Trade-in or sell 2013 Prius in Seattle?
April 14, 2015 2:04 PM Subscribe
My wife has a 2013 Prius Persona Edition with only 10,000 miles on it in perfect condition. After almost two years of ownership, she wants to get something less expensive and more fun to drive.
She got a 0% APR loan and paid nothing down. The dealership has made us an offer very close to what she owes on the loan, so we could essentially pay it off and come close to even.
I pride myself on the ability to find the value of things (Ebay power seller), but cars are utterly lost on me.
I have two questions that are somewhat related.
1) Can anybody give me a realistic estimate on what it's worth in a private sale in the Seattle area? The prices for this particular car are very hard to pin down, but I see ones with more miles going for $24-25,000 from dealers. This one is also the "Black Cherry Pearl" color that is apparently more desirable. Here is the page I'm using for price reference.
2) The dealership she purchased it from has offered $18k. I'm sure I could get more in a private sale, but dealing with the headache of that is not the way I wish to spend my weekends. Should I push for more on the trade-in, or find the vehicle she wants and try to bargain down using the trade-in as leverage? Or should I abandon the whole concept of trade in? Any recommendations on which online services are worth it? Car Gurus, AutoTrader, Craigslist, ect?
Thanks in advance!
PS She's looking at a 2012 Kia Soul with a manual transmission as her replacement car. Anybody have anything to say on this? Consumer Reports says it's a "top buy".
I pride myself on the ability to find the value of things (Ebay power seller), but cars are utterly lost on me.
I have two questions that are somewhat related.
1) Can anybody give me a realistic estimate on what it's worth in a private sale in the Seattle area? The prices for this particular car are very hard to pin down, but I see ones with more miles going for $24-25,000 from dealers. This one is also the "Black Cherry Pearl" color that is apparently more desirable. Here is the page I'm using for price reference.
2) The dealership she purchased it from has offered $18k. I'm sure I could get more in a private sale, but dealing with the headache of that is not the way I wish to spend my weekends. Should I push for more on the trade-in, or find the vehicle she wants and try to bargain down using the trade-in as leverage? Or should I abandon the whole concept of trade in? Any recommendations on which online services are worth it? Car Gurus, AutoTrader, Craigslist, ect?
Thanks in advance!
PS She's looking at a 2012 Kia Soul with a manual transmission as her replacement car. Anybody have anything to say on this? Consumer Reports says it's a "top buy".
Try tapping social media and friends-of-friends to see if anyone is in the market. That way you can get more money but there is a network of social responsibility that may stop the buyer from being a flake.
posted by Maecenas at 2:09 PM on April 14, 2015
posted by Maecenas at 2:09 PM on April 14, 2015
I prefer trading in, because the hassle of listing and vetting buyers is not worth the extra money I could make.
Treat the car purchase as two separate transactions. You should negotiate the price of the new car absent any talk whatsoever about trade ins, or payments or anything like that. I usually say that I am looking to pay cash for the car. Once that is done, then you should negotiate the trade in value and financing options. Also, shop the financing around - some dealerships offer good deals, but some don't.
You should absolutely do enough shopping that you have a good idea what similar cars are getting in your market. This is the part that I enjoy doing, but I love looking at cars.
Kia's are OK. They don't tend to hold their value well, so if you're the kind of people to have car ADD and trade up alot, then it would really pay to look at a lease instead of a purchase. I think the offer of 18k from the dealership is a lowball, and based on some quick googling, you should stick to getting 20ish+ for it.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 2:20 PM on April 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
Treat the car purchase as two separate transactions. You should negotiate the price of the new car absent any talk whatsoever about trade ins, or payments or anything like that. I usually say that I am looking to pay cash for the car. Once that is done, then you should negotiate the trade in value and financing options. Also, shop the financing around - some dealerships offer good deals, but some don't.
You should absolutely do enough shopping that you have a good idea what similar cars are getting in your market. This is the part that I enjoy doing, but I love looking at cars.
Kia's are OK. They don't tend to hold their value well, so if you're the kind of people to have car ADD and trade up alot, then it would really pay to look at a lease instead of a purchase. I think the offer of 18k from the dealership is a lowball, and based on some quick googling, you should stick to getting 20ish+ for it.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 2:20 PM on April 14, 2015 [2 favorites]
Definitely drive the Soul before you get much farther along in the process: we were looking very hard at it, but after I test-drove it, I realized that the back corners were so wide that they cut off a major portion of my visibility out back, more than I was willing to lose, although by the numbers of Souls I see on the road, this isn't a concern for others. We went with a Forte instead.
posted by telophase at 2:32 PM on April 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by telophase at 2:32 PM on April 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
In Washington, you only pay sales tax on the difference between your new car and trade in. That's almost $1800 that will vanish if you sell to a third party.
posted by bensherman at 2:38 PM on April 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by bensherman at 2:38 PM on April 14, 2015 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Good point bensharman!
