Trade In Time: When should you?

BinaryData · Sep 16, 2019

Hey Guys,

To the point;

Here's my question; At what point is it time to trade in?

ScLeCo · Sep 16, 2019

Never.
You'll almost always do better selling it yourself.
Even if the dealership gives you a "GREAT" price on your trade in you can bet your ass they're making up for it somewhere else.
Oh and always have your financing squared away before setting foot on a dealership lot...
Google four square negotiation technique.

JoeCo · Sep 17, 2019

ScLeCo said:
Never.
You'll almost always do better selling it yourself.

Have to take into account if the state you live in has trade in tax credit as well. If your state does have that, and your trade is worth a decent amount of money it can be worth it to trade in vs selling privately.

BinaryData · Sep 17, 2019

Good to know. My trucks been having problems left and right. I'm wondering what the hell the previous owners did. I mean, I totally get it. It's got a 5.7 Hemi in it, someones going to hotrod it around damn, I've gotten more errors this week, and from the looks of it, it'll be about $2,000 is Warranty doesn't cover it.

I've been looking at 3500s for awhile, I've had to use my down payment money to fix my current truck, and the last $3,000 I've been saving is going towards this new TCC Circuit/ Open Error, if warranty doesn't cover it.

What about buying vehicles in other states? I've lost faith in the dealerships in my area. This is the second vehicle I've been "screwed" on. Not to mention, the price difference in trucks is insane. Standard 3500 with 50k miles on it in WA State is still 55k - 66k for it, but East coast, it's around 40k for it. Guess I don't know enough and need to deep-dive it.

indept · Sep 17, 2019

The best time to trade it in is 1 week before the cam / lifters **** the bed...

As for selling yourself check the trade in vs private sale price. As far as I'm concerned it's not worth the hassle of selling if it's less than a thousand bucks difference. When I bought my Ram, I sold my Grand Cherokee and while the guy who eventually bought it was driving it, the right front caliper seized. So in the end I replaced both front calipers, new brakes & rotors to finish the sale so my profit over trade in was only a few hundred bucks and a LOT of hassle.

JoeCo · Sep 17, 2019

BinaryData said:
Good to know. My trucks been having problems left and right. I'm wondering what the hell the previous owners did. I mean, I totally get it. It's got a 5.7 Hemi in it, someones going to hotrod it around damn, I've gotten more errors this week, and from the looks of it, it'll be about $2,000 is Warranty doesn't cover it.

I've been looking at 3500s for awhile, I've had to use my down payment money to fix my current truck, and the last $3,000 I've been saving is going towards this new TCC Circuit/ Open Error, if warranty doesn't cover it.

What about buying vehicles in other states? I've lost faith in the dealerships in my area. This is the second vehicle I've been "screwed" on. Not to mention, the price difference in trucks is insane. Standard 3500 with 50k miles on it in WA State is still 55k - 66k for it, but East coast, it's around 40k for it. Guess I don't know enough and need to deep-dive it.

Yikes that's a lot of money to keep dumping into something...my situation is a little different but once my last truck was going to need something more than my payment, it was gone. Those amounts in the thousands I would be running away from it, unless you have some warranty that will cover those things obviously. Even so, major and expensive repairs like that would be pushing me into getting rid of it.

In terms of buying out of state, it's what I have done with nearly every truck I've bought. Being in NY, it's better to drive down to Maryland or Virginia for vehicles cause up here you will see rust somewhere after one winter. I also search for very specific and hard to find trucks, so I don't go out seeking a good dealer, just the right truck. In terms of the cheaper east coast trucks, just be mindful of where they have been used and do your homework on the truck and it's history (carfax/buildsheet etc). Obviously I'd recommend staying away from trucks used or registered in the Northeast, stuff starting in Maryland and further south should be in better shape. If you don't already have it, here's a link to the build sheet website. Just need to delete the vin # out of the address and copy/paste the new vin# of a truck you're looking at online in, and it will give you the buildsheet and every option the truck was built with.

