I'm anxiously awaiting arrival of my S60 (CPO) however I'll be trading in my current vehicle that will unfortunately have some negative equity associated. That being said, does any have experience they can share with the trade-in process? Tesla is sending out AiM Dealer Inspections (AiM Dealer Inspections - Professional car inspection service for new and used cars.) to appraise my vehicle so I'm hoping that Tesla will come up with a better figure once that's been completed. Appreciate any input!
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Alysashley79
Active Member
I traded my ICE in the same manner though mine wasn't negative equity. That being said. I've never seen tesla adjust their figures to make a sale happen. They aren't like traditional auto makers/dealers.
They don't adjust the sales price of their vehicles however with trades it's a different story as the value changes daily. Crossing my fingers that I can squeeze another $1500 out of them.
SabrToothSqrl
Active Member
Tesla gave me $2k more for my Jeep than another dealer was going to on a used S85.
They did an inspection, took photos, met me at work to look at it. went pretty smooth. I owned it outright though.
They did an inspection, took photos, met me at work to look at it. went pretty smooth. I owned it outright though.
So that's the thing, I did my DD on sites like Edmunds, KBB and NADA all of which priced my car at $46k give or take a few hundred bucks however Tesla (site unseen mind you) appraised mine at 'fair' value of $42,500 which is way off. I'm hoping that through this meticulous inspection they'll come to their senses and realize that a 2014 fully loaded Audi S4 with <7500 miles it worth $2k more than they originally told me. Holding my breath :redface:
mknox
Well-Known Member
I was given a quote site unseen. Upon investigation, it looked to me like they simply took the "worst condition" Blue Book number and used that, even though my car was in very good shape. I planned to try and sell privately, but my Model S came in ahead of schedule and Tesla were desperate to deliver it. Since I was also anxious to get the Tesla I just went ahead with the trade. But to make matters worse, they bumped my trade-in value down when I came in based on the fact that a couple of months had passed since they gave me the original quote. Also interestingly, they didn't even look at my old car when I picked up the new one. All they did was take my keys and ownership papers, and it was out there in the parking lot where I left it when I departed with the new car.
It makes me feel better that they've hired a professional company to come and have a look at the vehicle. I'll keep you all posted on the outcome.
Curious to see how it goes, now, let us know.
Two years ago there was a lot of unhappiness with the trade in values being quoted. Unless there's a sales tax benefit in MD you may want to hit CarMax and some dealerships if you don't want to do a private sale.
Def a sales tax benefit where it's going to save me over $2500 by trading versus selling privately. I went to CarMax and they were the lowest out of everyone, not too sure the location here knew how to price the S4. AiM will be here any minute and I'll report back once I get a figure from them. Obviously YMMV however perhaps it'll serve as a good baseline to gauge trade-ins given they're using a legit service now.
So the rep from AiM was here for nearly 30mins doing a very thorough inspection of my trade. He graded it as a 5 which is equal to an A+ so now it's a waiting game to see what Tesla will come back with. At first I was annoyed he took so long since my car is pretty much new however it's only fair to both parties involved that the meticulousness of the inspection is unbiased, which is never the case when you go into any other dealership. Hoping to wrap this up and get into my new ride come this time next week!
I traded mine in. Tesla took pictures and sent info to dealers to make offers. Tesla brought my the highest offer for my car, which happened to be about $500 less than Carmax offered (I had it appraised there also). Tesla sent a copy of my Carmax offer to the dealer and they raised their offer to match it. I ended up with the max $ and the sales tax advantage.
Xenius
Active Member
I am actually considering doing this with my Civic Si Sedan as well. They quoted me 14k where I think I could get closer to 17-18 on a private sale. I've never sold a car though so I'm not sure which I'll do.
dandelot
Member
Burlingame Tesla had 3rd party company give us a quote. We sold the Jaguar
(via our mechanic) to someone who got a good deal paying 4x the
3rd party quote.
(via our mechanic) to someone who got a good deal paying 4x the
3rd party quote.
rocketdallas
Member
I traded in my car with the purchase of my model S. The third party gave me a fair deal on par with what Carmax would have given me, albeit much lower than what I would have accepted trading it in at a typical dealership for a new purchase. The process was smooth and easy, and the Tesla professional that worked with me sent out for numerous quotes, eventually gaining a few hundred dollars more than originally offered.
Cottonwood
Roadster#433, Model S#S37
It depends on where you live, but in many states, you only pay sales tax on the difference price (new car - trade-in). That can improve the effective value of your trade-in by several percent.
JimmyAZ
Member
I had planned on trading in my Aston Martin Vantage for the new Tesla. I was surprised when the responses were coming from places like AutoNation and such. With what they were offering, I was also in a negative equity situation. I told my DS those places aren't equipped to deal with exotics and another type of broker would be needed. I'm not sure if they did that, but they sent an appraisal company out to inspect the car and my offer was increased.
It still was about $2500 below what I still owed on the car. I know, stupid exotics losing value when you drive 'em - lol. I also had the car on Cars.com and eBay. Long story short, I ended up having 2 people at the LAST minute, I mean literally, call about the car. A client of my mechanic's and a guy from NYC. The NYC guy booked a flight to come see it and the woman from my mechanic bought it on the spot. And I ended up making some $ in the deal. Whew!
It was nice to have the trade-in option available - but only as a last resort. We got really lucky that there was so much interest in the car. I pick up the Tesla on Tuesday. I can't believe all this happened within the last 4 days that the trade-in offer was valid.
It still was about $2500 below what I still owed on the car. I know, stupid exotics losing value when you drive 'em - lol. I also had the car on Cars.com and eBay. Long story short, I ended up having 2 people at the LAST minute, I mean literally, call about the car. A client of my mechanic's and a guy from NYC. The NYC guy booked a flight to come see it and the woman from my mechanic bought it on the spot. And I ended up making some $ in the deal. Whew!
It was nice to have the trade-in option available - but only as a last resort. We got really lucky that there was so much interest in the car. I pick up the Tesla on Tuesday. I can't believe all this happened within the last 4 days that the trade-in offer was valid.
ddimit
Member
If you go into it with expectation that you will get low/wholesale bluebook and you are ok with that. Then the offer should not be a surprise or you don't care.
I had an existing loan on my 11 535i, so my plan was to come out either on par or plus a few dollars if possible.
I knew going into it it wasn't going to be worth my while to even try and do a trade with Tesla as I would come out owing on the car.
just as a bench mark i went to carmax and their offer was 4k below what i owed OUCH!
I did my research and decided to sell myself.
It's not really that hard. I placed ads on auto-trader and cars.com, both ended up generating calls from other websites who wanted me to list on their site as well and were basically worthless!
I put in the street in from of my house, which gets a lot of traffic.
I got my full ask which was $2500 over what I owed on the car. I have sold my last 2 cars this way. Its not terribly difficult if you do the research and preparation and well worth the effort.
I had an existing loan on my 11 535i, so my plan was to come out either on par or plus a few dollars if possible.
I knew going into it it wasn't going to be worth my while to even try and do a trade with Tesla as I would come out owing on the car.
just as a bench mark i went to carmax and their offer was 4k below what i owed OUCH!
I did my research and decided to sell myself.
It's not really that hard. I placed ads on auto-trader and cars.com, both ended up generating calls from other websites who wanted me to list on their site as well and were basically worthless!
I put in the street in from of my house, which gets a lot of traffic.
I got my full ask which was $2500 over what I owed on the car. I have sold my last 2 cars this way. Its not terribly difficult if you do the research and preparation and well worth the effort.
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