Tesla Trade-in Offer a Joke

[Skotty]

For the first time ever, I'm having to private party sell a car of mine because the offers on it are exceptionally low. The lien wasn't paid off yet, so I paid it off. Then I have to wait on lien release. Then I have to wait on title. Then I have to sell it (this will probably be the easy part, as I only want minimal trade-in value on it; dealers won't give it to me, so some private party is getting my old car at a low trade-in price well below private party). Then I'll probably have to do a combination of car sharing and rentals for a few months until I get my Tesla. It's a real PITA.

 

[msnow]

For the first time ever, I'm having to private party sell a car of mine because the offers on it are exceptionally low. The lien wasn't paid off yet, so I paid it off. Then I have to wait on lien release. Then I have to wait on title. Then I have to sell it (this will probably be the easy part, as I only want minimal trade-in value on it; dealers won't give it to me, so some private party is getting my old car at a low trade-in price well below private party). Then I'll probably have to do a combination of car sharing and rentals for a few months until I get my Tesla. It's a real PITA.

I understand, it's a hassle but it will be worth it. I sold both my truck Ford F250 and Porsche 911 Cabriolet private party because I thought Tesla's offer was closer to auction prices than KBB dealer trade-in which was what I wanted. Although it was more work than I wanted to put in I got fair prices and ended up happy. So will you.

 

[18seeds]

Not sure why people refer to dealerships as thieves. You must hand over the keys. They aren't taking them from you.

 

[MassModel3]

Not sure why people refer to dealerships as thieves. You must hand over the keys. They aren't taking them from you.

Absolutely. Granted, they're going to offer you as little as they can get away with, but that's their business model. Buy low, sell high. We don't have to like it, but we can't really blame them, either. You're all free to haggle and walk away from the "deal" if you don't like what they're offering, but in the end it's your decision to keep or trade your car to them.

That being said, some sales guys are sneaky, conniving, low-life little weasels who try to manipulate you, even lie to you, to better their own cause, and they're the ones you have to watch out for. But nobody ever said we have to take the first offer anyone presents, and if we feel like we're being used we can always just walk away.

 

[lolachampcar]

Yes.
I can blame Tesla.
One of their own wholesale business partners (the ones they bid out the ICE trades to) offered me about $9K more for my P85+ then Tesla did. I simply asked Tesla to do a courtesy trade and pass my car to that very wholesaler (like they would had my car been an ICE) to give me the benefit of the higher WHOLESALE number and allow me to keep my Florida Sales Tax credit. Car dealers provide this service (for a handling fee - $500 to $1k) but Tesla refused. Tesla will even point out that trading with them lets "you keep the sales tax credit" which I find infuriating given the sales tax issue is between me and my state; Tesla is just an agent forced to collect the tax as a requirement of their dealer's license.

In short, Tesla uses their first point of contact with THIER OWN RETURNING CUSTOMERS to extract a lower price purchase of the trade. They even use their position as tax collector to aid in paying their returning customers less than (wholesale) market for the trade. Yes, I can blame them for this.

 

[Ocelot]

The trade in aspect is one of the worst aspects of buying a vehicle. Tesla may try to elimate dealerships,y but they are still looking to make some serious cash of trade ins. I personally cannot stand it. I realize the dealer needs to make some money, and i want a good deal. We just traded in a CR-V at Kia, they offered a completely fair price, and I did not even negotiate, as it was completely fair value. Win-Win. On the flip side, I was at BMW recently, and they offered my less than half the trade in value of my car. I am not the type of guy to sit there nickel and diming, so needless to say I just got up and walked. Even if they came in low end of KBB it would of been a done deal. With that said, though service and used vehicles is where the dealerships make their money these days, and the internet as taken the wind from the sails of new vehicles.

 

[Mike Strauss]

i agree, sell your car privately

 

[mspohr]

The trade in aspect is one of the worst aspects of buying a vehicle. Tesla may try to elimate dealerships,y but they are still looking to make some serious cash of trade ins. I personally cannot stand it. I realize the dealer needs to make some money, and i want a good deal. We just traded in a CR-V at Kia, they offered a completely fair price, and I did not even negotiate, as it was completely fair value. Win-Win. On the flip side, I was at BMW recently, and they offered my less than half the trade in value of my car. I am not the type of guy to sit there nickel and diming, so needless to say I just got up and walked. Even if they came in low end of KBB it would of been a done deal. With that said, though service and used vehicles is where the dealerships make their money these days, and the internet as taken the wind from the sails of new vehicles.

Tesla doesn't retail used cars like dealers. They just wholesale them. They don't look at used cars as a profit center. They just do it as a courtesy to buyers. Some people have reported good offers, others weak offers... YMMV. There is a lot of variation in the market for used cars. You are usually better off selling a used car yourself to a private party. If you don't want the "hassle" take the (usually) lower price that Tesla, CarMax or any dealer will offer you. (Some dealers will bundle your trade in with a new car purchase and use that to obfuscate how much they are really giving you for your used car. They have a lot of wiggle room with dealer new car margin, financing kick-backs and used car prices.)
When I bought my Tesla, I didn't even try to trade in my used car. I tried CarMax which gave me a low ball offer and ended up selling on CraigsList to a private party for much more. It did take a small amount of effort but it was worth it.

