Trade-in experience

[Robert.Boston]

On my MVPA, a trade-in value is treated as a downpayment--it's subtracted at the very end and won't lower the amount of sales taxes you pay on the car. At least, this is how it is in California.

According to CarMax this offset treatment is not universal. CarMax states that the following states allow the offset (oddly, they don't list California):
Alabama
Arizona
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Illinois

Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Maryland
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska

Nevada
New Mexico
North Carolina
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Wisconsin

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Just to clarify (not that it affects me personally, it doesn't); am I to understand that Tesla only offers to do trade-ins through an outside dealer?
Does this apply to people who trade in Tesla Roadsters, which I suspect Tesla knows how to resell?

Tesla is taking a fair number of Roadster trade-ins for the Model S; there's no third party involved. They've also staffed up the Menlo Park store here in CA to have a "certified, pre-owned Roadster sales" program with my favorite Tesla rep, Arielle Bosch, at the helm! Last Saturday, I spotted atleast 4 Roadsters that were traded in - one a beautiful sky blue one (resembled NigelM's), another a racing green (a 2008 one, quoted by Arielle at $82k), a third, red one and a fourth, gray one that someone took out for a test drive as we were watching. There were several Roadsters in the service bay, some of which may indeed be for sale.

[NigelM]

....one a beautiful sky blue one (resembled NigelM's)...

Resembled mine. Wasn't mine. Keeping mine.

[cinergi]

The numbers I have for trading in my Roadster are ... quite disappointing. A several-hour-long inspection must also be performed prior to determining the final price.
I'm going to Carmax tomorrow to see what they'll offer. If that doesn't pan out, my yearly service is due (awful timing!) so I'm scheduled to head to NYC Saturday for the maintenance as well as the inspection. We'll see how that goes.
The trade-in number is non-negotiable (I tried).

BTW Mass. has a trade-in allowance, too. And even factoring that in, it still makes me cringe to go with the trade-in program.

[TEG]

According to CarMax this offset treatment is not universal. CarMax states that the following states allow the offset (oddly, they don't list California)...

Actually not oddly. If you look closely at mulder1231's original post he said that CA doesn't lower the tax. I think you might have been fooled by a sort of double-negative description in his post.

[beck.christopher]

The numbers I have for trading in my Roadster are ... quite disappointing. A several-hour-long inspection must also be performed prior to determining the final price.
I'm going to Carmax tomorrow to see what they'll offer. If that doesn't pan out, my yearly service is due (awful timing!) so I'm scheduled to head to NYC Saturday for the maintenance as well as the inspection. We'll see how that goes.
The trade-in number is non-negotiable (I tried).

BTW Mass. has a trade-in allowance, too. And even factoring that in, it still makes me cringe to go with the trade-in program.

What is the Mass trade-in allowance?

[Robert.Boston]

For non-Tesla vehicles, you are on your own in MA. Until Tesla gets its license in order, we can't offset any of the tax liability through trade-in.

[NeedToDrive]

ggr, thanks for posting; good food for thought. When I got my MVPA I wondered how the TESLA program worked. I haven't really thought through what I'm going to do but now I'm certainly going to entertain carmax. I actually have two options: 1) sell my 2002 Sequoia (47K miles), or 2) sell my wife's 2003 Odyssey (130K miles) & give her the Sequoia. Keeping the Sequoia is my first choice but we both like the way the Odyssey drives better and we're thinking the Sequoia will have a better cash value (it's in much better shape). The decision will be easier if I get two quotes for the two options. Thanks.

[lolachampcar]

Has anyone tried to do a "courtesy trade" where you provide the buyer (CarMax) and Tesla assigns the title?

[pete8314]

For non-Tesla vehicles, you are on your own in MA. Until Tesla gets its license in order, we can't offset any of the tax liability through trade-in.

Is it safe to assume the same is true in Texas?