Why Dealers Don’t Offer You Much For Trade-Ins

Actually the title of this post should be “why dealers can either offer not very much, or big deals on trade ins”.

Confusing?

Let me explain.

1. Why Your Trade in Deal Is Too Low

This is generally the case when looking to trade in on a USED CAR.

Because put bluntly, the dealer probably doesn’t really want your car.

You are probably trading because it is getting too old – or has too many kms.

In most cases, the car you present is probably not the usual sort of stock he/she would buy with a limited cash reserve for buying stock.

If this is the case, the dealer will only offer you what they know they can cover for it by quickly selling to a wholesaler or if the condition is poor, perhaps to a car recycler.

But if it is a car they might like to keep and sell on, usually there is a lot of work to do to bring it up to sale condition.

Typically every car I buy needs both mechanical work and some body work touch ups.

You know the things – probably all the little things you haven’t bothered doing!

Things like dents and scrapes and small upholstery repairs.

Also things usually need doing to bring the car back up to roadworthy level like brakes, servicing, belts, fluid changes, etc.

All of these things cost money and will be taken off the offered price for your car whilst retaining a margin in what the dealer expects to be the final sale price.

Remember dealers only buy your car to make a margin at the end. This is not a bad thing! Everyone works in an industry that earns margins to put food on employee’s tables.

2. Why Your Trade in Deal Is Quite High

This is generally the case when looking to trade in on a NEW CAR.

Most of the reasons above go out the window when negotiating on a new car.

New car dealers generally can work with higher margins and therefore can offer you an artificially high price on your trade.

Often I can’t compete with these trade-in quotes.

But I can definitely more competitive if you are looking to trade in with a used car motor dealer on your next car.

If you are considering trading in, why not give me a call first on 0411 362 229 to discuss a possible better offer.