Trading in cars

Lakeland · 5 Feb 2016 at 06:54

An observation I've made from the last 3 cars I've traded in; dealers seem have almost zero interest in the mechanical condition of a car?

Two cars were valued at around 2k, which is kind of forgivable, but the last car I just traded in was 8.5k and all they did was look at the bodywork and check the millage! This was a 1.4 TSI 160GT DSG VW Golf, so not exactly the most reliable of cars.

I know they just auction these off with their inter dealer network website but surely accepting cars with faults is going to give them a bad reputation? Or am I missing something?

iaind · 5 Feb 2016 at 07:02

Well for one, they didn't actually give you 8500 quid for it, they reduced the price of the new one by that much in exchange for it. If you went in with cash, depending on the car, you could have got a grand or 2 off anyway - so in reality they were paying you closer to 5 grand. Bearing in mind the 8500 figure you have in your head is lower than you'd see one on the forecourt for, it's safe to assume it's a 10k car to the dealer.

Depending on the dealer they'll either sell it themselves or send it to auction. If they sell it themselves they'll have to fix anything wrong, but they've just paid 5k for a 10k car and probably have their own workshop.... If it made it to them and is HPI clear then it really doesn't matter.

If it goes to auction, prices will reflect the risk generally, but they'll probably have paid 5k for a car they'll get 6-7 straight back from and another dealer has taken a 6-7k punt on a car that they can sell for 10.

Numbers extrapolated for explanation and not accurate reflections on that particular car

Lakeland · 5 Feb 2016 at 07:30

I went with cash and trade in and got 1k knocked off the price with some extras, 8.5k for the golf isn't a bad trade in considering they're only 9.5k on dealer forecourt. A DSG fault could be a new box at 4.5k?

Just seems madness not to even start the engine, check oil for gasket failure or take it on a 2 minute test drive.

Jacksonn · 5 Feb 2016 at 07:54

Probably just going to flip it so aren't really bothered. They know they can just bang it online for £500 more than they paid you and it will shift.

PMKeates · 5 Feb 2016 at 08:23

Lakeland said:
I went with cash and trade in and got 1k knocked off the price with some extras, 8.5k for the golf isn't a bad trade in considering they're only 9.5k on dealer forecourt. A DSG fault could be a new box at 4.5k?

Just seems madness not to even start the engine, check oil for gasket failure or take it on a 2 minute test drive.

Was that at a Volkswagen main dealer?

Lashout_UK · 5 Feb 2016 at 08:26

A lot just dump them straight into auctions, so the mechanical condition – provided it can drive through the hall – doesn't matter.

chris.tarry85 · 5 Feb 2016 at 08:30

Lashout_UK said:
A lot just dump them straight into auctions, so the mechanical condition – provided it can drive through the hall – doesn't matter.

Correct, as long as they can make £500 on it through an auction before it falls apart then they don't care!

Why not try listing it privately for £500/£750 more than they have offered you? You'll probably get an independent garage taking it off you for that leaving you as a true cash buyer.

Building Candy · 5 Feb 2016 at 08:53

chris.tarry85 said:
Correct, as long as they can make £500 on it through an auction before it falls apart then they don't care!

Why not try listing it privately for £500/£750 more than they have offered you? You'll probably get an independent garage taking it off you for that leaving you as a true cash buyer.

...because you'll get some wally phoning you in 3 months saying the dsg has failed and they want £4k towards a new gearbox!

chris.tarry85 · 5 Feb 2016 at 09:05

Building Candy said:
...because you'll get some wally phoning you in 3 months saying the dsg has failed and they want £4k towards a new gearbox!

Private sale though - good luck proving the problem was there when it was sold..

Just to clarify - I'm not talking about selling a car with a known fault, just maximising the cash you get from a part-ex. There are other ways to shift a car quickly and get more cash for it.

Building Candy · 5 Feb 2016 at 09:20

Oh yeh, i get that, but you always get the ones trying it on, been enough threads on here about it. If it was me I wouldnt want the hassle/ potential hassle, just drive in with one car, drive out with your new car, I would pay a premium for that convenience.

chris.tarry85 said:
Private sale though - good luck proving the problem was there when it was sold..

Just to clarify - I'm not talking about selling a car with a known fault, just maximising the cash you get from a part-ex. There are other ways to shift a car quickly and get more cash for it.

mccarf · 5 Feb 2016 at 09:47

Yep. Traded in my octavia recently and got £2.5k for it because they didn't even turn the key. Not bad for a car that a specialist told me to get rid of asap. Needed a full engine rebuild and a new ECU. Broke down 3 times on the way to the dealership on the last day I had it

.

skaif · 5 Feb 2016 at 10:54

I detest trading cars in, always worth sticking it up for a few hundred more to get the cash and using that when it comes to dealers!
Pretty sure a dealer will prefer a buyer with cash rather than a car to trade!

Building Candy said:
Oh yeh, i get that, but you always get the ones trying it on, been enough threads on here about it. If it was me I wouldnt want the hassle/ potential hassle, just drive in with one car, drive out with your new car, I would pay a premium for that convenience.

Hey Mr Candy, hows the R34?

skaif · 5 Feb 2016 at 10:58

mccarf said:
Yep. Traded in my octavia recently and got £2.5k for it because they didn't even turn the key. Not bad for a car that a specialist told me to get rid of asap. Needed a full engine rebuild and a new ECU. Broke down 3 times on the way to the dealership on the last day I had it .

In that case I can see the attraction to trading a car in!

Mr-White · 5 Feb 2016 at 12:51

I'm trading in my A4 in a few weeks, is there any where that will give me an idea of how much they will give me ?

MW

GinG · 5 Feb 2016 at 13:01

skaif said:
I detest trading cars in, always worth sticking it up for a few hundred more to get the cash and using that when it comes to dealers!
Pretty sure a dealer will prefer a buyer with cash rather than a car to trade!

Hey Mr Candy, hows the R34?

I was always under the assumption Cash is not king when buying cars these days. Finance is the way forward to get better deals.

Even if you have cash or can get cheaper bank loans, take advantage of the deals offered with you taking out finance, just check the small print on the amount of time you have until you can pay it back.