This gets complicated though. We're looking to buy a much cheaper car, so the value of the trade-in will be much more than the value of what we're looking to buy.
Obviously the loan has to be paid off, but I can't even imagine how the tax works in that situation.
Does the dealership pay off the whole loan and then give us the difference in value on the trade in?
Would it make more sense for us to pay the loan off in full before the trade in? But then what happens if we're buying a car and have, say, $7000 extra from the trade in? Do they cut us a check?
posted by lattiboy at 2:42 PM on April 14, 2015
This gets complicated though. We're looking to buy a much cheaper car, so the value of the trade-in will be much more than the value of what we're looking to buy.
Obviously the loan has to be paid off, but I can't even imagine how the tax works in that situation.
Does the dealership pay off the whole loan and then give us the difference in value on the trade in?
Would it make more sense for us to pay the loan off in full before the trade in? But then what happens if we're buying a car and have, say, $7000 extra from the trade in? Do they cut us a check?
posted by lattiboy at 2:42 PM on April 14, 2015
That car is going to sell really fast, like in a day via Craig's List, so to me it's worth a little hassle to clear more money: could be thousands, as you discovered. I like to sell cars to strangers so I don't have to hear about any future issues they have. YMMV
posted by carmicha at 3:48 PM on April 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by carmicha at 3:48 PM on April 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Regarding your next car, don't overlook the electric car options. They are WAY more fun to drive than a $%^&* Prius, and actually more fun than most cars on the road. And in the Pacific Northwest there's lots of public charging infrastructure already in place and on the way so you don't need to worry about getting stranded.
posted by intermod at 8:24 PM on April 14, 2015
posted by intermod at 8:24 PM on April 14, 2015
I'd buy it in a minute if I was car shopping. I absolutely love my Prius and wouldn't give it up for anything!
posted by OkTwigs at 8:28 PM on April 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by OkTwigs at 8:28 PM on April 14, 2015 [1 favorite]
Trading a Japanese car for a Korean car is not an upgrade. Maybe some day.
posted by w0mbat at 8:56 PM on April 14, 2015
posted by w0mbat at 8:56 PM on April 14, 2015
Carmicha is correct. A Prius in Seattle, especially that new and nice and a cool color, will sell itself. This is like having a super desirable house, you will get to pick and choose between cash right now no bullshit offers. People will meet you at the bank with everything in hand.
posted by emptythought at 11:49 PM on April 14, 2015
posted by emptythought at 11:49 PM on April 14, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks a lot folks!
Anybody have an idea on asking price? Any tips on where to list it besides Craigslist?
PS Mrs. Lattiboy just went to the dealership to have some recall service done and the repair guy said, "This car is perfect. It's like it hasn't been used." He also said the color is crazy rare, as it was only offered on that particular 2013 model year.
posted by lattiboy at 9:12 AM on April 15, 2015
Anybody have an idea on asking price? Any tips on where to list it besides Craigslist?
PS Mrs. Lattiboy just went to the dealership to have some recall service done and the repair guy said, "This car is perfect. It's like it hasn't been used." He also said the color is crazy rare, as it was only offered on that particular 2013 model year.
posted by lattiboy at 9:12 AM on April 15, 2015
Mrs. LHauser and I have both an (older) Prius and a (newer) Soul. I loved our 2009 Prius until we got the 2014 Soul. Now my wife loves the Prius (I still like it) and I'm crazy about the Soul. I have a 4-cyl. automatic Basic, a manual would be fun, but I am tired of stick shifts).
The Soul had a major redesign in 2014, and I've never had a problem with visibility.
Sorry this doesn't anwer your question about the Prius, but I wanted to chime in on the Soul.
posted by lhauser at 8:37 PM on April 18, 2015
The Soul had a major redesign in 2014, and I've never had a problem with visibility.
Sorry this doesn't anwer your question about the Prius, but I wanted to chime in on the Soul.
posted by lhauser at 8:37 PM on April 18, 2015
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posted by lattiboy at 2:07 PM on April 14, 2015