Exchange question

[Vorret]

Hi,

As you can see I'm driving a Corolla 98. It has 160,000KM on it, works fine.
We tried a CX-5 a few weeks ago and... let's say that the only thing that has been on my mind since then is buying one, ASAP.

I wonder how much I can get for my car if I trade it at the dealer... is he even going to accept such an old car?
Am I better off selling it myself? I've never done such thing and I don't really know the market for that kind of car

There's supposed to be some kind of "End of month promotion" today at Mazda so I'm gonna head there after work and see what it's all about (probably won't have anything for CX-5 but who knows).

Thanks!

 

[njaremka]

dealers will usually take just about anything, but don't expect to get much for it. you will ALWAYS get more by selling it yourself. however, its easier and quicker to just let the dealer have it.

 

[CX-SV]

Sell it separately, the car has little value to dealership. Dealer will never sell on their lot, would eventually be auctioned.

 

[nizzy1115]

My advice is work the deal without mention of a trade and see where they get to. Then spring in the trade and see what they do. If you mention it up front they might say ohh were giving you 1500 for it and thats bluebook value, but really they might jack the cx5 price up 1250.

If you dont like the number they give on the trade, hold onto it and put it on craigslist for 2k. It'll sell fast to some young kid most likely.

 

[EricF]

They will take it, but like it was stated above, they will auction it off in stead of selling it on the lot. That will make their offer to you really low. Here's my experience with selling cars.

A few years back my wife had a celica that we were getting rid of. It had 120k miles on it (blue book was like $5k private and $3500 trade in, in good condition) The guy at the dealer wanted to give us $1000 for it. We laughed and left. The next day, I put it on craigslist for $4600, and had multiple offers immediately! We sold it the next day for our asking price.

When we got the CX5, my wife had a acura TL with 70k miles on it. The trade in that the dealer was going to give us was right on with the bluebook trade in, in excellent condition. We were fine with that, as its a lot less hassle than selling it private party, but had to wait for the CX to be delivered to the dealer. But just for s**** and giggles, and since we had to wait anyway, I put it on craigslist for $700 over private party value (in excellent condition). 4 days later, we had 2 offers on it, and sold it for $500 over bluebook!! So even after taking into account that we didn't get the tax credit on our trade in, we still pocketed an extra $1200 or so.

Figure out what your car is worth, and what others are going for in the same condition, year, and mileage, and throw it up on the net at what you think is reasonable, and you may be surprised how fast it sells. Nice thing is, the corolla is know for its reliability, and MPG and holds its value well. Point out those features in the ad, and it may help it sell as well.

Good luck!

 

[Vorret]

Thanks guys, I'll sell it myself !

 

[GAXIBM]

I sold an old civic to Carmax and got what was offered on craig's list but it was easy and quick...

 

[Keanman]

Here was my experience with trading in. We had a bottom of the line Mazda 3 with about 125000 km. We took it to a few dealerships who offered us roughly $4500 for it. We took it to Mazda and they said if we wanted a 2012 they would give us $3900. If we wanted the 2013 CX-5 (which we purchased) he could only give us $3400. They all did everything they could to talk us out of selling privately. Including telling us misleading information such as we'd have to pay taxes for selling privately and wouldn't for a trade in. Little did they know that does not apply to primary vehicles (in Canada anyway). We asked for $7500 privately and sold it in 3 days sight unseen for $7000 with no problems. I still think we could have got more but we were in a rush to get the CX-5 lol.

Long story short, we would have missed out on an extra $3600 if we followed what the dealership was pushing. I will never trade in after this experience.