I’m working on trading-in a 2019 Ford Mustang that has a loan of $30,000 and KBB trade-in value closer to that. I know I’m taking a depreciation hit of $8-10K. I’m not comfortable with the new Coyote/10-speed AT complaints all over the internet. I would like to get a used Highlander or any Ford’s Panther platform car that is spacious and reliable. Who usually give a better trade-in deal: Carmax, Carvana, Ford or other car dealerships? Thanks.
I remember your earlier posts about your car. I do not blame you for selling it.
If Carvana is within $1000, I would take it to a Ford dealer and tell them that. They may give you the extra $1000 and take if off your hands.
If a Ford dealer buys it, they can sell it as a Certified Pre-Owned which means they get more money for it. So it gives them some room and incentive to take your car, even if you do not purchase another one from them.
Good luck!
@mod_man
That sounds like a great idea. I never thought about the CPO profit that Ford can make. Thank you for your valuable inputs again. I really appreciate that. I will try that route. My only other option would be to get a new 2022 Highlander during the fall of 2021 by trading in with Toyota. That way the new Toyota 8 speed transmission would have proven itself on the road for 5 years since the 2017 release. This may also give some tax savings on the difference.
Happy to help! Hope everything works out for you and you are able to get into something that makes you happy.
@mod_man
You suggestion worked out like a champ. I've sold the car to Ford. They tried to low ball me. I showed them the Carvana quote and the best they could do was to beat Carvana by $200 and accepted the offer. I got $600 check from the cancelled GAP insurance and was left with just a $150 negative equity. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
That's AWESOME! I'm extremely happy for you! Now I hope you can get into a car you like that won't give you problems down the line. Always glad to hear these stories!
That is great glad you thought it out and used the experience of those on this site!
Go around and use it to your advantage. If carmax gives you a good price, let's say 2000 less, then you could go to the Ford dealer and say that they are 1 grand less, and maybe THEY will budge, if not, sell it to Carmax for example.
In my experience if you can find a decent ford dealership that is reputable in your area they will usually do anything they can to make you happy. Now you can't expect that from everybody. Carmax literally has to go by the book on everything or they don't meet their bottom line. I would recommend posting it for a private sale and see if you can sell it while it still is in good condition.
@cjbman
Thanks! Is it possible to do a private sale when there is still a loan on a vehicle? I thought private sale is only for paid-off vehicles.
You can sell the car at any time and use the money to pay off your loan or whatever you need. It doesn't need to be through a car dealership or bank.
Technically the car has to be paid off before you can transfer title though.
"Who usually give a better trade-in deal: Carmax, Carvana, Ford or other car dealerships?"
My dad and uncle are helping me with this, we have a lot of experience buying and selling, so please understand we're trying to honest.
It's impossible to say, but none of the above is likely to offer you even a low percentage of actual vehicle worth unless you purchase another (newer) vehicle from them. Unless you do so, they have much less incentive to deal with you at all, especially in a negative equity situation.
If you DO buy from them, yes, they simply add the negative equity to the other vehicle sale price, and then they can make more profit.
It would seem you have 3 options: Keep the current vehicle, sell the current vehicle privately (which requires paying-off any negative equity so title can be transferred), or sell the vehicle through an online referral service (KBB or Edmunds) that send your vehicle info to potential buyers in your area (which again requires clearing the negative equity), and you can decide if you want to accept one of their offers.
Of the 2 sell options, private selling can be the most difficult and possibly lengthy process.
I hope we've helped ? We tried ..
@jamesedavis
Thank you. This is helpful. At the moment, I have a negative equity of $1000 if I go by the offer from Carvana.