Went to 2 dealers after their website said my 2018 GX is worth $38-40k. Both offered $35k while my payoff is $34k. But get this, they sell it on their website for $42-44k.

I have some minor fine scratches, no accidents and the cargo area is a bit scratched from hauling stuff. Needs new tires and brake pads. No mechanical defects.

Is $35k a fair price? The first dealer offered to take the car and give me a $2k check.

 

Why wouldn’t the dealer low ball you? You probably need a new vehicle. And the GX is a very highly desirable model. And there is vehicle shortage at the moment

 

That's what dealers do; they pay you less, and they charge buyers more. The current market doesn't necessarily change their instincts - it just helps flesh out who blinks first, and how much the dealer really wants your car.

 

If you did it on a website, that's likely just an estimate. When you went to the dealer, I'm assuming they did a physical appraisal. After seeing the vehicle, they have to consider how much reconditioning they will have to put into the vehicle. They can still certify the car since it's only 3 years old, this costs $1,200 last I knew. Tires, brake pads, detail, and other little things the car needs can add up. $42-44k sell price is a cushion so as weeks or months go by and it doesn't sell, they can lower the price and not have to sell for a loss. In this climate though with cars in high demand they may make a little profit. That said, it's your decision and if you're not in any rush to sell, then just wait. The down side of that is the car will continue to depreciate.

 

did you check what is Carvana and Vroom offering ? It will be a good idea to compare all your options.

 

+1. Check with them. Also check with Carmax if you have one nearby. Never hurts to check with others.

 

Good suggestion to check with CarMax. I recently got prices on our X3 from Carvana, Vroom and CarMax and while they were lower than the other two they were more competitive than in the past. I also got a price from KBB and it lagged way behind the others.

 

When I sold my 2017 UL ES a month or so ago, the offers that I got from local dealers, from CarMax, and from KBB were all very close to each other. Vroom offered a couple of thousand more, and Carvana offered me about $5000 more than the local dealers, CarMax, and KBB. Carvana's offer was also abut $5000 higher than what they had offered me a couple of months earlier. Carvana ended up selling my car within about 10 days for about $2500 more than what they paid me for it. Considering their overhead, I think that was a fair markup over what they paid me for the car.

I suspect that Carvana can offer more for the cars they buy than others because their operational model seems to be very efficient with minimal human labor expense, and a significant portion of their potential profit can come from financing, selling extended warranties, etc.

 

What trim GX do you have? Lux? Prem?

Miles?

Dealers are RAKING it in on both new and used cars right now.

 

Seriously, get a quote from Vroom and Carvana, takes all of 10 minutes to get an offer all from the comfort of your home.

 

Vroom offered $40k but i would have to buy out my lease first. So after tax and fees it will cost me $36k ish. So its abt a $4k profit. However i will have to put new tires and brake pads so thats abt $1,500. Down to $2,500 in profit.

I'm sure Vroom would ding me for tires. Brake pads are cheap so whatevs.

Come to think of it....if the dealer can just give me $2,500 its not a bad deal.

 

Premium 20k miles

 

Besides the fact that Carvana paid me a few thousand dollars more than what I was offered by Vroom, another reason why I felt more comfortable dealeing with Carvana was that Carvana pays you on the spot. When I sold them my 2017 ES, I was handed the check before the Carvana agent even did his (cursory) check of the vehicle. Vroom, on the other hand, does not pay on the day when they pick up the car. I'm just not comfortable with handing over the car, the title, and the keys without getting paid on the spot and with having to accept the possibility that they could reduce their offer after they have the car. I'm not sure how often that happens, but I'm uneasy about the possibility.

 

Avg in auction for 2018 GX Prem is ~$40K, low is $37K, so that's in line with that Vroom offer. Consider yours needs about $2K or so of reconditioning work. You could try to push your local Lexus dealers for $37/38?

As you're finding, lease buyout can be tricky with the 3rd party sites (carvana/vroom/etc) and non-Lexus dealers right now. Takes a while to get title in many states now with all the limited hours of DMV operations, sales tax implications, etc.

Givemethevin.com and Autonation are other good online appraisal sites.

 

Is carmax the only one that will buy out the lease for you and handle all the paperwork?