Advice on Trade in/Cash Price & Family Politics!

ATTY

Hello,

I am looking for some advice, (sorry it's a little bit long winded).

I am in a situation where I have been offered a good trade in price for my fairly old car but in the past few weeks I was considering a different car but I was only getting €1,000 on the trade in so a relative said they might buy my car for that and pay for the work that needs to be done on it but didn't give me a definite answer.

So when I got the good deal this week I was all set just to trade the car in, but now family are demanding that I see how much I would get for cash and should still sell the car to the relative.

The car I am buying was advertised with the 2k scrappage taken off, so I was getting another 2k off on top of that. But one of the family members is insisting that I go back and ask for the cash price because I will probably get another 500-600 off which would still make the car affordable for the relative.

I suppose what I really want to know is how this 2k scrappage works in relation to cash prices. The last time I bought a car they just told you the price.
Am I likely to get more off with cash??

Thanks for your help.

swanvill

I suspect probably not. The easiest thing is to call the salesperson in the garage and asking him to quote you for both scenarios

freddieot

'Unless I'm mistaken, a scrappage deal is just that. You give them your car and they scrap it and claim the amount back from Uncle Paddy. They pass that amount on to you against the price of the new car as well as any other discount they may offer you.

Therefore, no car to scrap = no scrappage deal (just a cash discount, not both).

On another note, I would avoid selling to a relative. You are already getting a degree of grief so think about what happens when something, anything, goes wrong with that car either now or in the future...

I speak from experience on this one. Had it happen to me twice over the years. Last time, my cousin was to buy my Mondeo. the way I handled it was like this :-

I did a deal with the Garage for the new car and we agreed both a trade-in price and a cash price. In my case the cash price was about 400 better than a trade-in. You will need to see which way it works for you, given the scrappage issue.

To make a long story shorter, my cousin took it right beyond the wire (every week he was getting the money finalised etc. ). I traded-in the car when the new one arrived. He eventually ended up buying it directly from the dealer, two months later after I traded it in. That messing cost him another 250 beyond what I had been asking of course.

In the two years he had it after that, clutch went and exhaust went. He bitched to me about it several times but I reminded him he had not actually bought it from me etc.

bazz26

My advise is never sell a car to a relative or friend. It nearly always ends in more grief than it's worth. You will never hear the end of it when things go wrong.

colm_mcm

Yep, basically lie your way out of it with your family and trade the car in.

As always though, look at the cost to change vs similar cars. They might have a particularly overpriced car and giving you makey-uppey discounts.

ATTY

Thanks for your replies.

I know the dangers of selling to relatives which is why I am reluctant to sell it for more than 1,000 as I think there is at least 200-300 worth of work needed. I thought if I could general idea of how much the difference is between cash and a trade in I could try to fob them off by saying it wasn't worth it.

I have the cheque ready and was hoping to get the car tomorrow and was looking forward to it but this will delay it because I'll have to drop it into their mechanic before they decide. So I'm hoping to try and dissuade them tonight.

freddieot

Keep in mind that no matter what you sell it for, to a relative, they will always think you've cheated them if ANYTHING goes wrong with it.

Hopefully their mechanic will put them off.

_Kaiser_

If you bought and paid for the car - then your car, your decision IMO


Unless the relative is willing to match what you are being offered by the dealer AND accept that it's sold as seen, then tough luck for them.

But that's me