Members who traded - how was it financially?
 

Hello ft86,

From occasionally browsing the FB group and seeing the threads here of people trading from some cars to FRS/BRZs, and switching from the twins to WRX/STis - as someone in the car business I tend to wonder what people are doing to justify their trades.

I can't imagine trading this car in anytime soon considering the depreciation (though I don't plan to) but let's hear it, how long did you own a certain car, how much money did you put into it, and how's the switch feel?

I had a great deal on a new 2014 Accord Sport and put $2k down (bought from my prev dealership) and 12 months later, Carmax appraised my car with $2,500 positive equity and since negative equity would've been the only reason I wouldn't buy the BRZ I went through with it. Unfortunately my family asked kindly to take over the Accord so there goes some of my initial equity for modding :3

Although, I can imagine that anyone who bought a twin with minimal down rolled negative equity or broke even after 1-2 years of payments, I'd like to hear ppl's experience.

I traded from a Camaro 1SS to the FR-S when my family ran into some financial issues. I loved my V8, but I also love getting twice the gas mileage and paying less a month on the car (plus the car reminds me of my old FC). The main thing that made it possible, though, was the fact that since I was trading in a vehicle with a higher value than the car I was buying, Texas doesn't require any excise/sales tax on the transaction. I did have some negative equity, but the lack of paying taxes helped offset that.

Depends on what you want vs what you are willing to pay.

You can own any car for any length of time (lease or buy, doesn't matter), and as long as someone is willing to help with the financials (whether it's an early lease return, buying for positive or negative equity, etc) you can make a switch as long as it makes sense for you, the owner.

I traded in a car after 12 months on a 24-month lease, because it made sense to me. Took a $4k hit on depreciation but this varies from person to person on whether you can justify it or not.

-alex

Always depends on the situation. I formerly had a Lexus IS250 F-Sport with the six-speed manual that I bought CPO. A rather rare car since it had the third pedal and one that I thought I would enjoy a lot more than I ultimately did. I dumped it after about 18 months because I wanted something fun again and after quite a bit of research, found great deals on leftover 2014 BRZ's.

I also looked at older 911's and Cayman's but the potential of a very expensive repair deterred me; however, during that time I had my Lexus appraised at Carmax, they offered me $18500. That was about $1000 less than I owed on it at the time and, like you, I didn't want to roll negative equity into another car or pay a small lump to be rid of the Lexus.

That brought me to the BRZ. I was seeing nice discounts off MSRP coupled with great financing offers. I ended up getting my BRZ for $3000 off MSRP and got 0% for 72mos on the note. Since I was getting free money for six years, I didn't mind rolling that same $1000 of negative equity into the note on the BRZ. My note with tax, fees and negative equity still ended up being less than the original MSRP of the car without putting anything down.

The only risk I've assumed is that initially, the car's depreciation is going to outpace the loan repayment. I'm not quite a year in yet, and maybe six months from being on the equity side of things.

In February I bought a used 2011 Jeep Liberty Jet , loaded with every option for $14k. The owner needed to sell quick, and I needed a car since my job required me to travel outside of the city. It was an impulse buy for a good deal and figured I could live with the jeep since my family owned jeeps for a long time. I came from owning a srt4 before moving to the city. No car for 5 years.

Fast forward to August and I couldn't live with the Jeep, not for reason because of the car, "Its not you it's me" sort of deal just didn't fit my style.

Been searching for cars since I got the jeep weighing my options to sell private or trade in. Researching what cars fit the bill and my driving style.

Test drove my cousins FRS and knew it was a car I could smile at.

3 weeks ago, saw a clean SWP BRZ with 15,000 miles selling for $20,400. Went in told them what I wanted for trade in on my Jeep $15k and told them I wanted 20,400 OTD price 0 down.

They came back with a lowball for the jeep and I smiled and said I am walking. they told me to wait and said they would do it. It was pretty shocking but i guess when you do your research and know what you want the dealers figure your gonna buy on the spot.

Cliff notes: Bought jeep for $14K got trade in for $15K got the real car I wanted with slightly higher car payment $20k but overall took about 2 hours no hassle. No I am worried I bought a car with a crappy resell value. But it puts a smile on my face and beats driving a used higher mileage jeep with no warranty. Used BRZ has 20,000 more on the warranty.

Haha thanks for sharing guys. Yeah I'm aware it'll all depend on the situation - I am an internet sales manager at Nissan. The Honda would've been great to pay off and switch out of without losing much money, I was just commenting that the depreciation on this will need me to pay off quite a bit more than the Accord (I had positive equity almost instantly) while the BRZ is obviously not the same.

Seems a lot of people are happy they traded into the FRS/BRZ, I was actually more curious about people buying it and swapping out of it.

I sold my 135i to buy a BRZ. BRZ payments were $100 a month less with $3k less down than I put down on my 135i but for twice the term. Never fell in love with my car, sold it to keep my Miata, sold the Miata to buy a beater S2000.

Paid for it with $100 bills so I guess I did ok financially....