Personal experience with trading in a relatively new vehicle?

Selling it to a private buyer is almost always the best option if you have the time and patience. I don't, but I still go in knowing what my trade is worth and what I want for it (Kelly Blue Book can help there). Like neoflex noted, certain used cars are in demand and your Subaru dealer should know what those are and hopefully yours is one of them. There was a sign in the Toyota service area asking to buy people's used 4Runners and Sequoias yesterday.

Don't do it unless you read reviews and test drive the new 4Runner a bit. The generation you have is probably one of the best and is rated much higher than the new one from what I have seen. They also need a couple of years to work out the kinks. I'm keeping my wife's '06 until something better comes out, but she doesn't put many miles on it (27K in 5 years!).

 

This actually might be a good time to sell it. I know on the Toyota lots, they don't have any new Prius' coming out of Japan because of the earthquake. There's a large demand for them so the used ones are selling at a premium, often at or close to what a new one sells for. The situation might be similar for your car, giving you a temporary spike in value. If it's made in Japan, you might get more for it.

 

Well I just talked with a dealer, just to see what kind of deal they would offer me for an Access 4x4 Sport AT. Price of the Tacoma MSRP $30209, sell price is $27935. They offered $22000 for trade. I owe less than that but I don't want to take that hit. So it looks like I will hold on to my Subie. Thanks for the help and I will still hang around to drool over all the sweet Tacos on here

 

Got a question, if you have gap insurance does it cover when you trade in a vehicle and dealer gives you less than what its worth or what you owe?

 

No, it just covers it in case of an accident and the insurance payout does not pay off the loan amount. Only works on a complete loss.

 

Ok thanks wasn't sure.

 

Well they upped the offer to $26,734 for the truck and $22,800 for my trade. I am having a real hard time finding a reason not to trade. Any help?

 

The question you need to ask yourself is it worth getting a new truck for $4K more?

 

do it!! make me feel better about the $5k i took in the shorts. haha.

bottom line, can you live with it? i did. i wont do it EVER again. my wife still brings it up.

 

That's the thing, if there was ever a time that I could afford to take a hit financially, it would be now. I really want a truck and I should have just bought it in the first place. If I don't trade now it will be a LONG time before I could get into a new vehicle.
I told the dealer I would have an answer by Monday, so I have sometime to think.

 

Go for it then. By trading it in, you'll save a ton on sales tax. You're paying whatever % sales tax in your area against $4K instead of $26K.

 

what are they trying to get out of you APR wise? and how many years you taking it for...

 

BTW I just traded in my 06 STi with 104k on the clock, wasnt perfect but wasnt trashed, highest anyone offered is 13,500 for it... just due to milage, I only owed 4k on it.. so the rest was a DP on the truck... Lets just say it took a good 8 hours to get them to agree on a price for the truck, for the year range I wanted and with my apr (my credit is excellent yet they still thought 4% was good) I laughed....

in the end i definatly got a good deal.. but I had to fight tooth and nail to get it.... dealers can really suck sometimes.

 

dealers are in the business to make money so what ever they give you for it they will mark it up to...oh lets see...the same price you could sell it for yourself. Don't do the trade thing. You will loose.

 

Carmax buys vehicles.

 

I have a loan at 2.9 for 48 months on my Subie. The dealer said I would get 3.9, and I would probably opt for the 48 month. I am going to pay off the truck in a year or so, but I want my payments lower just encase something were to come up that needed the extra payment.

 

My Legacy is a VERY nice car. But I just want a truck in my heart. My brain is telling me to one thing and my heart is saying another.

 

Fuel economy on the Legacy isn't that much better than a Tacoma. I would much rather have the practicality of a truck over the creature comforts of a car. Then again, I've always owned trucks and find cars to be quite useless, so I may be a little biased.

 

I think my brain is gonna win out. So I am going to keep my car. Here is a picture

 

My picture isn't working,