narnia

I'm going to be trading in my '04 TL for a TLX. I've often read that buying a car and trading one in should be handled as two separate transactions. I don't understand the theory behind this, since I can use TrueCar to see what price I should pay for my new car, and KBB to see what my old car is worth. The dealer is going to ask me if I have a trade-in, so why play games and say no?

JTS97Z28

iTrader: (4)

I have bought and sold many cars, but only traded in a few and it was pretty easy to do. Prior to going to the dealership I always worked out price before hand (on the new vehicle). I typically only communicated via email and worked with several dealership and end up purchasing from whichever gives me the best deal. After coming to an agreement on price for the new vehicle I then discuss the trade.
For example, I recently purchased my wife a brand new 2014 Toyota Highlander. I sent messages to 3 local dealers, and one out of state about 4 hours drive away that happened to have the identical car we wanted down to the color. I went back and forth only via email and never talked to a single person. Got the best price possible from the one out of state 4 hours away. Mentioned I have a possible trade and discussed that. Considering the trade was due for timing belt service, A/C was starting to get weak, and the hassle of selling yourself, I was very pleased with the trade numbers. Also, dont forget (atleast in my state), you only pay taxes on the cost of the new vehicle minus the value of your trade. So that saved me another $400 that I was able to tack onto the trade value.
So a lot of the time trading in a vehicle is just a waste of money, but other times it can be very beneficial. KBB private party for my wifes trade in (04 Accord LX V6 sedan 104K miles) was $7200. Dealer offered me $6250. $6250+$800 timing belt service+$400 tax savings alone and not considering money we would have had to put into A/C service and time and hassle of selling, it was a no brainer!!

Hopefully I didnt veer too far off subject, but as I said, in my case I worked out price of the new vehicle first, then discussed the trade. Either way all the numbers get written in ink so if you know what your looking at your not going to get screwed.

Also, I find it a bit surprising your already set on a car that isnt even available yet. How do you know for sure thats the car you want?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

there are two kinds of people in this world.
the misinformed and the informed.

the misinformed will take the easy route, because well, they are misinformed.

the informed want EVERY bang for their buck and will get out of their comfort zone to negotiate a fair deal between the two parties.

Jesstzn

One thing to remember is the dealer will ask you what you want for your trade ,and once you tell them they will go away and come back and say the manager would like to give that much but can't and will make you a lower offer.

I research what its worth wholesale and base what I want on that taking condition& miles into consideration and keep that number in mind and when they ask the question my reply is " it doesn't matter to you what I want, its what your going to offer in the end so lets get there right now" . If the number is good, your fine, if not, you get to counter offer not them.

I reminded one salesman " you HAVE to sell cars I don't have to buy them"

96SC4

Like JTS said, negotiate the new car first.
Then tell them you have a trade in.

If you tell them about your trade in first, they'll use the trade in price against you. They'll say something like "but we're giving you such a good price on your trade in", when in fact...they're giving you a shitty deal on the new car.

And email is your best route. Let the dealers duke it out...all while sitting in the comfort of your home.

GhostTL09

iTrader: (1)

What he said...^^^^^

erdoc48

Personally, I'd wait to buy a TLX because at first, there will be either no deviation from MSRP, or possibly even a dealer surcharge if it's a hit and they sell well. I'd wait 6 months or so after introduction and/or wait until the end of the year when the dealers have to make their sales quotas before the new year- then you may get a much better deal on the TLX (plus, all the reviews of the car will be out by then, and you can make a much better informed decision to buy one). I bought a Cadillac SRX for the Mrs. 12/30/12 on a 2012 model demo (5K miles) with all the options and got $9K off on the purchase price. I'd wait til the TLX has been out for a while before getting one.

bouncer07

Never buy first year stuff.

narnia

Thanks to everyone for your responses:

I have 225K on my '04. I thought I'd have a new car by now, so I didn't replace the timing belt, spark plugs, etc. My front brakes will need to be replaced (I still have my original brakes!), I'll need new tires soon, and I don't want to put more money into this car. So if I wait to save $1,000 - $2,000 on a TLX, I'll have to spend about $2,000 now on a car I won't have much longer.

Of course I'm going to test drive the TLX before I buy, but I'm pretty sure the TLX will be my next car. I bought my TL when it first came out, and have never had any issues with it in 10 years, not even a rattle.

I do get email quotes from several dealers before I make a purchase. I also print out the trade-in value on my used car from a couple of different sites. So if I know what I expect to pay, and what I expect to receive, I don't see why the two transactions need to be handled separately.

We have several Acura dealers around here, so I have a lot of options.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

technically, you are doing two transactions separately. ^^

nttstt444

iTrader: (1)

Why are you so deadset on the tlx, have you looked into anything else? Just curious is all.

pohljm

cool! I dont need a timing belt for 225K!

narnia

All my cars have been Hondas/Acuras and I've never had any trouble with them. I've had my '04 5AT TL for 10 years, 225K trouble-free miles. I've only had to do routine maintenance on my car over that time. Acura gives you more bang for your buck than Lexus. I wouldn't consider the German brands because I don't feel they're as reliable. The TLX looks like it will be an upgrade to my TL with more features and better gas mileage. What's not to like?

narnia

Just to clarify I did change the timing belt at 100K miles, just didn't do the second one at 200K!

Acura_Dude

Technically you're not too far overdue, considering the 2nd timing belt is done ~210K miles (changed around ~105K miles, give or take).

sopmodm14

the TLX is a fine choice

http://www.carbuyingtips.com

They trick you into a bad deal using what I call the "Car Dealer Cash Flow Shell Game

The dealer low balls your trade-in, charges full MSRP, high APR on the auto loan, high profit extras, dealer prep and ad fees and ends up with a huge profit.

If they know you're a trade-in buyer, they give you what you want for your trade-in. But look what else they do. They jack up the car buying price to MSRP, pile on extras & fees.

narnia

FYI I don't finance my cars, I pay cash. And I don't expect to get any discount, or much of a discount, since I'm buying my TLX asap.

aboysua6

Original Tranny as well?

RenoTL

Another thing to consider is selling your existing car yourself. While it is a bit of a hassle, you will likely net a lot more on a private sale than you would get from any dealer. After all, once the dealer buys your trade-in, they have to sell it and they need to make a profit. If you do decide to go the trade-in route, as ours have said, you need to negotiate the new car and the trade-in as separate transactions in order for you to come out in the best way possible.

erdoc48

The only benefit of trading in (other than the reduction of sales tax based on how much you get for your car) is that if it's a very high mileage car, it might not be as easily sold (meaning you'll have plenty of tire kickers wasting your time). A friend of mine recently traded in a 2005 Corolla with 142K on it- he felt he didn't get what he wanted but I explained to him that at least the car won't sit in his driveway awaiting a buyer, and it could take a while to sell a car with that much mileage. He obviously wanted more than the $2500 he was given for it, but took some comfort in the fact that he didn't have to deal with it after that (and it was going to need some work as well). He bought a newer used car (Mitsubishi Eclipse) with only 35K on the clock, so he was happy with his purchase.

narnia

Yep, I haven't replaced anything, just done routine maintenance!

narnia

I realize that, but I live in NYC and don't want to deal with the crazies!