Trading in modded truck - tell all or no?

All of them. They aren't gonna give you a dime they don't have to. But when THEY sell it...you best bet they're gonna jack that price up.

Even on a private sale, you'd MAYBE recoup a dime on the dollar, unless you sell it to an "oVeRlAnD" watched-too-many-OB-videos type that wants to buy a turn key truck...

 

Of course you are technically correct for most vehicle purchases. Regardless of the rhetoric around here, even Tacoma's depreciate.

But why make the purchase worse with a trade?

One buying exception would be the fully depreciated unit that's been well maintained and has lots of life yet. Those are pretty hard to score though.

 

Sounds like salesman talk. Were his lips moving? Yep, lying.

 

Ah, salesmen. I got pretty much jumped by a salesman as I was getting out of my truck at the dealer to pick up parts, "Are you ready to trade up to a real Off-Road ready truck; the 2019 TRD Pro Tacoma!?"

I looked at him, looked at my built 2010 on 33's, snorkel ARB enough LED lighting to be considered a weapon in some countries and just chuckled and shook my head on my way to my parts buddies desk.

 

Aside from a vehicle being a depreciating asset, sometimes it is financially beneficial to trade. If the private sale is only a couple Grand more than a trade then depending on the dollar amount it's better to trade since you won't pay sales tax on the trade amount towards the new vehicle. You gotta look at all options and be able to bargain with the dealer to get the right trade amount for your vehicle... And right purchase price for your new vehicle.

I have sold vehicles privately and traded in. It all depends on how the dollars work for a particular deal.

 

Half the service techs that look over vehicles at dealerships couldn't tell their ass from a hole in the ground. Unless you get the crusty old service tech (said lovingly), then he may notice.

They aren't gonna pay you anything for your mods regardless.

 

Had the same thing happen to me last week. One of the other sales guys almost laughed him out of the room.

 

last salesman I dealt with couldn't drive a manual

 

Once your old truck goes to their reconditioning dept the mechanic (s) will notice the mods and will either replace back to stock or leave alone

Now being its s major brake mod the mechanics and or the shop foreman will have to return the brake system back to stock specs . This due to the insurance and reselling to another customer

 

The ones at my dealership don't even know that 3rd gens had (have?) a manual option.

For shits and giggles one time I got jumped and I actually had some time to kill I was going to try to test drive a minivan with a bed as long as it had the 6 speed.

They don't make them with manual trans.

Uh, yeah they do.

Well maybe back in the 80's sure but auto is king now.

My 2010 is a manual.

Not it's not.

Points at the clutch pedal.

Uhh... That's not stock.

Okay buddy man bro dingo sure...

 

I've got a friend who works as a mechanic at a Toyota dealership as a vehicle reconditioning tech . He's shown me the items he pulled off modded vehicles and was allowed to keep them

 

Don't trade it in! When I bought my 3rd gen, the dealer was only going to give me 6k for my low mile built DCSB 1st gen. Sold it for 16k in two weeks.
When I went and bought my 2nd gen, I had another 1st gen. Dealer offered me $3400. It took 3 weeks and I sold it for 12k.

 

Buyer beware when buying used....

 

Like everyone else has already said, pull the mods before you trade in the truck. This is one reason I usually hold on to everything stock I remove. Chances are you are going to get more for a stock truck than a modded one, as they are typically easier to sell.

When I buy used vehicles, I will rarely even look at a vehicle with visible mods. No offense but I wouldn't want to buy a truck that some of the jokers on here have had their hands on

Stock (preferably with good records) wins out when buying used every time!

 

When we traded in our 05 I took all my stuff off that I could, the dealer told me it was going straight to auction - all it needed was to be able to start and have tires. I hope one of the techs swapped off the ko2s before it got picked up..

 

This is largely dependent on location and vehicle and the mods. I got the same amount of money for my Tacoma with nothing on it than with the prinsu, soft topper and the SCS wheels. I took it all with me, sold it all and came out ahead. Was a great deal.


Now my big jacked up bro dozers are completely different.

 

I agree that's true if you know what the actual trade allowance is. Most folks don't. There are only two ways I know to tell. Maybe there are more?

1) you have a personal relationship with your seller, and they give you real numbers of what you're working with.

2) you do all your deal and get a final purchase price, and you brought either cash or your own financing (not tangled up in their finance shenanigans). THEN you bring in your trade, and then you learn the real trade in number.

I've bought a few cars from folks sharp enough to do #2 on their own. Paid them that real trade number + the tax benefit if they'd traded.

They didn't lose a dime. I got a good buy. They were happy because they were so disappointed to learn the 'real' trade value they didn't want the dealer to have it.

There are 3 shells and one pea the dealer holds. The pea is the real price you are paying. The only way you know is to take the other two shells off the table, dealer financing and trade in.

 

Don't ask, don't tell. Even if you point out something of value they're just going to turn it around on you and say "we want stock vehicles, most buyer's don't want a roof rack/aftermarket stereo/weathertech mats or whatever". Its all a game to them... they're going to beat you up to justify a lower price anyway. Don't give them ammunition.

 

I take all my mods of cars I trade in. Everything from upgraded brakes to headlights. I just sell to friends or keep for next vehicle. Last time I traded in my wife’s Subaru Outback, it had no headlight or fog light bulbs in it! They could give a sh*t less. My experience has been just detail it and don’t give them the first offer. Let it marinate in their brain for a couple days and they always call back with a better offer on trade in. Insurance is a different ballgame. I got a lot of extra money when they totaled my last truck out.

 

I always make notes of such things in the owners manual back in the notes section.

The dealer won’t see it but likely the new owner will. It’s still doing the right thing IMO.