Smoke Wagon

maybe it varies from dealer to dealer or from state to state. I've traded in 3 cars in the past...all were going towards USED car purchases...none were inspected. We negotiated a price for my trade, and I cleaned it out and left.

One car had a hi-flow catalytic converter. Apparently, this was illegal at the time of trade in, but not at the time I installed it. The salesman called me to ask if I had any paperwork to support it's "50 state legal" status, which I did not. He told me they had to spend about $375 to put a stock cat back in...but this was after my trade-in/sales deal, so he never once insinuated that I was responsible.

I dont disagree with you...I just know what did NOT happen to any of my trade ins.

price was negotiated prior to trade in, and no appraisal was required.

while I would not buy a car without first checking it out, many dealers will.

typically, a salesman doesnt get involved in trade-ins, as it isnt his job to know used car trade in values. The finance manager will often ask about the trade-in to gather a value, but any time a dealer asks to 'borrow" your trade in to perform any mechanical work without a work order, they are violating a BAR statute.

if a dealer asks to borrow your car to assess trade in value, question it politely. They may be trying to bargain your car's value DOWN to increase profit.

trade in value is like retail value...all are assumed to be in proper mechanical condition.

I wouldnt let a dealer touch my trade in prior to an agreed upon price. It opens the door to their opportunity to take advantage of consumers who are not mechanically knowledgable about their car.

Think about if a lady drives her 2001 Buick in as a trade in, knowing nothing more than its model and mileage. The dealer could take it in the shop, damage something on accident, then take her and show her "your _____ appears to be severely damaged. We can only offer you $____ for your car. The lady might adjust her price, and the dealer would profit from her lack of knowledge.


Perhaps it varies from state to state. If I go to trade a car in, and they want to borrow it, I will say no. if they dont like it, they wont sell me a car.


lastly...NEVER answer the question about a trade in PRIOR to negotiating a bottom line price for the car you are buying. If they ask "do you have a trade in?"...simply answer "I dont know yet. Lets work out the price of the car I am buying, then we can discuss the car I might be selling."

Or...say NO. then, when you have a price, in writing, then you can ask how much they will pay you for your trade in. But this step must be performed PRIOR to you signing anything, or agreeing to buy the car. get the price. get your price...THEN...if you are satisfied...discuss trade ins.

this falls true for financing as well. if they ask if you plan to finance, just tell them that it depends on the price of the car.

cash buyers hold all the cards...even if they never intend to pay cash.

c2vette

Excellent thread for discussing our sales experiences, so kudos to sunny... for starting this. As I said we have a great small town local dealer and I have a long history with them, customers love 'em and they get very high ratings on surveys (I think perfect in fact). Straight out of college, I had a couple of roommates that were car salesmen (porsche, bmw, ferrari) and they were straight up guys but they also had quite a few stories about not so great folks at other dealerships. My number one beef is sales guys that know less about the cars than the customers, let's face it, there is a whole lot of downtime when you are a car salesmen, why the heck don't those guys spend that time learning all the technical specs of everything they sell? When I was 18 I worked at a motorcycle dealership (BSA, Triumph, Honda) and I knew every spec on every bike, and I guarantee the customers appreciated that. On the sales side, I know that many folks absolutely hate being shuttled to high profit extended warranty pitches, questionable lease programs, etc. The dealerships have the ability to make a new car sale a great experience, or to make it something buyers dread. I think in the challenging times ahead the car companies would benefit very well by coming down hard on the dealerships that are not 100% customer oriented and force them to straighten up or shut them down. When you have people saying buying a new car is one of their worst experiences, you know something needs to be fixed (with their dealer).

Smoke Wagon

very well put. I agree 100%.

I used to dread going to dealerships....I have to say though, that the younger salesmen/saleswomen seem to be schooled better than the seasoned veterans.

when a sharp dressed young man comes with a smile, and open ears, and appears excited and nervous, THAT's who i want to work with. When a guy who looks like he's spent 25+ years pacing the parking lots comes after me, and i mean comes after me like a shark, I tend to get defensive. But the seasoned veteran sells...and is probably very good at upselling...so they keep him around. Customers hate the experience...but the big man in the back office loves it.

I will say this...customer service at car dealerships really seems to have changed in the past few years. My salesman was awesome. He kept his mouth shut except to answer questions, and never once asked me 'so, do we have a deal?"...granted, my GF was with me, and she works in the parts department at the same dealer, so he recognized her...but I still believe his "tactics" were well-played.