https://www.dodge.com/webselfservice/BuildSheetServlet?vin=1C6RR7PT9HS746749

I'd also look thoroughly through the carfax history for maintenance/recalls done, and check everywhere the vehicle has been registered by the owner. Also, if you're looking at newer trucks that still have factory warranty remaining, look for trucks that are from Canada. A ton of them make their way over the border and generally don't have their remaining warranties honored. You can find that info on the build sheet, towards the end of the standard equipment I believe, right before the optional equipment list starts. Also, on the carfax it would show that it was registered at some point by the original owner in Canada.

indept said:
The best time to trade it in is 1 week before the cam / lifters **** the bed...

As for selling yourself check the trade in vs private sale price. As far as I'm concerned it's not worth the hassle of selling if it's less than a thousand bucks difference. When I bought my Ram, I sold my Grand Cherokee and while the guy who eventually bought it was driving it, the right front caliper seized. So in the end I replaced both front calipers, new brakes & rotors to finish the sale so my profit over trade in was only a few hundred bucks and a LOT of hassle.

Great point, definitely forgot about that aspect of selling privately as well.

Not to mention, getting a sale timed up with the time you trade in is difficult. Unless you don't need those funds for a down payment, but otherwise you'd have to sell it first and then find your new truck. In our state with the sales tax trade in credit, I paid taxes on around 14k rather than 36k (cost of truck) due to getting 22k for my trade in. That's somewhere around a $1700-1800 difference with our sales tax, and factor in that I got close to private party value on the trade anyways, so I traded.

Also, I didn't have to worry about the timing working out well, and that dealer took a truck with problems off my hands that I didn't feel bad about or have to fix after the fact. Given the OP's, situation, I'd feel better about dumping it off on a dealer anyway.

Scottly · Sep 17, 2019

I trade them in....when the new smell goes away.

SOKY_RAM · Sep 17, 2019

I trade mine whenever I run out of ideas for Mods. You're welcome whoever you are that keeps getting my old vehicles.

Steve Cloud · Sep 17, 2019

When your vehicle starts costing more to keep going than it would to make a payment, that's a pretty good indicator for me. Yeah, it's possible that you might gain a bit of money by selling it yourself, but then you have to deal with tire kickers, meeting people to try and sell it, and then deal with the paperwork of it all. It's possible to get a fair deal on a trade. You just need to know a realistic value for your trade, and make sure the dealership you work with is honest and up front with the numbers. Used to work in the car business. Numbers are just numbers. If you can walk away with a deal that you're happy with, and don't have to deal with all the nonsense involved with selling a vehicle privately, that's a win in my book. Obviously depends on the situation and the vehicle, but I generally just trade these days.

mtofell · Sep 17, 2019

When the warranty runs out! Wait, mine has the lifetime warranty so I guess I'm in it for the long haul.

Realistically, everyone is different with their expectations and financial position so it's hard to say. I personally have zero interest in driving one of these newer high-tech trucks without a warranty. As I type this my truck is in the dealer getting $2200 worth of manifolds replaced (2014 with 90K miles). My truck is a business write-off so I'd rather pay a little more in the form of extended warranty and buying/selling every few years so I have predictable vehicle expenses.

8732cuts · Sep 17, 2019

Trade mine when the Warranty is almost up

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Punishher7 · Sep 17, 2019

BinaryData said:
Good to know. My trucks been having problems left and right. I'm wondering what the hell the previous owners did. I mean, I totally get it. It's got a 5.7 Hemi in it, someones going to hotrod it around damn, I've gotten more errors this week, and from the looks of it, it'll be about $2,000 is Warranty doesn't cover it.

I've been looking at 3500s for awhile, I've had to use my down payment money to fix my current truck, and the last $3,000 I've been saving is going towards this new TCC Circuit/ Open Error, if warranty doesn't cover it.

