Changing Car - Trade in, or sell privately? that is the question . . .

LordSutch

Bought a car just last Sept for €10K and now I want to trade it in for a different car which is also €10K, but this (different) dealer wants €6 + my car from me! like my car has dropped six grand in just four months (maybe the current market dictates that it has)? Maybe he's right?

But I dont believe that my car has dropped in value from €10K to €4K since last September, now I do understand that the dealer is doing his job of 'wheeling & dealing' Arthur Daly style, but would I get a better deal selling my car privately? or would it then sit on Carzone (for example) for weeks & months on end?

All advice welcome, not just for me, but for all readers of this thread.

jaffa20

What are the cars?

LordSutch

Wanting to trade in Megane Saloon for Opal Zafira, but the principle applies to all makes. / Trade in, or sell - buy privately?

mark11original

Sounds like a lot of money alright. But it depends on what you are trading and what you are buying. Ya you could put it up on carzone for a while and maybe donedeal, I do think a lot of cars on carzone are overpriced as it's mainly dealers advertising on it and they have additional money added on to the car just in-case they have to take a trade in.
What you are trading and what you are buying?

Vanbis

LordSutch wrote: »

Wanting to trade in Megane Saloon for Opal Zafira, but the principle applies to all makes. / Trade in, or sell - buy privately?

I'd sell private. Dealers drive a hard bargin and more so today with the current climate. They have to get their commison out the deal with everything else. There not going to do business unless they make a decent profit. Your in no rush to sell your car or get the Zafira so try sell it private and see what offers you get.

mickdw

In general,sell private & buy straight is the way to.

More detail of the cars involved please. Someone on here will give an accurate valuation of what they are worth

jaffa20

LordSutch wrote: »

Wanting to trade in Megane Saloon for Opal Zafira, but the principle applies to all makes. / Trade in, or sell - buy privately?

Well, the ideal is to sell privately as you always get more than a trade it. Also, alot more bargains when buying privately. If you are in no rush to buy then that's the best option. Even the money from a private sale will be better value than a trade in+cash.

delly

I'll take a guess and say your car is maybe an '06 or '07 at best. If so then you'll probably get around 6 or 7k depending on how quick you want to sell it, but defo selling privately is the way to go.

As said many times on the forum, the trade in value is a non entity but whats relative is the cost to change and in this case it seems quiet high. There are many reasons why a dealer will give you little allowance on your car, it could be that the Zafira was from a previous trade and the dealer might have a lot of money tied up in it therefore can't afford to give much off, it could also be as simple as having a bad experience with Meganes and rather then saying he doesn't want it, he gives you such a low offer that he hopes you'll decide to buy without the trade in.

mark11original

LordSutch wrote: »

or would it then sit on Carzone (for example) for weeks & months on end?
[/B]

If the price is right when your selling privately you won't have it for months on end. Some people do look for ridiculous money and for that that reason they will be trying to sell there car for months and months. Last October i phoned a guy in Waterford about a car, he was asking for €12000 in a private sale and the car is worth €9000 - 9500. He still has the car for sale today and now he's asking for €10600.

So if you price it well it will sell in no time.

bazz26

OP, it is also possible that the dealer doesn't particularly want your car as a trade in and offered you a high cost to change price to encourage you to decline it.

I presume it is a Megane II, dealers tend to shy away from taking them as trade-ins as they are usually plagued by electrical problems resulting in very little profit to be made from them.

LordSutch

Thank you all for your input, the Renault is an 07' 1.6 16v Megane Dynamique, (petrol) metallic blue, 40.000Kms on the clock, parking sensors, showroom condition, crystal clean inside & out, she's a real beauty, but I now wish to trade her in for an 07' or 08' MPV (diesel), preferably the Zafira, or maybe a Scenic, or whatever . . . .

After reading your posts, I guess its better to sell privately, which means I will miss the 'perfect' Zafira I have my eye on, but I guess there will be others down the line, the dealer must have been stung on the Zafira deal, hence him wanting to screw me (financially/deal wise), so I will have to let that one go

Looking at websites like Done Deal, Carzone, CBG, etc etc.

LordSutch

bazz26 wrote: »

I presume it is a Megane II, dealers tend to shy away from taking them as trade-ins as they are usually plagued by electrical problems resulting in very little profit to be made from them.

Yes good point, and since buying the Megane I have heard stories about the electrical probs, but touch wood we have been blessed 'with a good un' no problems what so ever, mind you, she's only three/four years old.

itarumaa

LordSutch wrote: »

Yes good point, and since buying the Megane I have heard stories about the electrical probs, but touch wood we have been blessed 'with a good un' no problems what so ever, mind you, she's only three/four years old.

But this is actually the main problem here. It does not matter if Megane is good car or not, because the repucation is not that good, so many people avoid the car only based on the cars reputation.

Do you really need a diesel btw? I cannot see much point with your idea of trading unless you really need a bigger diesel car. If your only reason for car change is to save with petrol/diesel costs then the idea is not that great, because you loose so much money trading. Basically you have a car that not many people want to buy and your are looking for car that many wants (08 diesel).

werntonb

LordSutch wrote: »

Bought a car just last Sept for €10K and now I want to trade it in for a different car which is also €10K, but this (different) dealer wants €6 + my car from me! like my car has dropped six grand in just four months (maybe the current market dictates that it has)? Maybe he's right?

But I dont believe that my car has dropped in value from €10K to €4K since last September, now I do understand that the dealer is doing his job of 'wheeling & dealing' Arthur Daly style, but would I get a better deal selling my car privately? or would it then sit on Carzone (for example) for weeks & months on end?

All advice welcome, not just for me, but for all readers of this thread.

If you were ask me, for me I would not trade it I would sell it for cash and just bought new car that was worth for me. :pac:

ardle1

LordSutch wrote: »

Bought a car just last Sept for €10K and now I want to trade it in for a different car which is also €10K, but this (different) dealer wants €6 + my car from me! like my car has dropped six grand in just four months (maybe the current market dictates that it has)? Maybe he's right?

But I dont believe that my car has dropped in value from €10K to €4K since last September, now I do understand that the dealer is doing his job of 'wheeling & dealing' Arthur Daly style, but would I get a better deal selling my car privately? or would it then sit on Carzone (for example) for weeks & months on end?

All advice welcome, not just for me, but for all readers of this thread.

Yeah dont worry nobody believes your car has dropped €6,000 in such a short space of time,, the garage/dealer just wants to make as much profit from the sale of your car as possible,, go private your always gonna get a better price,, and hopefully a couple grand more than the garage offered,, at the same time you keep an eye on all those car selling web sites and maybe you'll grab your'self a bargain.. win win:) I find (most of the time) people who sell private really believe that their car is worth a lot more than the garage has offered,, just like you they know they have a good car for sale,, Good Luck.

paddyp

Dealers generally don't want trade ins they have a hard enough time clearing the stock that they have. So if you want to trade in for your own convenience don't expect them to do you any favours. Also if you turn up with wads of cash and put it on the table you will get a much better deal on that zafira.

werntonb

ardle1 wrote: »

should I sell my car Yeah dont worry nobody believes your car has dropped €6,000 in such a short space of time,, the garage/dealer just wants to make as much profit from the sale of your car as possible,, go private your always gonna get a better price,, and hopefully a couple grand more than the garage offered,, at the same time you keep an eye on all those car selling web sites and maybe you'll grab your'self a bargain.. win win:) I find (most of the time) people who sell private really believe that their car is worth a lot more than the garage has offered,, just like you they know they have a good car for sale,, Good Luck.

what did you end up getting for it?