The best he could have gotten was 28k but in our area for his car he did very well. The dealer I bet would have offered him 1k lower if not more. Brian was fortunate to know someone at the Carmax here so that helped out. He made a smart move IMO I hope I am as fortunate with mine in the near future. I have to start to test the waters but mine will be a trade not a buy out.

 

What about if you owe on your ride? for example if you owe $32000, and they offer you $27000, do I only have to come in with $5,000 to get rid of the loan?

 

No, the money magically falls off trees (LOL). Yes, you owe the differance to your lender.

 

i think dealerships goes by the Blackbook (wholesale) for trade ins.... KBB and NADA prices are WAY too optimistic, based on my experiences..

I have 1 comment about car max though:

lets say if Carmax would only offer 1k above what the dealership (which you are getting another car from), then you would lose about 2k of tax credits on a 30k car, as opposed trading in at a lower price.... if that makes any sense

 

You bet, the tax benefit is always nice at trade-in. Car Max is nice if you simply sell a car outright and not purchase another vehicle.

 

Tax credits are great in certain states. In California, Sales Tax is based on the purchase price and not the net difference between purchase price and trade-in....Boy I really miss Philly in that regard!

 

I'll find out tomorrow when I go by with my Titan. It has served its purpose, now I want back into a Lexus.

 

Like Brian mentioned this is where CarMax is nice as they will buy your car. It worked out great as Brian didnt purchase anything from them but still ended up close to 2k more them a dealer would allow him But if you are purchasing then yes the Tax credit plays a role into that. You still would get the tax credit if you purchased another car from CarMax

Never hurts to try!

 

I'm wanting to sell my car and I've been thinking about taking it to CarMax since I only have til Nov to sell it. I think I will take it in when I get back to San Diego. It has around 6k and is stock. I'll probably lose a couple thousand on it but it'll be better than keeping it since I will be overseas.

 

This is typical good advise but it never happens. While negotiating the price of the new car the salesperson ALWAYS asks and needs to know about any trades or down payments. They will negotiate the trade in the deal. There's really no way around it.

 

Just got back from Carmax! AND YOU WOULDNT BELIEVE HOW HAPPY I AM...
The offered me EXCELLENT Blue Book (trade in).. $1,000 better than I expected, but $1,000 less than I hoped for.. but its still great...

 

Before I bought my 08 IS350, I went to Carmax and an Infiniti dealer to appraise my 03 G35 sedan, and Carmax offered me five thousand dollars more than that Infiniti dealer.

 

How about going to the dealer first and negotiating a good price, telling them that you'll make a down payment for your purchase. And then come back to the dealer the next day, saying that you've decided to trade-in now and also bring your car-max appraisal and tell them to beat it. Will this change the dealer's equation? They're all liars, doesn't matter if its lexus or infiniti, so we should also play a fair game with them, in my opinion. Otherwise, you end up being the sheep and the dealer's the wolf, lol!

Ofcourse, you have to really show that you're interested in buying the new car and request the dealer to give you a quote valid for a few days, which they should do on most occasions.

 

Well I can tell you 27k isn't bad for a manual depending on what else you got on there, I just got my 08' IS250 Auto in the mid 29's. I'd cut the loss of the 1000 bucks and jump into an auto or whatever else you wanted. Just my opinion.
Anthony

BTW Dealers go by CarPower not KBB, its a different program and your car is worth less in that. SUCKS!

 

You make a GREAT point. Every car-buying guide, manual, and professional advice I've ever heard all state to NOT disclose whether you have a trade or not. But with every car I have bought (6), it always comes up early on. It is impossible to get out of hiding a trade. A sale is disigned and based around knowing a trade is at hand up front. I'd really like to know how these people who suggest not mentioning a trade have hidden it from a deal... and brought it up after it was made. At the very least, if one did it the way prescribed, the dealer would likekly give such a bad offer on the trade, you'd end up stuck with it... AFTER you just bought a new car! That would leave you in the worst possible position- a new car AND stuck with the old one. It's impossible to make it happen. A dealer will always get you somewhere in the deal. Again, the best solution is to sell it privately.