better price from them.

 

[rutgersal]

I need to buy a new car for my wife. Every time I trade the old one in, I get a lousy deal. I always take it because I don't want the hassle of selling it on my own. Does anyone have any experience selling a car to Car Max? I don't want to buy from them, I want to buy a new one from the dealer. I'm just wondering if I would get a better price from them.

As long as it’s a newer car in tip top shape, you will get a good deal from them. If it’s an older car or if it’s been in any accidents, you will get wholesale. I made $3K more on my last car selling it on Craigslist, as it had been in a minor accident.

 

[Knight Shift]

I need to buy a new car for my wife. Every time I trade the old one in, I get a lousy deal. I always take it because I don't want the hassle of selling it on my own. Does anyone have any experience selling a car to Car Max? I don't want to buy from them, I want to buy a new one from the dealer. I'm just wondering if I would get a better price from them.

We did best with our dealer a couple of years ago. Car max, car gurus, and one other came in much lower

Edit- the other place was called CarShop on Route 1 in Monmouth Junction. What a nightmare that place was. It was immaculately laid out and clean, but the negotiation process was worse than a root canal with a jackhammer. Looks like they closed.

CarShop - South Brunswick - Monmouth Junction, NJ

CARSHOP - SOUTH BRUNSWICK - CLOSED, 4095 Rte 1 S, Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852, 13 Photos, Mon - 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, Tue - 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, Wed - 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, Thu - 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, Fri - 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, Sat - 8:00 am - 6:00 pm, Sun - Closed

www.yelp.com

 

[Section124]

I did well with Car Max a year ago. I sold them a highly sought after SUV. Had over 100k and it was time. Was in and out in less than 20 minutes. Carvana was a much lower quote.

 

[CHOPU]

I’ve sold 2 vehicles on Carvana. An older model Honda accord with some minor damage and a newer Acura ILX . The whole process was straightforward and easy. They come to your house to pick it up and wire the money right then. Go on the site and they will send you a quote . It takes 2 mins

 

[DJ Spanky]

I need to buy a new car for my wife. Every time I trade the old one in, I get a lousy deal. I always take it because I don't want the hassle of selling it on my own. Does anyone have any experience selling a car to Car Max? I don't want to buy from them, I want to buy a new one from the dealer. I'm just wondering if I would get a better price from them.

Just a shot in the dark: do you have a mechanic? Because they usually are aware of people who are looking for cars.

 

[RUBubba]

I have several clients that sold their car to Carvana and did very well. Obviously depends on year, make, model, and condition (including mileage).

If the car is paid off and you have the title in hand, I would at least check it out.

 

[dfr1966]

We did best with our dealer a couple of years ago. Car max, car gurus, and one other came in much lower

Edit- the other place was called CarShop on Route 1 in Monmouth Junction. What a nightmare that place was. It was immaculately laid out and clean, but the negotiation process was worse than a root canal with a jackhammer. Looks like they closed.

CarShop - South Brunswick - Monmouth Junction, NJ

CARSHOP - SOUTH BRUNSWICK - CLOSED, 4095 Rte 1 S, Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852, 13 Photos, Mon - 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, Tue - 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, Wed - 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, Thu - 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, Fri - 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, Sat - 8:00 am - 6:00 pm, Sun - Closed

www.yelp.com

Yes, they closed down

 

[mildone]

I need to buy a new car for my wife. Every time I trade the old one in, I get a lousy deal. I always take it because I don't want the hassle of selling it on my own. Does anyone have any experience selling a car to Car Max? I don't want to buy from them, I want to buy a new one from the dealer. I'm just wondering if I would get a better price from them.

You probably already know this, but just make sure that the car max price is high enough to offset the tax savings you get from doing a trade-in with the dealership from which you're buying a car.

You might get less in trade-in from a dealership than a private sale of your old car. But you only pay tax on the difference between the new car price and the trade-in. Often times, the tax savings is greater than the higher private sale price.

 

[trotter]

I need to buy a new car for my wife. Every time I trade the old one in, I get a lousy deal. I always take it because I don't want the hassle of selling it on my own. Does anyone have any experience selling a car to Car Max? I don't want to buy from them, I want to buy a new one from the dealer. I'm just wondering if I would get a better price from them.

I just sold my car. Went to two dealers who low-balled me and then tried Carmax. They gave me 4k more online and there was no haggling when I gave them the car. Check was issued and they don’t work on commission.

 

[mildone]

Just gonna point out that dealerships understand that you can get better "deals" from private sales to places like Carmax or whomever. But they also know how much you'd save in taxes from trading in when purchasing a car from them.

That factors into the price they offer, although they may not admit it. But the thing to remember is that just because you get a higher offer doesn't mean you are winding up with a "better deal". Dealerships know the numbers and the lesser amount they offer plus the tax savings you get from trading in often winds up being a better deal than the private sale.

