One used car for another

October 1, 2024 7:52 AM

After seeking advice on getting my daughter a car, I think my smartest move is to trade in my paid off 2017 Tahoe for a smaller used vehicle that my daughter can use. What's the best way to negotiate a used-to-used car swap and not get completely fleeced?

Let's say I am seeing used 2017 Tahoe's being sold at a Chevy dealer for $30k. Can I waltz into the Toyota dealer, find a used 2023 CR-V listed at $30k and basically do a flip? What math and data can I use to get a fair deal here? Help me get my daughter a safe used car in a tough used car market.

posted by jasondigitized to Work & Money (11 answers total)

The price they're selling the 2017 Tahoe for is not what they're going to give you for your 2017 Tahoe. Start by looking up what the trade-in value is on a site like Kelly Blue Book.
posted by jonathanhughes at 8:17 AM on October 1

You're most likely to get the "worst" deal when selling a used car to a dealer, though there can be benefits. They may not turn around and sell it retail on their lot - they could be wholesaling it down the line to smaller or more speciality used car lots. So that's their benchmark price. I've always been able to command a better price when selling my cars privately, but it takes longer and it's more work. As jonathanhughes suggests, plug in your VIN on KBB and see what the trade in vs private sale value is to get a rough idea if it's worth it to you.
posted by cocoagirl at 8:58 AM on October 1

Yeah, the financially best way to do this is to sell your Tahoe privately and then use the proceeds to buy a car for your daughter in a completely separate transaction.
posted by Redstart at 10:22 AM on October 1

The catch with selling the Tahoe privately is that not having a tradein might affect the price you have to pay for whatever you end up with. Similarly, paying cash might result in a higher price.

Car dealerships mostly care about the whole, overall bottom-line for the transaction or transaction pair. They mostly don't care whether they make their profit by charging you more for the car you're buying or lowballing you on the car you're trading in. Likewise, they mostly don't care whether they're making their profit on the sale itself or on financing and associated kickbacks. They like this because then they can giveth with one hand while they're takething away with the other.

If you're planning a cash purchase with no tradein, the other avenues of profit are gone and the dealership is going to try to get as much profit as they can from your purchase itself.

So they say, anyway. It's hard to tell what's really what because thinking about this revolves around so many counterfactuals.

Looking up prevailing prices is obviously a good idea and a good way to set expectations. You might also check out r/askcarsales for some insight into the way car sales people act and think about stuff.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 10:32 AM on October 1

GCU makes a good point, but it's not an argument against a cash purchase with no trade-in. I think most people would say this is a good reason to separate the two transactions. Separating them makes it clearer how good of a deal you're getting in each one. The dealer may try to get you to pay more for the car you're buying, but hopefully you will have gotten more for the car you sold, so it will even out. (More than even out, probably.) And you can negotiate your best deal on the car without having to try to figure out how the trade-in or financing offers affect your overall cost.
posted by Redstart at 11:55 AM on October 1

They don’t call them “stealers” because they’re watching out for your welfare. Sell your car privately and never ever say you’re paying cash until you agree on a price.

Also, in most states there’s no penalty for paying a loan off early, so for maximum fun, you can let them sell you on their el primo financing package and then send a check the next week paying off the loan. Hopefully the finance company claws back their commission.

Finally, never sit around while they play seller games on you. If the salesman says “I’ll have to talk to my manager,” and gets ready to leave you sitting in the office, tell them “have him call me when they’re ready to sell me a car.” Then leave. And start looking at other lots. Be prepared to write off your “time investment” because the sleazles will play that one hard.

These people have soooo many cheating games, so like the porcupine, you have to play your single game (not buying from them) strong enough to win.

Good luck.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 12:22 PM on October 1

it's not an argument against a cash purchase with no trade-in

Yeah, didn't mean it to be. Sorry if it came off that way.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 12:25 PM on October 1

Why not just give her the Tahoe? It's a good solid safe car for a new driver, especially if you've maintained it well. Bonus: it's big enough for her to haul all her stuff in if she goes off to college.
posted by mareli at 1:59 PM on October 1

There's no way to come out of a trade-in deal well and the closer in value your trade-in is to the purchase, the worse off you are. In this situation, especially if the purchase isn't urgent, I would sell the Tahoe privately and purchase the replacement with cash. You're always going to get a better deal if you can say 'I'm buying a car today, I have cash ready to hand over and I'm not going to burden you with a trade-in you have to do the work to wholesale off, so what's your final price'? Be prepared to walk away immediately if you don't like the price. A guaranteed sale with no risk of finance refusal is money instantly in the bank for a salesperson and they're hard-wired to jump at a deal like that.

Actually, what I would do is give your daughter the Tahoe, because the change-over is going to cost you thousands no matter how well you do. They may not like the idea of driving a big old person's car, but they're also free to buy a better one themselves. You may be a kinder parent than me, though ;-)
posted by dg at 12:19 AM on October 2

Price out your current vehicle with CarMax. They will give you a check. Use that as your down payment/to cover full price of your next car.
posted by kiwi-epitome at 5:39 AM on October 2

One consideration that hasn't been mentioned is that trading the car in will usually lower the sales tax on the used car purchase.

Generally the best path depends on the vehicle, your local market, and how much you value your time.
posted by Kwine at 10:14 AM on October 2