Serious Trade In Questions
 

This is somewhat a case of buyers remorse. I had impulsively bought my current automatic Whiteout FR-S 9 months ago sight unseen.

I don't regret the car at all other than the fact it's an automatic and doesn't have the creature comforts of the BRZ so my question to the wise here is below.

I know I'll be taking a hit financially with a trade in but my concern is how big of a hit and what about my "mods" done?

I'll be bringing the car back to stock as much as possible before having it evaluated minus a few things which will be listed below.

Interior: 3 small burn holes from cigarettes. One under the drivers seat, one right above the front pillar on the passenger side where the pillar and headliner meet and one in the passenger rear seat. (don't bother lecturing me here, please. Lesson learned, plus none from me.) Interior does NOT smell like smoke. I have people who do not smoke sit in my car and they can never tell that there has been a cigarette in my car unless I point out the burns.

Nexus 7 dash install + single din head unit relocation. Still have the stock parts minus the factory radio and factory USB hookup for iPods/iPhones that runs from the head unit to the dash.

FatMat. Drivers door, passengers door and entire trunk are matted. - Will remove and bring back to factory condition.

Exterior:

Wear and tear on the front bumper and some rock chips.

Vinyl wrapped part of the front bumper.

Performance mods:

Invidia N1 - Will return this to stock.

Removed resonators on stock intake and capped them off.

Removed intake sound tube - Will return to stock.

35% tint all around - Will not be removing unless necessary.

21,000 miles, dealer maintained with paperwork.

As far as what I still owe on the FR-S, I got screwed. Overlooked all the paperwork, etc and still owe $28,000 9 months into a 60 month loan.

So, with the above in mind, ballpark me some numbers that I should shoot for mentally. Not best case scenario numbers please. Looking to trade into a BRZ Limited that's at a local dealer listed at $28.5k and the sales manager is a close family friend but yet vicious and relentless when it comes to his business even with us.

In my head, I see myself taking a $5-6k hit on this trade in. Is that number within reason? What tips or advice do you guys have for me?

what is about the brz you WANT. cars seem to be holding value though.

if you want the navi forget about it. Subaru navi's and just navigations in general suck in cars. Other than that, what comforts does the brz have that the frs doesnt?

Do you want a manual, or do you just like the brz more?

I'd trade in for the manual if you got suckered in on the auto buy (drove both and manual is much funner *IMO*), but if its the latter reason I don't think its worth it.

yea if it's for the manual then i think it may be worth it. In the end it's your decision. If you're really unhappy with the auto, then there's no point in the car because you're not enjoying it.

Based on my experience, you may get stuck rolling over $4k+ in negative equity. I did something like this during the same year so tax wasn't an issue, unsure how that will affect your total otd. Good luck!

The AT to MT is worth it.


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I like the BRZ more truthfully. Much more "upscale" appearance compared to the FR-S. Don't care for the navi/head unit and would do another Nexus 7 install.

Ultimately, this is about going from auto to manual. I will probably wait until the MY 14's come out and see how prices come down on the 13's.

I feel that I'm missing out on a great experience between myself and the car by having an auto and I drive it in manual mode 100% of the time.

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I'm not a financial adviser by any means but I'll give you my honest opinion.

Trading in the car will dig you deeper into a financial hole. You say you owe $28,000 still? That's a pretty large loan. Seems to me that your car was an impulse buy. Mistake made, lesson learned. Also it looks like you spent a small fortune on mods, but that's not too big of a deal since you can install those on the next twin if you choose to trade.

Don't expect to get excellent condition value for your trade in. The dealer will rape you for the cigarette burns, and the front bumper. And what kind of vinyl wrap do you have? Is it removable? If not, they'll bend you over for that as well.

Bottom line is you're kind of screwed. Trading in will only screw you even more, so it's best to just keep the car for as long as you can. In the future, don't buy on impulse, especially when it comes to big ticket items.

From the way you describe your car it sounds like you've done a good job of trashing it. You can go to KBB and get a good idea of what your car is worth for trade in.

I'm a little confused with what you call trashed. I've done nothing crazy nor destructive to this car and nothing that hasn't already had a DIY thread on here. If you're talking about the holes, that's far from trashed. If you're talking about the bumper, what do you expect after 21,000 miles in 9 months? :confused:

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I know I would trade it in, if I was in your position. If this will be your first manual car, I highly recommend it - the shifter in this car is great, and makes it so much more engaging to drive. Just keep in mind, if you have a long commute you might get frustrated fast especially if this will be your first manual.

Try to sell it private party soon, to get the most out of your car. It should sell much better than you would if you traded it in.

Anyways, in the end its up to you - what do you ultimately want? Are you willing to pay 2-5k more (and dealer headaches...) for the experience of manual?

Yeah, I was being a little too harsh there. I apologize.

Now that you have mentioned the mileage on top of the bumper and holes, I really don't think you'll get much. Good luck and provide us with updates.

Your best course of action, whether you want to keep the car or not, will be to wait 3-4 years for the mid-generation refresh. Then you can get a new, cooler version and you won't get completely raped on the deal. Believe me, I'm not a fan of automatics either but you're already in a bad deal and trading will only make it worse.

Once the buyer remorse gives way to reality, it's 99% of what you want, you'll feel better. And it will go away. just like the honeymoon period did. You can take that to the bank.

Best of luck on making a decision.