Trading-In/Selling Outright/Selling to Online Companies - Tell Your Story

[huunvubu]

When I decided that my new vehicle was going to be the new 2022 Maverick Hybrid my current vehicle, the 2015 Honda Fit Ex with 43,800 miles on it, was on borrowed time and I was either going to trade it in (and save 6.25% on sales tax), sell it outright or sell to one of the online companies.

This is my story.

I was not going to be selling the Fit until I had a confirmed build week and a signed "Buyers Order" from the dealership for my Maverick.

In the meantime since I placed my Maverick order on 8/23 I decided to see what my Fit was worth.

The valuations were all over the place.

Kelly Blue Book had the trade-in value from $12,250 to $13,500. The private party sale value was from $13,750 to $15,175

When I was at AutoNation Honda in Lewisville TX to have my state inspection done signs were all over the dealership saying "They wanted to buy My Car" or that is what they implied.

Their initial offer of $10,000 was an insult which I stated. They then countered with $11,000 which I then said was still an insult and then walked out the door. On the way home I got a text from them to come back and they would give me $12,500. So in a matter of 10 minutes their offer went up 25%.

Kelly Blue Book has a link for them to buy your car outright. I tried them but their offer was also insulting at $11,505.

At the AutoNation Ford Frisco TX dealership where I had just signed my "Buyers Order" I asked for them to give a current valuation for trading-in. They only offered $11,750.

At this point it was obvious that trading-in to a dealership was not the way to go in getting the best value.

So I then tried both Carvana and Vroom.

Vroom made the first offer of $15,483 and then Carvana came in with the wow offer of $16,523.

I am retired and my wife works remotely from home we can get by for the 2.5 months until my Maverick gets delivered.

So I accepted the Carvana offer because, besides being the highest, it exceeded the highest KBB private party sale by $1,348 so no point in doing a private party sale with all the hassles that involves.

Today I closed the deal with Carvana for the agreed upon $16,523 price. It took only about 15 minutes and went extremely smooth.

In selling to Carvana I made an additional $4083.62 above the ($11,750 trade-in + 734.38 sales tax saving) from the dealership where my Maverick is being delivered to.

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[atomguy245]

Nice! It definitely pays to shop your car around. Different dealers and companies are looking for different types of cars, so if they aren't that interested, you end up with a low offer.

It is kind of crazy to think that a 6 year old Honda Fit is worth over $16k to a used car company. Who's buying that from Carvana at $19,995??

 

[CLH917]

Good job, it’s a great time to sell a used car. I traded in my 2018 Honda Accord that I had for nearly 4 years and 61,xxx miles for (after trade in amount and 10 percent tax advantage on the Maverick) only $1,900 less than I bought it 4 years ago!

When I checked a few days ago that Accord was on their used car lot for $1,500 more than I paid for it NEW those 4 years ago! HA

 

[huunvubu]

Nice! It definitely pays to shop your car around. Different dealers and companies are looking for different types of cars, so if they aren't that interested, you end up with a low offer.

It is kind of crazy to think that a 6 year old Honda Fit is worth over $16k to a used car company. Who's buying that from Carvana at $19,995??

I actually bought the Fit on 9/22/2014 (2015MY) at $19,025 MSRP. So 7 years 1 month old but that just makes it even crazier.

As for who's buying it I will keep an eye on Carvana to see what they list it for.

EDIT 11/12/2021: It is listed on Carvana's web site for $18,590
https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/2078343

EDIT: It has SOLD

 

[HPR]

Same here! The dealer offered me $10,600 for my 2017 Chevy Sonic with 38,000 miles. Carvana was $15,700!..... $4,000 ish more after the sales tax difference. I was going to do the 48mo financing but that extra $5k made the 36mo loan payment the same! I only paid $12k for it 3 years ago. I recommend Carvana to everyone though, it's a super easy process. I wonder what they would give me for my Mav?

