I bought my 2008 TL CPO back in 2011, and am now thinking of moving on. (To a GTI Autobahn, for what it's worth - I'm kind of going through life backward.) The number I got on the new car was great, but the trade-in offer I got on my Acura was a good third less than the KBB on the car, and was wondering if others have had a similar experience, or if I should interpret this as being low-balled. The details:

'08 TL, base
95,300 miles
Carbon bronze pearl, w. parchment interior
Pretty much dead in the middle of "Good" category on KBB.com: the paint is in pretty good condition, the leather in the front seats is a bit worn but not cracked and is in excellent condition in the back, the wheels are a bit scratched, but the car drives very well (duh, it's a TL).

KBB tells me I should be able to trade in for $9800, dealer initially offered $6,500, when I balked they said the best they could do was $7,500. Thank you, I'll let you know, have a nice day.

Obviously it's a VW dealer so they're going to put the car to auction, which means it's probably a bit less than I could get at an Acura dealer, but as so many people on the board seem to be going with a GS or Q50 to replace their TLs, thought others might have been in a similar situation and have some insight. So: what kind of offers are people getting? How much does the board think I could get for the car without having to go through the hassle of a private sale?

Thanks in advance!

 

Why not sell it private party ?

 

yea you'll def get more out of it on a private sale

 

The only positive about a dealer trade-in is the convenience. They may throw in some other incentive, but probably not enough to make up the difference in sale price if you were to do a private sale.

 

Trading in you also get the benefit of only paying sales tax on the difference - at least that's the way it works in MA. That's $468 on $7500, but you can easily make that up on a private sale.

 

For the record, yes, I'm aware that I'd get more in a private sale. Looking on Craigslist around me shows a handful of comparable cars asking for $12k or so (mostly from used car lots). I assumed that by doing a dealer trade-in I'd lose a couple thousand dollars, just didn't assume I'd lose a third the value of the car. I was prepared to lose a couple thousand for the convenience of not having to sell the car myself, but if it ends up being this significant a difference, maybe I'll have no choice.

 

private sales all day everyday.. why put money in someone else's pocket? especially the dealerships pocket

 

Heck, for $9,800 I'd sell mine and buy yours

 

That does seen low. I got 10k for my 07 non navi with 88k miles in January of 2014.

 

Update: Autotrader's trade-in program gave me an "offer" of $9,973, which supposedly I can take to a handful of local dealers for cash - though not the dealer I'm looking to buy from. Assuming the program is legit, it appears that the dealer is either lowballing me on the trade-in, or has a completely incompetent back office that is giving away thousands of dollars when they auction off their trade-ins.

 

They lowball. They always lowball.

 

Agreed - I was just surprised that they let me walk out of the dealership when I called them on it.

 

Another tactic they use. The idea is this in a dealership "If a customer is seeking a trade-in, without any extra promotion from the dealer going on, it means that the customer is not willing to put in the time to private sale". They bank on the customer not knowing much about their own car, and the convenience they provide by allowing trade-ins.

Selling a car isn't alot of work, all you do is snap some pictures, throw it up craigslist (or other sites), and wait. I've probably sold 4 cars and all were sold within a two week period. All you gotta do is make sure you know the car's history, have paperwork to prove it, and at the end it's as easy as taking payment and signing the title away. It's not hard at all.

I used to work at a dealership as a service advisor and would see the sales team do their jobs. It's all about time for them. They have more time to waste than you, it's part of their job, which is why they wait and let customers walk when the deal isn't right for the dealership, especially with trade-ins. Majority of the time I would see those same customers back after the dealer threw in an extra incentive like all-weather floor mats.

 

KBB is throwing $12,000 at me for my 04 for an excellent trade in.

I'm actually doing pretty well with that then....

 

Go to one of those dealerships and have them print out their offer for the 10Kish. Take that to the dealer you want to do business with and ask them to match it or you will go elsewhere to buy your car. 75% of the time, they'll cave and do it in my experience, VW esp since their sales in my experiences have been very straightforward.

 

I just checked and im around 10,000 for mine, I know my mileage hurts the value

 

Already tried that, no dice. Part of the problem is that they're already over $2k under invoice on the car they're selling me, which is way, way under what I've seen anyone else able to get the car for, so I feel they're not as motivated to make the deal as they otherwise might be. They confirmed that their offer on the GTI is still good if they don't have to worry about my trade-in, so now planning to sell the Acura separately.

 

Good deal, the TL should sell quick. Enjoy the new VW

 

GTI is a pretty awesome car. Very smooth, deceptively quick, and overall great ride, just a tad too small for me as a DD though.

 

Sometimes it happens this way. The give a lot on the new car purchase by but very little on the trade or they give a ton on the trade and very little off the new car price. In the end it's all part of the deal considering both. So if they are willing to honor the discount on the VW, then go pick it up and as you mentioned - sell the TL on your own. Just make sure you know how long they will honor the price on the VW, should it be you need to sell the TL first.

 

If you get anywhere near KBB for a dealer trade-in please share with the rest of us. All the dealer provides is convenience and a bit of tax savings. You'll never get KBB value unless your car is in ultimate demand or they're dieing to sell that car for some reason.
LIke everyone else said about selling it privately. It does take time and usually a lot of effort.

 

I got KBB trade in value on my six speed 08 Type-S. That also equated to about 1000.00 in tax savings for me. I could have held out longer for a private person but the reality is a lot of guys may want the car but don't have the cash when your talking about over 10k.
I convinced the dealer my car was rare and would sell immediately, and it did, 4 days after they listed it, it was gone. If my car was not a manual I doubt I would have gotten anything close to KBB value.

 

Bodes well for me but there is nothing wrong with mine and only have 53K on the odometer. Plus I'm not sure what I would replace it with....... IS250/350??

 

try carmax and see if they can give you a good offer for cash so you can jump into the GTI this week!

 

ISF? If I was you I'd look at E46 M3 as well

 

You could always try to nab a 4G Manual, its a significant upgrade.
I hear you on nothing being wrong with the car, nothing was wrong with my Type S either but sometimes you just don't want to continue to drive something that's almost 10 years old and you just want something more updated/newer.

 

ISF maybe, but might be pricey. As much as I appreciate the M3, I would never own one because of maintenance and reliability.

A 4G might be a possibility, but would need to be 12 - 14 and my Type S is just over 7 years old.

 

Ah I read your sig quickly, thought it was a 2007.
On any behalf, yeah I felt the same way, 2012-2014 only. Although with mods the 2009-2011 has grown on me, but I wasn't interested in doing any mods.
I can say this, whatever impression you have of the 4G MMC, lets say you give it a 6 or a 7 on a scale of 1-10 based on what you read here and marketing etc. Go see and drive a manual if you can find one. That scale will go up to a 9 or a 10. But the key is finding a good one, they are usually gone within a week or two after they get listed on auto trader or wherever.

 

I'm actually about to put my 2008 white type s AT up for sale. Have a little one and could def use an SUV. It only has 61k miles on it. I've taken pretty good care of it, never wrecked. Anybody know what a good starting asking price would be? Kbb private party is 17-18. I know a stealership will try and bend me over.

 

^^^check what Edmunds.com says for comparison...
i think KBB is inflated sometimes.

but, if your car is clean, maintained, and never wrecked... it's just a matter of finding the right person.

i think $17K is fair for a clean, low mileage S though
good luck