Not sure if being low-balled for trade-in offer...
 

I'm considering trading in my 08 scion tc with 45k miles; excellent condition (just a few door dings where ppl opened their doors into mine *sigh*), upgraded factory stereo, replaced rear hatch struts and handle, etc.

Kbb gave it a value of I believe somewhere around 12k-14k for trade in. I estimated mine on the low-end just so I wouldnt be too disappointed in the offer, so say... 11-12k. When I took it to the dealership, their appraiser looked at it for maybe 3-5minutes and put a value of about 9k on it. This was before I showed my salesperson the kbb printout I brought..

My salesperson brought my printout to the appraiser showing a value of 12-14k, then came back and said they use their own "scion/toyota" valuing system, and kbb is not accurate and should be disregarded... What do you guys think? A 3k hit is fairly significant in my opinion...

Private sell your car - it's FWD and good in winter. Use that as a selling point!

They low-balled my car as well. The third potential buyer is coming to see it tomorrow, and the dealer has called and asked for a chance to make a second offer.

Sell it privately. You'll never get the same money trading it in. A dealership offered me 3500 for my 04 WRX lol. I sold it privately for 9500.

Check the Galves price on your car to determine the wholesale price. At a minimum the dealer should at least give you that.

Thats officially taking it on the backside.... Sell private party then buy whatever you want.. The effort to get the dings fixed, detailed, ad posted and haggle with a few folks outweighs the 3-6k you can lose on trade in.

For comparisons sake I just sold an 2003 I35 for $8300 private party.. 1k more for a 5 year younger car with half the miles doesnt sound like a good trade.

Idk what scion uses to gauge trade in values but in only getting 3k for my 03 outback with 107k kbb is 5300


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No dealership will give you the exact price it's worth, of course they are going to start low. It's called business, they want to make money off of you.

The last three new cars my wife and I bought were two Honda's and one FR-S. In all three cases I had no trouble at all with the dealerships giving me KBB trade in value. I expected a problem with the Scion dealership because of their fair pricing but they were very agreeable.

It is very rare that a dealership will give you what the true Kelley Blue Book value of the car. The best you will get is the fair price for the car. It may be slightly more of a hassle to sell privately but you should the able to sell it for a higher price.

KBB is something consumers use.. Dealers use the NADA a lot of the time.

I used to work for Carmax when it first got started, and we were known for giving the most for peoples vehicle. The reason was that Carmax knows what they can get out of a vehicle.

I agree.. Sell it privately. You can get more money, and somebody gets a care for a little less then a dealer.

If you take it to Carmax and get a trade in offer, you can use it to negotiate with the dealer. They'll more than likely give you what you're looking for, but no one will give you more than what you can sell it privately for. That's your best bet if you want the most out of the tC.

understood.. the kbb price i provided them was the kbb trade-in price. i.e. it takes into account dealer profit and is at least 1-2k less than actual value.

Right, but it's still called haggling. They aren't going to provide their best offer right off the bat. Regardless, trading in is always the worst thing to do. People usually do it because they require the funds for the new car immediately. If you don't, then there is no reason to even waste your time bickering with them.

the point you have to understand is, they are trying to make money off your car. they are going to give you a portion of what the car is worth, sell it for more to make some money. they are not there to give you what you deserve, they are a business so thats something you have to understand. If you want the most for your money then sell it on your own.
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