What about buying vehicles in other states? I've lost faith in the dealerships in my area. This is the second vehicle I've been "screwed" on. Not to mention, the price difference in trucks is insane. Standard 3500 with 50k miles on it in WA State is still 55k - 66k for it, but East coast, it's around 40k for it. Guess I don't know enough and need to deep-dive it.

Depending where you’re at in WA, look at Dave Smith or Dennis Dillon, both located in ID. I’ve bought two trucks at Dave Smith over the years and have been extremely pleased with the deals.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

mtofell · Sep 17, 2019

Punishher7 said:
Depending where you’re at in WA, look at Dave Smith or Dennis Dillon, both located in ID. I’ve bought two trucks at Dave Smith over the years and have been extremely pleased with the deals.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, Smith and Dillon are kind of the barometer for pricing. I'm in Oregon and probably a 6-8 hour drive and I'd likely buy from one of them. The real beauty is when ordering you can get their usual % off MSRP deal (at least Dillon advertises this - not sure about Smith). This is pretty sweet since finding your "perfect" truck on a lot is pretty unlikely.

As a funny side note, I have a friend named Dave Smith who just bought from Dave Smith. They should have given him something..... a hat, a picture with Dave Smith.... something!! I suppose it is a pretty common name.

RLJ10X · Sep 17, 2019

When they get to be about 12 years old, I'm usually tired of them. Wasn't a damn thing wrong with my old 99 Dakota. No rust, no rattles. I sold it on Craigslist. I bought the new one when I could pay cash for the 2011 (that I have now).

The 2011 is holding up even better than my old 99, and I'm still happy with my "new" truck.

BWL · Sep 18, 2019

RLJ10X said:
When they get to be about 12 years old, I'm usually tired of them. Wasn't a damn thing wrong with my old 99 Dakota. No rust, no rattles. I sold it on Craigslist. I bought the new one when I could pay cash for the 2011 (that I have now).

The 2011 is holding up even better than my old 99, and I'm still happy with my "new" truck.

I sold my 2011 in the spring with 274,000 km on it and still in great condition. I really shouldn't have. It was the most reliable truck I've ever owned.

Punishher7 · Sep 18, 2019

RLJ10X said:
When they get to be about 12 years old, I'm usually tired of them.

Good on ya for that! I’m usually tired of mine after 12 months... I’m making a conscious effort to keep this one a long time though!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

BinaryData · Sep 18, 2019

indept said:
The best time to trade it in is 1 week before the cam / lifters **** the bed...

As for selling yourself check the trade in vs private sale price. As far as I'm concerned it's not worth the hassle of selling if it's less than a thousand bucks difference. When I bought my Ram, I sold my Grand Cherokee and while the guy who eventually bought it was driving it, the right front caliper seized. So in the end I replaced both front calipers, new brakes & rotors to finish the sale so my profit over trade in was only a few hundred bucks and a LOT of hassle.

My buddy Mikey did that, traded in his 2012 DuraMax, not 100% sure on the year. But a week after he traded it in, he found out that an entire bank of injectors went out. Dodge a HUGE bullet that day. He bought a WRX because his g/f was tired of having to hop in and out of his truck, lol.

JoeCo said:
Yikes that's a lot of money to keep dumping into something...my situation is a little different but once my last truck was going to need something more than my payment, it was gone. Those amounts in the thousands I would be running away from it, unless you have some warranty that will cover those things obviously. Even so, major and expensive repairs like that would be pushing me into getting rid of it.

