Should I fix my glove box before I trade in my car?
April 26, 2019 12:38 PM Subscribe
I want to trade in my current (fully owned) car and purchase a different vehicle. Complication: The glove box door came off last week when the stereo repair people did something to it. I want to know whether it's worth my time, relative to the trade-in value, to get the glove box door fixed.
Current vehicle is a luxury brand German car with very low mileage relative to its 4 years of age. Engine is totally great, I have all the maintenance records. Only problems with it are cosmetic. I am trading it only because it's too small for me.
The car I want to buy is a late-model used American SUV offered by a local new/used full-service dealer. That dealer surely will have someone on staff who can put my glove box back together. For me to do it, I'll have to find time in my schedule, go across town to the mechanic shop I deal with, and pay them a bunch of money at German-car service rates.
Will my trade-in value be *substantially* lowered ... enough to make it worth my while to go to the effort of getting this fixed? Or can I just trade it the way it is an take only a small hit in value?
Current vehicle is a luxury brand German car with very low mileage relative to its 4 years of age. Engine is totally great, I have all the maintenance records. Only problems with it are cosmetic. I am trading it only because it's too small for me.
The car I want to buy is a late-model used American SUV offered by a local new/used full-service dealer. That dealer surely will have someone on staff who can put my glove box back together. For me to do it, I'll have to find time in my schedule, go across town to the mechanic shop I deal with, and pay them a bunch of money at German-car service rates.
Will my trade-in value be *substantially* lowered ... enough to make it worth my while to go to the effort of getting this fixed? Or can I just trade it the way it is an take only a small hit in value?
It's possibly worth your while to get the glove box door fixed. A missing glove box door on a 4-year-old luxury trade-in will definitely hurt you.
Have you asked a mechanic what it would entail in time and $$$? If it's anything like my old VW Golf, you have to dismantle most of the center console to get to the glove box mount and be able to remove/replace the door. If that's possible. You might have to replace the entire glove box assembly.
As saeculorum says, you'll probably be vbetter off doing a private sale, especially if you opt not to repair the door.
If you do elect to repair it, I hope the stereo repair people will be chipping-in on the fix.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:01 PM on April 26, 2019
Have you asked a mechanic what it would entail in time and $$$? If it's anything like my old VW Golf, you have to dismantle most of the center console to get to the glove box mount and be able to remove/replace the door. If that's possible. You might have to replace the entire glove box assembly.
As saeculorum says, you'll probably be vbetter off doing a private sale, especially if you opt not to repair the door.
If you do elect to repair it, I hope the stereo repair people will be chipping-in on the fix.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:01 PM on April 26, 2019
Response by poster: Stereo shop people will pay for this if I make a fuss, which I will do if it turns out to be super expensive. My issue right now is just time/bandwidth to get one more thing done in my already-overwhelmed schedule.
If we're talking about a lot of money, I'll find the time/effort to deal with it and pursue repayment from the stereo shop. If this is actually NBD for the trade-in dealer then I'll just take it as-is and accept a small loss. I don't have a sense of how important it really is in the grand scheme of things.
posted by mccxxiii at 1:07 PM on April 26, 2019
If we're talking about a lot of money, I'll find the time/effort to deal with it and pursue repayment from the stereo shop. If this is actually NBD for the trade-in dealer then I'll just take it as-is and accept a small loss. I don't have a sense of how important it really is in the grand scheme of things.
posted by mccxxiii at 1:07 PM on April 26, 2019
Eh; I figure no. I figure you’re right, it’s easy for them to pop it back on, and you both know that. Why retail pay labor + markup and hassle when they will pay far less than retail labor rates? You’re already gonna get way less than you would if you hassled through a private sale, and this $50 ding or whatever isn’t worth worrying about, in the scope of the larger transaction.
posted by SaltySalticid at 1:40 PM on April 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by SaltySalticid at 1:40 PM on April 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
Honestly, almost all glove boxes come off on purpose, to make it easier to change the cabin air filter. When the stereo guys took it off, maybe they missed one of the pins putting it back on.
Unless I miss the mark, this is about the level of "my shoe is untied".
posted by notsnot at 6:21 PM on April 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
Unless I miss the mark, this is about the level of "my shoe is untied".
posted by notsnot at 6:21 PM on April 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
I say get it fixed.
When I was a kid, my father took a car to trade in on a different car. The trade-in was dirty and maybe trashy, whatever. They basically offered him nothing, like fifty or a hundred bucks.
He cleaned the car up. Washed and waxed it, cleaned up the interior, etc and etc.
Now the car is worth five hundred bucks on a trade-in.
Perceptions are very important. Even to a guy who works with the cars every day, it will knock the car down in his eyes. I know it would in mine.
You needn't take the car to the expensive German car joint. Use Yelp to find a highly rated wrench in your area -- I found the best mechanic I've ever had by just reading for a few minutes, a few mouse clicks. These people are the best. Probably their cousin has a shop close by to you.
And take the receipt to the stereo shop. They broke it, they pay for it.
posted by dancestoblue at 12:04 AM on April 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
When I was a kid, my father took a car to trade in on a different car. The trade-in was dirty and maybe trashy, whatever. They basically offered him nothing, like fifty or a hundred bucks.
He cleaned the car up. Washed and waxed it, cleaned up the interior, etc and etc.
Now the car is worth five hundred bucks on a trade-in.
Perceptions are very important. Even to a guy who works with the cars every day, it will knock the car down in his eyes. I know it would in mine.
You needn't take the car to the expensive German car joint. Use Yelp to find a highly rated wrench in your area -- I found the best mechanic I've ever had by just reading for a few minutes, a few mouse clicks. These people are the best. Probably their cousin has a shop close by to you.
And take the receipt to the stereo shop. They broke it, they pay for it.
posted by dancestoblue at 12:04 AM on April 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm betting the stereo installation place will fix it on the spot in about a minute.
posted by w0mbat at 12:31 PM on April 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by w0mbat at 12:31 PM on April 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Wild_Eep at 1:01 PM on April 26, 2019 [2 favorites]