Trade-In Options for Your Used Car

Edmunds.com

Trade-In Options for Your Used Car

Trading in your old car used to be an invitation to financial disaster, but some new alternatives have greatly improved your chances of getting a fair deal.

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kmart00

I usually dont consider trading in a vehicle, as I know I would not receive anything close to a private sale price for it. Based on the advice at Edmunds.com, I decided that it would be worth a chance going to CarMax to see what they offered me.

I had no delusions that they would offer me private sale value (I estimate around $4,800) but I felt sure they would offer more than the $3,500 the dealership offered me as a trade in.

Carmax offer? $2,500. I expected them to at least match the dealer, if not exceed by a couple hundred dollars. What a let down. Edmunds should revisit this recommendation, in my opinion. At least at a dealership, I expect to be low balled.

The only thing I'll give Carmax is that they were honest about the whole process and gave me 7 days to think about it. The fact that I had to drive 100 miles each way to get this offer is what is truly annoying.

leahscreenname

I highly recommend staying as far away from CarMax as possible. I purchased a vehicle, a week later it needed an entire new brake job. They agreed to fix a window with a rock chip when I purchased the vehicle and then tried to get out of it. In replacing the window they trashed my paint and dented my door He also BLATANTLY lied about the window he put in saying how new it was... and it is OBVIOUSLY NOT. Fine... But dont lie about it AND ruin my door in the process. I have been in tears about how badly this experience was. DO NOT GO TO CARMAX. Especially the Menomonee Falls, WI location. The service manager, Mike, will treat you like crap and ruin your car right in front of you. Worst experience ever. So much stress.

davidmj

I think this is very important for your viewers to see. Last week I looked at your article "trade in option for your used car" which contained links to autotrader, carmax and autonation before selling my used car, and contacted all of them in order to see which will provide me with a decent trade in value. I wasn't looking at trading in but just to sell outright to a dealer before buying my new car. I started with autotrader's trade in place and that was absolutely an exhausting experience. They even said "guaranteed offer" and the 3 dealers that were emailed to me were all either interested in selling me a car or simply gave me a lowball offer. I then visited the autonation's site and filled out my car's info and was giving the same method of offer "guaranteed offer" which was a little better but another waste of my time. Carmax was the last choice but when I looked for the nearest location to my work, I found negative reviews on Yelp and google about Carmax and numerous people recommended a company called Trade-In Solutions. Trade in solutions reviews were glorifying. That was a surprise because nowhere on your site there was any mention about this company. I tried Carmax and they were a little better than autotrader and autonation's dealers but Trade in solutions was by far better and more accommodating. They weren't interested in selling me a car and not once made any negative comments to persuade me to sell my car for a low offer. They explained the whole process and I was out of there in less than 40 minutes with a shuttle ride home which was the best part, because I've only been in L.A. for 9 months and did not have anyone that could give me a ride. I think you need to check out this company. Another interesting part was when I mentioned to them that they should contact someone in Edmunds, they mentioned that 2 people from Edmunds already sold them their car. I think you should make this company to others like myself so that others don't have to settle for a low offer from the above companies that you recommended. There is one more thing.....I had the title to my car but as I understood they don't buy leased cars. I hope this will help inform other consumers that are looking for a better alternative to sell their car and not trading in.

Dave

sp1

I've had a half dozen cars appraised at CarMax over the years, and they low-balled me on every occasion except for one. Car buying services like AutoNation tend to offer even less. I've had the best luck selling to dealers of the same make as the vehicle, separate from the new car purchase transaction. If you can deal with the inconvenience, selling a car yourself through Autotrader or Cars.com is the most profitable. And you'll always get a better deal with any commercial or private buyer if you can sell your used car with at least a few months of the warranty period left on it.

igozoomzoom

I was in the market for a new SUV (ended up with a new Mazda CX-9) back in November 2012. My 2007 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer had 136,000 miles on it. It was originally my best friend’s company car that he custom ordered. He managed to put 71,000 miles on it in 16 months, which is when I bought it. Even though it was only 16 months old, the warranty coverage had expired at 36k (B2B) and 60k (Powertrain) miles. But I knew my friend had always taken care of it and had it serviced/oil change every 5k miles. I was replacing a 2003 Explorer XLT 4WD that had been rock-solid reliable, so I expected the same from the 2007 Explorer. Between May 2008 and November 2012, I spent over $9,000 for repairs on that heap and the transmission would have intermittent issues that scared the crap out of me, so I was determined to get rid of it!

I checked Edmunds TMV and KBB.com to get an idea of trade-in value. I was pleasantly surprised that both sites showed a trade-in value of $7,600-$7,900. I was expecting no more than $7,000 and would have let it go for $6,500 if necessary. So I took it to Carmax for an appraisal and, again, I was surprised that they offered me $7,500 for it. I took the written offer and went to buy my new CX-9 and I was very happy with every part of the deal expect the trade-in offer- $7,250. I showed the sales manager the Carmax offer and asked them to match it, but the Used Car Manager refused. He pointed out that I’d lose the sales tax benefit (around $490) by selling it to Carmax and not trading it in. I finally walked over to the ‘executive’ offices and found the General Manager of the dealership. I told him that we were very close to a deal but I was ready to walk if they didn’t give me $7,500 for the trade. I asked him if he wanted to lose the sale over $250. He walked back to the sales manager’s office, wrote in a $250 discount line and signed his name to approve it.

Without the Carmax offer (and because I wanted to get rid of it so badly), I would have accepted less than what it was actually worth! Having to fight for that final $250 was frustrating because it seemed logical that if Carmax could pay $7,500 for it (and they would have no choice but to sell it at auction due to the high mileage) but the Mazda dealer could also afford to pay $7,500 and still be able to sell it or send it to auction and make a profit.