In terms of buying out of state, it's what I have done with nearly every truck I've bought. Being in NY, it's better to drive down to Maryland or Virginia for vehicles cause up here you will see rust somewhere after one winter. I also search for very specific and hard to find trucks, so I don't go out seeking a good dealer, just the right truck. In terms of the cheaper east coast trucks, just be mindful of where they have been used and do your homework on the truck and it's history (carfax/buildsheet etc). Obviously I'd recommend staying away from trucks used or registered in the Northeast, stuff starting in Maryland and further south should be in better shape. If you don't already have it, here's a link to the build sheet website. Just need to delete the vin # out of the address and copy/paste the new vin# of a truck you're looking at online in, and it will give you the buildsheet and every option the truck was built with.

https://www.dodge.com/webselfservice/BuildSheetServlet?vin=1C6RR7PT9HS746749

I'd also look thoroughly through the carfax history for maintenance/recalls done, and check everywhere the vehicle has been registered by the owner. Also, if you're looking at newer trucks that still have factory warranty remaining, look for trucks that are from Canada. A ton of them make their way over the border and generally don't have their remaining warranties honored. You can find that info on the build sheet, towards the end of the standard equipment I believe, right before the optional equipment list starts. Also, on the carfax it would show that it was registered at some point by the original owner in Canada.

Great point, definitely forgot about that aspect of selling privately as well.

Not to mention, getting a sale timed up with the time you trade in is difficult. Unless you don't need those funds for a down payment, but otherwise you'd have to sell it first and then find your new truck. In our state with the sales tax trade in credit, I paid taxes on around 14k rather than 36k (cost of truck) due to getting 22k for my trade in. That's somewhere around a $1700-1800 difference with our sales tax, and factor in that I got close to private party value on the trade anyways, so I traded.

Also, I didn't have to worry about the timing working out well, and that dealer took a truck with problems off my hands that I didn't feel bad about or have to fix after the fact. Given the OP's, situation, I'd feel better about dumping it off on a dealer anyway.

This is some awesome advice, thank you. I did the checking on fluids, fluids are all good. Maybe a quart low on the oil but still good. After talking to a lifetime Dodge owner, he told me to take my truck into the shop asap.

Punishher7 said:
Depending where you’re at in WA, look at Dave Smith or Dennis Dillon, both located in ID. I’ve bought two trucks at Dave Smith over the years and have been extremely pleased with the deals.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, I'm from Central, Washington. Used to live in East Wenatchee, but I moved South to work for Amazon. I see Dave Smith all over the place, hell I saw someone with Texas plates and a Dave Smith License Plate cover.

mtofell said:
Yeah, Smith and Dillon are kind of the barometer for pricing. I'm in Oregon and probably a 6-8 hour drive and I'd likely buy from one of them. The real beauty is when ordering you can get their usual % off MSRP deal (at least Dillon advertises this - not sure about Smith). This is pretty sweet since finding your "perfect" truck on a lot is pretty unlikely.

As a funny side note, I have a friend named Dave Smith who just bought from Dave Smith. They should have given him something..... a hat, a picture with Dave Smith.... something!! I suppose it is a pretty common name.

Dang, that's funny. I'll check into both of them tonight.

I do have extended warranty, I've got about 5k miles left on it. However, with the shenanigans they just pulled me a couple weeks back, kind of disappointed with it. How is a Short-Runner Valve + Wiring harness "normal wear and tear", and they don't cover electrical problems. If my ECU goes out, then it's on me.

CamperMike · Sep 18, 2019

JoeCo said:
Have to take into account if the state you live in has trade in tax credit as well. If your state does have that, and your trade is worth a decent amount of money it can be worth it to trade in vs selling privately.

I'll trade in a vehicle if it's worth say $10k or more because many people would need a loan to buy it so it's harder to sell privately. My old van I'm selling myself since it's only worth around $5000.

BigRed4x4 · Sep 19, 2019

Right about now.

Almost $3k into since the warranty expired and it's back in the shop. Looking at Silverado's

reefer451 · Sep 19, 2019

Scottly said:
I trade them in....when the new smell goes away.

Trade In Time: When should you?

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Embrace the skeptisism

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Member

Similar threads

Forum statistics

Share this page