This tax advantage tends to work better with trade-in cars that didn't depreciate very quickly and aren't very old. It's also why, in cases involving expensive cars with low depreciation for people who want new cars every two years, it's often better to buy and trade-in than to lease.

 

[Knight Shift]

Just gonna point out that dealerships understand that you can get better "deals" from private sales to places like Carmax or whomever. But they also know how much you'd save in taxes from trading in when purchasing a car from them.

That factors into the price they offer, although they may not admit it. But the thing to remember is that just because you get a higher offer doesn't mean you are winding up with a "better deal". Dealerships know the numbers and the lesser amount they offer plus the tax savings you get from trading in often winds up being a better deal than the private sale.

This tax advantage tends to work better with trade-in cars that didn't depreciate very quickly and aren't very old. It's also why, in cases involving expensive cars with low depreciation for people who want new cars every two years, it's often better to buy and trade-in than to lease.

The trade in and tax savings put us a couple/few thousand above the other offers. We did one of the online quotes, and the offer was laughable, IIRC, 50% of the dealer offer. Can't remember which service.

 

[Plum Street]

I sold a car a few years ago . First I tried to sell it on Facebook market place and Craigslist. This was an older and relatively car , so I don’t know if that was a factor….but man that attracted the dregs of society and a bunch of sob stories. . I
did meet 1 potential serious buyer that test drove it, but his spoiled 16 year old daughter didn’t like it. So after about 3 days a I pulled the ads. .
I did try carmax and they lowballed me I thought.
I wound up selling it to a degenerate type of guy that a friend knew that hung around the Bayonne OTB at a decent price , about $500 more than the car max offer and about $300 less than what i wanted to get on Facebook.
I wasn’t in a huge hurry to sell it . The buyer’s sister Venmo’d ne half as a deposit and then I had to wait another week for the guy to have a good day at the OTW and then he paid me the balance and we finalized the deal .
I heard he totaled it about 3 months later on the GSP taking the exit for the Woodbridge OTB .
I had that car for 18 years .

 

[mildone]

The trade in and tax savings put us a couple/few thousand above the other offers. We did one of the online quotes, and the offer was laughable, IIRC, 50% of the dealer offer. Can't remember which service.

It tends to work out better the more expensive the cars involved, and when the car being traded-in is not very old with low mileage and in great condition.

For a $30K car, if the trade-in price is:

• $20K, tax savings = $1,325
• $10K, tax savings = $662

For $50K car, if the trade-in price is:

• $40K, tax savings = $2,650
• $30K, tax savings = $1,987

For $100K car, if the trade-in price is:

• $70K, tax savings = $4,637
• $60K, tax savings = $3,975

For $250K car, if the trade-in price is:

• $225K, tax savings = $14,906
• $200K, tax savings = $13,250

Anyway, for people who didn't already know/understand this, the math is simple:

• Trade-in Offer + (Trade-in Offer x Sales Tax Rate) - Private Sale Offer = N

If N is greater than zero, the trade-in is the better deal.

 

[Plum Street]

It tends to work out better the more expensive the cars involved, and when the car being traded-in is not very old with low mileage and in great condition.

For a $30K car, if the trade-in price is:

• $20K, tax savings = $1,325
• $10K, tax savings = $662

For $50K car, if the trade-in price is:

• $40K, tax savings = $2,650
• $30K, tax savings = $1,987

For $100K car, if the trade-in price is:

• $70K, tax savings = $4,637
• $60K, tax savings = $3,975

For $250K car, if the trade-in price is:

• $225K, tax savings = $14,906
• $200K, tax savings = $13,250

Anyway, for people who didn't already know/understand this, the math is simple:

• Trade-in Offer + (Trade-in Offer x Sales Tax Rate) - Private Sale Offer = N

If N is greater than zero, the trade-in is the better deal.

Private sale offer will also have an opportunity cost. Or may just annoy the sh&t out of you

 

[Knight177lb]

Just a shot in the dark: do you have a mechanic? Because they usually are aware of people who are looking for cars.

I do have a good mechanic. I'll ask him.

 

[jakeknight]

Carvana was the best deal very easy transaction, beat the hell out of the dealer trade by 4k. Get a quote from from carmax as well, mine were different. Also it seems the offer will go down over time, wouldn’t get a quote until you are ready to pull the trigger. Any car dealer is only going to offer you a wholesale price. If you walk into a dealer with cash from your trade it eliminates the bs around trade in and discount. You will end up understanding what you are really paying for the new car

 

[FrankZ]

I always trade in at the dealer - find it the easiest. I work out the price on the estimate sites before hand, and present exactly that number. Only had that knocked down once when there was a known issue they would have to fix - and we quickly negotiated what I thought was a fair lower price.