 

[HPR]

I actually bought the Fit on 9/22/2014 (2015MY) at $19,025 MSRP. So 7 years 1 month old but that just makes it even crazier.

As for who's buying it I will keep an eye on Carvana to see what they list it for.

I actually looked for my old car today in a 500 mile radius, didn't see it. Dealers around here are asking $13k, so I'm not sure who is buying a $17k 2017 Sonic.

 

[marpolsdofer]

I hate Carvana and Vroom as a buyer but as a seller you do better or the same with less hassle. They have effectively made it harder and more expensive for people to buy used vehicles. They are buying up everything left and right so there is hardly any private seller.
Dealer always gave insulting low number because they want to sell it for the most amount of money. If you sold it yourself sure you wont be selling it for as much as the dealer would but you would also make more money then the dealer would give you. Now you have companies that will buy it for the same as as a private buyer or more without even test driving it. They turn around a sell for slight less then a new vehicle because people now days are to lazy to look around or fell intimidated.

 

[Thrillhouse]

I leased a 2019 Chevy Trax in October of 2019. Plan was to get a Maverick when the lease ran out in 2022. I checked the payoff and the trade in value was way more. I got a quote from Carvana for $22,900 which was more than the sales price new. Given it was a lease, GM would only allow me to buy it or sell it to a GM dealer. If I bought it and sold it to Carvana, I would need to pay sales tax and go through the hassle of waiting for the title. A GM dealer offered $21,500 for it and I let it go and walked out with over $4,000 in cash. Never thought I would be able to turn a lease in early and walk out with $4,000 in cash. The GM dealer had it less than a week and already sold it. They had to of sold it for about sticker price brand new. Used car market is insane right now.

 

[Big_T]

I sold my Jeep Wrangler to Carmax back in June. They gave me $1200 more than Carvana offered. That was $4k more than I had bought it for 18 months prior and was good enough for me to share our Subaru Outback with the wife for a few months. We're both retired so it's not much of a problem.

 

[giddyup]

I had a great experience with Carvana as well. We had an older Focus that wasn't being used. It sat a while, had a battery drain issue and a couple of slow leakers. Decided to get rid of it back in the spring. Carvana picked it up from my house (in the rain, no less) and I got paid quickly. Basically zero effort on my part, for market price. Would do again if the offer was decent.

 

[HybridOnOrder]

I sold my 2017 Honda HRV for $4k more than I paid for it. I saw it at the dealer that bought it for the same price they gave me. So, I don't know what the point is? Maybe upselling warranties?
I found out after the fact, that those offers from Edmunds, Kelly Blue book, etc are actually negotiable. I didn't know that. But, I despise that stuff anyway.

The dealer that bought my car is around the corner from my house and had a sign, saying, 'we pay $1000 over CarMax offer.' And, they did. Simple. Easy.
Great, because I walked home.

I am still walking and I ordered a hybrid, so I'm now in a 'situation'.
Good thing I work from home and have most things within walking/biking distance.
But hearing December and then January, when you are car-less is just. Ugh.

 

[Darnon]

Yeah, I hope it holds out a while longer, too. CarMax has so far been giving me the highest buy value for my Fusion. I'm holding out at least until I get scheduled though I think.

 

[MikeyCNY]

It is kind of crazy to think that a 6 year old Honda Fit is worth over $16k to a used car company. Who's buying that from Carvana at $19,995??

My 2015 Subaru Crosstrek is estimated between $17K-$20K for less than 50,000 miles. Kelly Blue Book was the highest, CarMax was around $17K, I think Carvana was around 18. Dealer offered me $16.1K - think I may try to negotiate it up or sell on my end.

 

[TSAINTS1115]

I sold my 2014 F150 XLT to CarMax a week ago for $1000 more than I paid for it two years ago. In hindsight I wish I wold have taken Carvana's offer mid summer that was $3000 higher yet but I didn't know what I wanted to buy in it's place.

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