[jaye944]

So, really looking at your thoughts , advise and even your own experience on buy a new car with an existing one and the obstacles that are presenting me at the moment.

So, I wanna change my car out, so options are trade in or sell privately.

There are pros's and con's of both, I'll give you my base "requirements" , the pros and cons as I see them and please chime in.

requirement:
> Need car to commute (shift work and distance prevents public transport)
> Between wife and me we do school runs (I do the pup in the PM)
> 2 car family
> I do have the ability to work from home, I may get permission to work extended but that's not been confirmed
> Wife works from home, but is on a 9-5 I'm on a 6-2pm
> can't really be carless


Trade-in
Pro's
> NO messing about trying to sell a car
> NO tire kickers
> NO worries about fraud
> Not carless
> Amount of trade-in reduces cost of car and hence tax paid on purchase

Con's
> Lower price for car
> Find defects in car to reduce price of trade-in


Private Sale

Pro's
> More money for purchase
> No problems with defects buyer beware
> More bargaining power as going in with cash

Con's
> Carless
> Carless for an extended period of time
> Costs for carless can blinker sight on looking for cars , i.e. the hurry up syndrome
> Fears for fraud
> Wasting Time , tire kickers
> Have to sell car before buying new one
> May have to pass up on cars
> Possible long time to sell car
> After sale may not fine car right away


Carless issues (assume not knowing how long will be careless)

options
> Long term Hire (monthly in Toronto runs about $1000/month)
> No short term leases (3 months)
> Buy a beater for a few hundred dollars / needs to be reliable, costs, taxes etc, a real pain in the butt

If it takes me say ? 2 months, I'd spend $2000 for rental, with that money I could have bought an old beater instead, or given my wife $1000 and "bought" her car to use and keep the money in the familly

So there you go, stumped at the moment

[10"]

Sounds like you're too paranoid to sell privately. Just trade it in. Who cares if you get a bit less; peace of mind is more valuable than a bit of cash most of the time.

I always trade in after posting for sale ads on forums only; I refuse to list on autotrader or craigslist. Don't want to deal with random people. If it doesn't sell on a forum quickly I have just traded it in.

Oh and stop thinking so much and just do what you gotta do...

[StuP]

If you own the car your replacing an option is to finance, (or just pay cash), for your new one and then sell the spare.

As mentioned, you don't sound keen on the dance of selling privately. One approach to that is to offer it for halfway between private sale value & trade in value, assuming there's a decent spread.

It'll generally sell quickly without any hassles that way.

[kivyee]

I've always managed to sell my car's privately for about 20% more compared to trade in offered by the dealer, and in about one or two weeks. This percent wont apply to more expensive cars of course.

In your case, because you need to sell the existing car to purchase the new car and because going carless is not an option, I would probably trade in. That being said, I would do your research, post an ad on Craigslist etc to gauge response at a reasonable price point. If you get a strong response, then perhaps selling the car privately is in option. Also gives you more preparation in negotiating a trade in price...

I would suggest not mentioning the trade to the dealer and negotiating a price on the new vehicle first. Otherwise things get confusing when they start shifting the profit between the trade in and the new car...It's harder to get a sense of the actual deal you are getting.

[jaye944]

There's 3 grand in it , cbb says my millage is on the nose for the price 86k on a '12

19.5 trade 22.5 sale

not keen on keeping 3 cars (only got space for 2 on the drive) then I gotta insure 2 bm's but that is a good point

Originally Posted by StuP

If you own the car your replacing an option is to finance, (or just pay cash), for your new one and then sell the spare.

As mentioned, you don't sound keen on the dance of selling privately. One approach to that is to offer it for halfway between private sale value & trade in value, assuming there's a decent spread.

It'll generally sell quickly without any hassles that way.

[jaye944]

Yeah I'm planning on doing an ad to gauging it

I may also look at a few other cars (An audi dealership) and see what they will give me in trade in, b4 I go to a BM dealer for the car I do want, again to gauage

Originally Posted by kivyee

I've always managed to sell my car's privately for about 20% more compared to trade in offered by the dealer, and in about one or two weeks. This percent wont apply to more expensive cars of course.

In your case, because you need to sell the existing car to purchase the new car and because going carless is not an option, I would probably trade in. That being said, I would do your research, post an ad on Craigslist etc to gauge response at a reasonable price point. If you get a strong response, then perhaps selling the car privately is in option. Also gives you more preparation in negotiating a trade in price...

I would suggest not mentioning the trade to the dealer and negotiating a price on the new vehicle first. Otherwise things get confusing when they start shifting the profit between the trade in and the new car...It's harder to get a sense of the actual deal you are getting.

