Trade in value?

[Gaz]

I'm (reluctantly) going to have to part company with my RS wagon, so I've been hitting the car yards to get some idea of what I might get as a trade in.

First couple of dealers were happy to work from RedBook estimates, (20-24k) but my local Holden dealer rang his "wholesalers" 2 of which quoted 12k and one added an extra $500 because he had an interest in rare and unusual cars! WTF??

My car is a petrol DSG wagon, with standard everything except Xenon headlights. It was built in '09 and was one of the first facelift RS cars to arrive. We have 74000 km on the clock and the car is in 9/10 condition.

I'm sure $12k is their way of telling me to go elsewhere, they clearly don't want my car. But why??

[K1W1]

I'm sure $12k is their way of telling me to go elsewhere, they clearly don't want my car. But why??

They can't give new Holdens away at the moment so why would they want a 74k, 3 year old car on their lot that owes them as much as a new Commodore does?
I think the true figure is somewhere between what the Holden dealer was talking and the Red Book figures the other dealers were at. Under $20k I suspect.

[wai]

Unfortunately, it all depends on whether the dealer needs you to buy a car.

Some tips.

First, you have to plan when you go there. Do not go during a "sale" as the dealers have queues of buyers. As a result, they will give you the minimum trade in.

Try and go in the weeks/months after a sale. The sales guys can be desparate as they find it hard to make sales (buyers have bought during the sales) and so no commissions.

Arrange your own finance. The sales guys will try and tell you that you have just missed the great deals. Just tell them that you have the money and they have the car, and that a deal can be struck at any time.

Make sure you have done your homework and know what the prices are.

Check if you are a member of a group/company/association to see of there are any "fleet" discounts.

Lastly, be prepared to walk. You do not have to buy from your local dealer. There are dealers in the Central West of NSW who will fly you in and even accommodate you, with better prices than metro/regional centre dealers.

Don't believe he contacted his wholesaler. Such tactics are concocted to make you think they are giving you the best deal (good cop...bad cop). Unless you have an extremely good car, or one they have a buyer just waiting for, these days dealers simply ship them off to auction houses. You would be amazed to see where these come from. The dealer I bought my Caddy Maxi Life from have their own car transporter (complete with signwriting on the prime mover's doors). I happened to be working right next to Carlins in Sydney and was quite surprised to see a semi full of very nice looking cars brought in for the auctions. They are extremely selective as to what they keep on their lot.

Shop around. Be prepared to drive a few hours to get a good price.

My brother (from Canberra) has bought a Subaru Forester from a Sydney dealer because the Canberra dealers believed they had a monopoly. Friends of his have bought from Wagga Wagga and Wollongong.

[Bob51]

A Skoda dealer should give you close to the red book trade in valuation provided your car has not been modified, is in good condition and has full log book service history. Other make dealers will have less interest as they will find few of their customers aware of, or interested in, Skodas. Holdens are heavily discounted at the moment and with little margin they cannot afford to take a risk on the trade-in as well. Bear in mind with so many new cars being sold there is a glut of trade-ins and all used car values are taking a hit.

[K1W1]

Don't believe he contacted his wholesaler.

You would be 100% wrong on that score.
The trick to trading in a car you are not familiar with as a dealer is to know what you can sell it for wholesale. A car is only worth what somebody will pay for it not what some book says. When any buyer at any dealership is presented with a vehicle that is not something he would normally be familiar with (ie something of the brand he sells generally) the very first thing he will do after inspecting the vehicle is to ring one or two wholesalers to get an idea what they will pay. At that point he can start making decisions about exactly how he wants to price the vehicle.

Don't know what I'm talking about? I did it successfully for 10 years and I have done it thousands of times and still occasionally made mistakes that cost heaps of money.

[GTi Bhoy]

I know its time consuming but sell it privately.
Redbook is a guide and not the bible which any dealer who knows what they are doing doesnt pay any attention to.

If you approach a dealer to buy your car outright that is not trading it, they will make the most of the opportunity and try to nic the car as they dont care if you sell it to them or not.
They see it as they are helping you.

[wombatoutofhell]

I'd say you've done well-my local Skoda dealer offered my $7500 for my 2007 RS wagon with 120000 on the clock. Needless to say I didn't take it.

[K1W1]

I'd say you've done well-my local Skoda dealer offered my $7500 for my 2007 RS wagon with 120000 on the clock. Needless to say I didn't take it.

5 years old and 120,000 km is not a franchise dealer car. That dealer wouldn't have kept it they would have simply been sending it to wholesale or their second hand car yard down the road if they own one (many do).

[VAG newbie]

You would be 100% wrong on that score.
The trick to trading in a car you are not familiar with as a dealer is to know what you can sell it for wholesale. A car is only worth what somebody will pay for it not what some book says. When any buyer at any dealership is presented with a vehicle that is not something he would normally be familiar with (ie something of the brand he sells generally) the very first thing he will do after inspecting the vehicle is to ring one or two wholesalers to get an idea what they will pay. At that point he can start making decisions about exactly how he wants to price the vehicle.

Don't know what I'm talking about? I did it successfully for 10 years and I have done it thousands of times and still occasionally made mistakes that cost heaps of money.

Agree! A Holden dealer won't keep a Skoda is their car yard. Any used car buyer that goes to a Holden dealer is looking for a used Holden, not Skoda. A Skoda used car buyer will never go to a Holden dealer to hunt for a Skoda. That's just simple logic!

So the Holden dealer will just give it to the wholesalers. They won't even bother to auction it themselves. Whatever increase in trade-in value is simply based on how much margin they have on the new car. If the new car is heavily discounted like many Holdens now, don't expect any good trade-ins

If you don't have the time for private sell, there are 2 ways of getting rid of your car with a much higher value than trade-in.

1. Go to a dealer that is likely to keep your car in their used car yard, eg. Skoda dealer, tell them you don't need the car and how much are they willing to pay for it. Go to 3 different Skoda dealers and you will know what they are willing to pay. Please note: these are the price that the dealer will buy your car, not the "trade-in" value they quote you when you are buying a new car. If you got a figure, say $18k, and you go to the same Holden dealer telling them John Blob Skoda is willing to pay $18k for the car, thy will call John Blob Skoda, once confirmed, Holden will trade-in your car at $18k because they know someone is willing to pay $18k for it. That's how it works with trade-in.

2. Auction the car yourself. With a small fee, you will achieve something between the trade-in value and private sell as quoted on redbook. Dealers go to these auction house themselves to pick up some good buy.

[BluChris]

My experience was a mix of the above comments. I was getting 2 different price points on my Octavia (2008 Ambiente diesel DSG 44,000 k). None were Skoda dealers. Could have been different wholesalers but I got the distinct impression it was about who wanted to sell me a car and who didn't. Some offered $8,500, others $11,500 to $12,500 and on the latter could probably have squeezed $13 - 13.5 if I'd wanted to buy from that dealer. Needless to say anyone offering me the bottom end wasn't remotely in the hunt.

And before anyone says the dealers with higher offers loaded the new car price to compensate, they didn't. They were better all round to deal with because they were motivated to sell.

The dealer I went with kept my car on their lot, but the price they put on it is way off the mark and it hasn't moved yet. Not a Skoda dealer obviously, but I suspect they kept my car because it presents well and they are in a middle class area where a European diesel auto is likely to appeal.