Dealership offering to buy my car back - 11 months after I bought it from them?

joshd58

In January of this year, I bought a 2014 Ford Focus. Today, December 19th, the very dealership I bought it from 11 months ago called and offered to buy it back. I know dealerships sending letters offering to buy your car is a common sales technique, but hear me out, because this is a strange situation.

First off, they called me. They specifically called me, someone who just bought this from them 11 months ago, and now want to buy it back. This is odd, but it's not the strangest part. The strangest part was their offer for the car. When I first sat down with the salesman to talk numbers, he offered me $6,500 for the car I had just paid them $10,500 for 11 months ago. That seemed like a fair assessment, as the KBB trade in value for my car in excellent condition is $6,000-$7,100. I didn't really say anything about how much they offered, but I told the guy I wasn't really sure if I was ready to trade in my car, and that I would need some time to think about it. Now, he goes to the sales manager and talks to him, then comes back with an offer of $8,500. Keep in mind, I never commented on their original offer and never even hinted that it was too low, and they're now offering me $1,400 above KBB value, and just $2,000 less than I originally paid them for the car. A few other important things to note are that 1, I've put 5,000 additional miles on this car. 2, I was in an accident with this car. And 3, this car has some pretty decent damage to the back bumper that would likely need to be repaired before being resold. So with all that said, why on earth are they offering me so much for my car? When they called, they said the Focus was just a popular car that they like to have on their lot, but I'm having a hard time believing that as their reasoning.  So my question is, could this dealership have some other reason for which maybe they need to buy my car back from me? I have no idea what that could be, but that seems, at least to me, to be their reason for offering to buy my car. I would appreciate anyone else's opinion on this.

kyfdx

Salespeople have a lot of time on their hands. Many dealerships have them cold call previous customers. Regardless of what they've said, the purpose is to get you back into the dealership to buy another car. Throwing out numbers over the phone does not constitute an offer.

They do it, because it works.

joshd58

They didn't throw out any numbers over the phone, though. I went into the dealership and was given the offer there, in writing, after they checked out the vehicle. It's quite possible that I'm just over thinking this, but it just seemed odd.

texases

Is this a trade-in offer, or a purchase offer? Not surprised if it's a trade-in, since they'll just get that money back on the new(er) car you'd buy.

isellhondas

So you pay full price (or more) for the new car and they over allow on your trade in?

A Focus with a dirty Car Fax and unrepaired body damage isn't exactly a "prime" trade in.

No free lunch here.....

Mr_Shiftright

If it seems too good to be true.....it is.

PF_Flyer

Admiral Ackbar might say, "It's a trap". But if it works for you, does it matter that the dealer MUST have some thought that this works out for them?

Mr_Shiftright

Just pay attention to your out the door price. What the trade is, what tricks are being played, it all doesn't matter if you are happy with the OTD price. Of course, this presumes you've done some research as to what a fair price out the door actually is.