Model 3 Delivery - Trading Current Car In

[FlatSix911]

If you have a high end car, you may not want to go with CarMax ...

 

[PoitNarf]

Our trade in is a 2005 Acura RL with 73,000 miles. No accidents. There are a few small scratches along the side of the car and a small dent that can easily be popped out. Kelley Blue Book said wholesale was $3,800-$4,800 and private party was about $5,000-$6,000.

Tesla offered us $4,400 for the trade-in, pretty much smack-dab in the middle of the wholesale price. We took their offer. Neither my wife nor I wanted to list the car for resale, haggle with prospective buyers, go down to AAA to transfer title, get the cash checked by a bank for counterfeit, etc. etc. for maybe another $750.

And we all know that the sales price goes down the longer it takes to sell the car.

Good to know, thanks for sharing. KBB trade in value for my 2012 Mustang with around 106,000 miles is $5600-$7100. If I get right in the middle of that range I’d be happy.

 

[daniel]

My original plan was to trade in my Roadster when I got the Model 3. (It's a big step down in looks and torque and just plain fun driving, but a big step up in safety and practicality. I've enjoyed it for 6 years, year around, and it's time to move on.) Anyway, I was going to trade it in, but then everyone here on the TMC forums told me that Tesla is offering ridiculously low value for Roadsters. Apparently they don't want to refurbish them to CPO status and they just sell them to wholesalers. So I will reluctantly sell it privately.

Fortunately, I don't need the money immediately, so I'll probably list it here and maybe elsewhere and see what kind of offers I get.

 

[run-the-joules]

I expected to give a detailed report on my trade in process but unexpectedly found a private buyer so after Thursday I won’t have a car! Hopefully I get my VIN and delivery date soon, motorcycle-only until then!

 

[Runt8]

Our trade in is a 2005 Acura RL with 73,000 miles. No accidents. There are a few small scratches along the side of the car and a small dent that can easily be popped out. Kelley Blue Book said wholesale was $3,800-$4,800 and private party was about $5,000-$6,000.

Tesla offered us $4,400 for the trade-in, pretty much smack-dab in the middle of the wholesale price. We took their offer. Neither my wife nor I wanted to list the car for resale, haggle with prospective buyers, go down to AAA to transfer title, get the cash checked by a bank for counterfeit, etc. etc. for maybe another $750.

And we all know that the sales price goes down the longer it takes to sell the car.

I’m kind of shocked by the offers for this. I just sold a 2006 Acura TSX with 178,000 miles and several scratches and dings (and two minor accidents) for $4,500 private party. I would have thought a RL with less than half the miles would get a lot more than that.

 

[cpa]

I’m kind of shocked by the offers for this. I just sold a 2006 Acura TSX with 178,000 miles and several scratches and dings (and two minor accidents) for $4,500 private party. I would have thought a RL with less than half the miles would get a lot more than that.

I do not know either. Kelley Blue Book wanted our zip code, so perhaps there are regional differences in pricing. Perhaps there is slightly more demand for your TSX (I do not really know about that model) in Colorado. Perhaps we could have sold the RL privately for more than six grand to the right buyer.

Glad you received a fair price for your vehicle!

 

[Ryan Webb]

How long before delivery does Tesla start the trade-in process? I will either be selling mine to Carmax or the like, or trading it in to Tesla - but I'd like to have enough time should the Tesla offer come back on the low side. I'd have to then sell the car, deposit the proceeds, and wait for the check to clear - with Wells Fargo and large checks, they've been holding 10 business days every time I deposit a large check recently. If Tesla only gives me a week or so from trade-in offer to delivery, I won't be able to have quite all the funds available. I configured and ordered last Wednesday, so there's still plenty of time, but the trade in section of my account just says "as your delivery date approaches, we will contact you regarding your trade".

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

I talked to Tesla yesterday about my cars trade in value. They came back with $44,000. I paid about $75,000 for it a year ago. It’s been in two minor accidents that included replacing a door and then replacing the rear bumper cover. It has 13,000 miles. I wonder how much Carmax would give me for it.

 

[rcsting]

I’m wondering if you can get a trade in offer from Tesla before confirming your Model 3 order ? I’ll be getting rid of a 2017 Lexus and wondering how much of a hit I’ll be taking.

Thanks for any info.

 

[Need]

How long before delivery does Tesla start the trade-in process? I will either be selling mine to Carmax or the like, or trading it in to Tesla - but I'd like to have enough time should the Tesla offer come back on the low side. I'd have to then sell the car, deposit the proceeds, and wait for the check to clear - with Wells Fargo and large checks, they've been holding 10 business days every time I deposit a large check recently. If Tesla only gives me a week or so from trade-in offer to delivery, I won't be able to have quite all the funds available. I configured and ordered last Wednesday, so there's still plenty of time, but the trade in section of my account just says "as your delivery date approaches, we will contact you regarding your trade".

When we ordered our MX, we drove our old car to the Tesla Sales center. They took pictures of our old car, and we got a quote for it in the evening. The only thing is that the quote was only good for 3 weeks or 4 weeks (don't remember which). So by the time we got the delivery date, I have to submit new pictures and odometer reading. The new quote came back (next day) was $100 lowered than the original quote but we did put over 1000 miles on it.

 

[daniel]

I’m wondering if you can get a trade in offer from Tesla before confirming your Model 3 order ? I’ll be getting rid of a 2017 Lexus and wondering how much of a hit I’ll be taking.

Thanks for any info.

No personal experience, but with few exceptions people seem to be reporting low trade-in values from Tesla. My suggestion would be to go some place else to get a quote. Then you'll know the ballpark, and if Tesla doesn't come up to that amount you'll have an alternative. I gather that Tesla just sells those traded-in cars to brokers, unless you're trading in a Tesla and they want to refurbish it as a CPO.