[jaye944]

I took a look on bmw.ca pre-owned

closest to my car on the books is a 2013 base 128ivert at 22k
mine is a msport pack/comfort access on a 12 with 86k on the clock

trade-in at 19.5k ?

mind you on the age of the car there is no w'tee left or offered, other than the
standard 30day w'tee that is mandatory up here in ontario

[neliconcept]

As a former car salesman, the trade book you are looking at probably isn't close to what they will plan to offer.

I would expect an offer of maybe 12-13 max, however don't take it and ask for 16-17 or look into what Carmax may offer you on the car as well (depends on make but they sometimes pay high)

[StuP]

Carmax is a reasonable way to get a real trade valuation. Any dealer offering much more, or less, may be playing a shell game with the numbers.

[jaye944]

can see any here in ontario
and Calgary is a bit far to drive to

[jaye944]

canadian blue book
and yes it's on line, and forces me to put in an option of what I want to buy first

I'm gonna ask around some buddies in the trade

but if your saying 12-13 (lets say I settle on 15)
if privately I'm getting hooks on 20... wow thats a no brainer

I need to take her in somewhere and also put some ad's up

Originally Posted by neliconcept

As a former car salesman, the trade book you are looking at probably isn't close to what they will plan to offer.

I would expect an offer of maybe 12-13 max, however don't take it and ask for 16-17 or look into what Carmax may offer you on the car as well (depends on make but they sometimes pay high)

[Flacht3]

+1 to those who recommended Carmax. I'd do the following:

1// Get quote on trade-in from dealer.
2// Get quote from Carmax
3// Estimate reasonable private-party price

If Carmax is anywhere near the private party price, just jump on it and save yourself the hassle. If it's above the dealer trade-in, then ask yourself how much you value simplicity and avoiding private party sales. The simplicity of Carmax may be worth the price difference from private party.

[jaye944]

no carmax here in ontario
closest is in Calgary

[neliconcept]

Originally Posted by jaye944

no carmax here in ontario
closest is in Calgary

Where in Ontario are you?

Not sure if possible, could sell across lines in US but then again, depends on where in Ontario you are or if that is possible, not sure myself.

[jaye944]

I'm in the GTA - Toronto (just outside)

Originally Posted by neliconcept

Where in Ontario are you?

Not sure if possible, could sell across lines in US but then again, depends on where in Ontario you are or if that is possible, not sure myself.

[Alfisti]

Sell across the border?/ No fucking way that's gonna happen.

Forget percentages, if the delta is more than $1K i'd sell private.

[stevenc]

Now much is the sales tax savings if you trade in? Sometimes that alone makes it worth trading in.

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by stevenc

Now much is the sales tax savings if you trade in? Sometimes that alone makes it worth trading in.

You can also link a deal on a sale ie Carmax offers you more than your dealer, I think within 30 days you can get tax treatment like a normal trade. There are probably some restrictions and 1. Believe it must be a dealer and not private party and 2. It's probably state dependent.

I know in PA though last I checked say I'm buying a $50k car, BMW dealer offers me $30k for my trade so I'd have tax liability on $20k, if Carmax offers me $35k to buy my car outright I can sell it to them, go buy my $50k new car and only owe taxes on the $15k with the right procedures.

[Bingobimmer]

IMO it comes down to hassle and cheapness. If you are a big DIY and are cheap then sell private. If you are busy and don't want the hassle trade-in.

[jaye944]

sorry to re-open

but I've kinda made a decision, I went to an Audi dealer, they "in theory" would give me market value, around 20, I don't think I can get much more on autotrader, and the hassle

also takes the tax of the final price

I think (now I know) what a dealer could potentially give me,

I'll go trade in, unless of course things change

thanks all

[David70]

You have to be careful with negotiating the new car price and the trade at the same time. The great trade in price can come with a poor new car price. Sounds to me like the dealer committed to nothing and you committed to taking their offer.

I recommend negotiating the best price you can get without a trade, then negotiate the trade and evaluate their offer (real offer not the "in theory" offer). Last couple of years did the above and then sold my car, wife's, then mother's for a few thousand more than trade in. Selling for a good deal on Craiglist all were gone within three days of listing. Couple of hours work for a couple of thousand dollars. Biggest mistake people make in trying to sell it themselves is trying to get top dollar, dealing with all the hassles then giving up and trade it in for far less.

[Run Silent]

Why wouldn't you just buy the new car and then sell your old one privately afterwards? This is what I have always done and it eliminated the 'without a car' issue.