 

[lolachampcar]

Tesla started off with a sole bidder arrangement with CarMax. Response time was very slow and the (ICE trade) bids were not good. Luckily, upper management drafted a very bright and experienced employee (you know who you are) into the job of better managing the trade in process. That person put together a uniform appraisal form agreed upon by all and built a network of wholesale bidders. All were provided with the trade info at the same time, each responded within a timely fashion and the best bid got the car. Tesla immediately moved from abusive trade numbers to much more competitive numbers.

Fast forward to the introduction of AWD and the known flood of used MS trades that would come from customers upgrading and Tesla decides to enter the CPO business. I heard from more than one Tesla source that they wanted to "control the used car buying experience". At the same time, Tesla knew they were/are horribly inefficient and required much higher margins when compared to the traditional wholesale/used car dealer. Other dealers can make money on sign and drive programs and add ons. Apart from increased warranty, Tesla added no value. Tesla also knew their CPO program was not yet up to speed but their hand was forced such that they had to buy trades least they "fall into the wrong hands". The solution was to underbid existing wholesale Model S prices using their first point of contact for trade and sales tax collection position as leverage.

The company made a conscious decision to enter a market where they were not competitive and insure profitability by depriving their returning customers of full market value for their trade in Model S. This is my analysis of what happened based on what I have personally witnessed. Other interpretations are always welcome.

 

[msnow]

Tesla started off with a sole bidder arrangement with CarMax. Response time was very slow and the (ICE trade) bids were not good. Luckily, upper management drafted a very bright and experienced employee (you know who you are) into the job of better managing the trade in process. That person put together a uniform appraisal form agreed upon by all and built a network of wholesale bidders. All were provided with the trade info at the same time, each responded within a timely fashion and the best bid got the car. Tesla immediately moved from abusive trade numbers to much more competitive numbers.

Fast forward to the introduction of AWD and the known flood of used MS trades that would come from customers upgrading and Tesla decides to enter the CPO business. I heard from more than one Tesla source that they wanted to "control the used car buying experience". At the same time, Tesla knew they were/are horribly inefficient and required much higher margins when compared to the traditional wholesale/used car dealer. Other dealers can make money on sign and drive programs and add ons. Apart from increased warranty, Tesla added no value. Tesla also knew their CPO program was not yet up to speed but their hand was forced such that they had to buy trades least they "fall into the wrong hands". The solution was to underbid existing wholesale Model S prices using their first point of contact for trade and sales tax collection position as leverage.

The company made a conscious decision to enter a market where they were not competitive and insure profitability by depriving their returning customers of full market value for their trade in Model S. This is my analysis of what happened based on what I have personally witnessed. Other interpretations are always welcome.

I think this is true particularly for Tesla trade-ins. My experience last August was right at the time they were switching from Carmax and AutoNation to the "broker network". The bids from the brokers were much, much lower than Carmax and AutoNation. For me on average about 30% less or about what car wholesalers offer. I always understood that Tesla was only providing this as a service and had no interest in getting into the trade-in business. Since I came in during the switchover Tesla agreed to match the AutoNation offers in order to be fair. Fortunately for me I sold my vehicles privately for significantly more. Bottom line, don't fault Tesla, they don't want to be in the middle of these transactions. Use them as a last resort if you can't sell privately.

 

[BOOMER7]

i agree, sell your car privately

Yep and it's pretty easy when you have a very desirable car for sale:smile:

 

[mikedc813]

Here's my recent experience with a trade in...

I was given a quote of $26,500 for my 2012 Audi S4 Prestige with 28,000 miles. The inspection through Tesla give it an overall rating of Very Good. The car had been in a previous accident and had body work done to the right side, which they were aware of. The tires needed to be replaced. Thus, I wanted at least $31-32,000 for the trade in which was in the KBB range for Good condition.

I expressed my disappointment at the offer and said that I did not want to proceed with the Model S sale. I was targeting an inventory 90D. I was given an offer of $29,000 a day later. I again expressed my disappointment and after again saying that I did not want to proceed with the sale (I was seriously looking at a new Audi) I was given an offer of $31,000 which is what I initially said my target price was.

I proceed with the Model S purchase and will get delivery tomorrow.

I'm not sure why they ultimately came back after a 4-5 day process of negotiation to give me what I wanted. Perhaps because I was going to buy an inventory car that had been listed for a month already? Either way I'm happy and am looking forward to the new car.

By the way if anyone needs a referral consider using mine: Referral Credit on a Tesla Model S | Tesla Motors

 

[Skotty]

CarMax offered me $6500 on a car whose average condition trade-in value on KBB was about $10,000. I didn't even bother asking Tesla, as I fully expected Tesla to not provide a reasonable offer. Ended up selling private party, which was a little scary, as I had never sold such a valuable item private party before. However, it sold pretty quickly as I was only asking trade-in price of private party buyers.