selling cars to car yards

[hippy]

hi, i was wondering if any of u guys have every sold ur cars to dealers for a trade in for maybe another car of lesser value plus a cash adjustment, eg if i wanted to buy something like an old civic to run around in and i offer the dealer my skyline plus he gives me some cash... what has been your experience with this sorta thing? have u ever got the price u wanted??

i know a friend who sold an auto non turbo 32 to a dealer and got 8k for it just earlier this year... i thought that was a good price for the auto .

[BHDave]

I recently tried to sell a 93 supra privately for about 3 months before giving up and taking it to a yard.

Market value was around 25000, best offer i got from a yard was 20000. They advertised it for 27.

Dealers are the last resort as far as i'm concerned. Only reason i did it was because insurance was about to come due and i didn't want the risk of it sitting in the driveway with no insurance

[blx]

That is a joke! trading in for $20K then they try to sell it for $27K...

That really gets me annoyed!

But then again it is a quick way to get rid of an unwanted car. I have thought about it a couple of times but the offers have just been way too low!

[FATGTS-R]

Dont get me wrong, I am by no means a fan of car dealers.

But blx, we bought our cars to drive and keep for ourselves. To the car dealer his supra is just another product to display and sell on his big concrete showcase. His only intentions are to make money. Of course he would not want to buy it near market value because he wants to sell it at market value. If you want market value for your car you have to sell it to somebody who wants to BUY a car, not somebody who SELLS cars.

As stated above, if times are tough they are the last resort.

[Duncan]

Actually I think its fair enough to pay $7000 to the dealer to sell it. It could be on their yard for months, they have to offer a warranty to the new buyer, etc etc etc. And if they only sell 1 car a week thats only 7000 per week income for their whole business = $350k per year = bugger all when you include sales ppl salaries and rent or mortgage on the premesis

[RNS11Z]

Only thing i get cut with is they buy the car for "whole sale" price and sell at "above market" price. Every one knows car dealers are more expensive then private sellers.

[Abo Bob]

It's a business dude, not a charity.

[hippy]

yeah i agree .. they have to make money ... so u expect that ... no that they give u any service and they are the biggest bs artists around and say just about anything to make u buy it ... well thats my experience anyways ... with every car salesman i've talked to and i've talked to a few ... but u gotta also remember if they are trying to hawk it for 27k when it cost them 20k ... they are more likely to sell for about 22-24k ... so 2-4k profit isn't all that much ...

[BIGBLOCKR31COUPE]

... but u gotta also remember if they are trying to hawk it for 27k when it cost them 20k ... they are more likely to sell for about 22-24k ... so 2-4k profit isn't all that much ...

spot on hippy..plus the dealer has to put the car through their workshop to make sure that it is worthy of a warranty, which costs money. They have to pay for any required repairs, tyres etc and the rental on their property, wages to staff, detailers and the salespersons comission, advertising etc

They will also be financing the money that they pay you for the car, so the longer the car sits in their dealership the more interest they will have to pay.

In the end you would be surprised how little profit the dealership actually makes.

When you look at the whole equation (investment vs return) you would be crazy to open a car dealership today. Most of the successful dealerships have been around for a long time and have large established customer bases.

[blx]

Yeah don't get me wrong, I have a basic understanding of what is involved with car dealers and warrenties etc... But all of that stuff is factored in. $7000 is still a big mark up!

I am sure that car dealers can sell more than one car a week, If not i think they should reconsider their business.

[BIGBLOCKR31COUPE]

If a dealership only sold 1 car per week they would be broke approximately 12 days BEFORE they open the doors.