Selling a Car vs Trade in ?

LMattttttty on 29/12/2021 - 16:58
Last edited 30/12/2021 - 12:06 by 1 other user

Does anyone have experience selling a car to a car yard outright?

Background : My old car, a 2005 Astra is becoming a hassle to own, increasing maintenance costs and recent breakdowns, it has become unreliable.

I am looking at buying a new car, my previous experience trading in a car was that the yard paid me $500 for my old car to take it off my hands as scrap, although in the current market I am assuming they would be into fixing it up to resell.

I am fully expecting them to offer me $500 for the Astra, but am wondering if it's worth shopping it around to second hand dealers to see if it's worth more.

*Before you ask, I have considered selling it on Gumtree, but to be honest I hate haggling with randoms and I don't want someone trying to return it!

Automotive

Comments

  • spackbace on 29/12/2021 - 17:01
    +9

    17yo Astra is worth $500. Driving around won't make you much more than that

    • Gronk on 29/12/2021 - 17:19
      +2

      ^^^^ What he said….

      Looking at carsales the value could be anywhere between $500 and $5000 depending on condition and maintenance history, considering you've mentioned reliability issues let's assume the lower end of that scale.

      Let's say you got lucky and found someone willing to pay $1500 for your vehicle, you'll need to provide a roadworthy certificate (RWC) in order to transfer title to the new owner and the cost of the roadworthy (along with any required repair work) would be deducted from the sale price.

      You could get around this by selling un-registered, but by this point we've come full circle and you're better off just selling to the dealer for $500 and getting on with your life.

    • Ade99 on 30/12/2021 - 08:22
      +1

      If it has a RWC, runs with some tax on it will get you at least $1500 now - a-days.

      • spackbace on 30/12/2021 - 10:21

        Not for a trade

  • pegaxs on 29/12/2021 - 17:13
    +11

    For an old, shitbox Astra, I am surprised they are not charging you an extra $500 to dispose of it on your behalf. If you are being offered $500 for a problem Astra, take it quickly before they change their minds.

  • brad1-8tsi on 29/12/2021 - 17:24
    +2

    They will offer you a wholesale price.

    At least when you trade-in they pull a bit out of the other cars profit to make you feel better about what they are offering.

    When you sell privately you put on the receipt:

    "Sold as-is, with all faults (if any). The car cannot be returned for a refund under any circumstances."

  • mskeggs on 29/12/2021 - 17:31

    Any generosity in trade in is a discount you could have off the sale price, there isn't any magic here.
    If your time is worth less than $100 an hour, you're usually best advised to sell privately and negotiate harder on the sale price.

    If you don't care about $300 or $400, and want a simple life, sure trade it in, the dealer will be happy.

    • Ade99 on 30/12/2021 - 08:24
      +1

      Trade in price is irrelevant. The price to exchange is the number to look at.

  • freefall101 on 29/12/2021 - 17:55

    I am fully expecting them to offer me $500 for the Astra

    Why are you expecting this? The car market is extremely tight and trade ins are usually factored into the price. The previous time was probably just a $500 discount you could haggle them down anyway, this time you might be lucky they take it off your hands for you.

    Fixing up an old Astra with issues isn't going to be high on their priority list. Most car yards just do a detailing and put it out in the lot, actually repairing an old car is very expensive and usually a passion of love, not profit.

    • spackbace on 29/12/2021 - 18:01

      and trade ins are usually factored into the price

      No they're not… The price is the price, if you want to trade in, you get what it's worth. Sure, dealers will likely accept an offer and show you more for your trade-in, while actually taking money off the purchase price of the car in the back-end, but that's only after negotiation

      • freefall101 on 29/12/2021 - 18:11

        Trade in price is part of the negotiation, or at least it should be.

        It's why dealers always ask upfront whether you're trading something in, because they'll know they can't go as low on the price. Just watch how pissed off a dealer gets if you tell them after you negotiate the price what you'll get for a trade in, because usually it's nothing (unless it's a car actually worth something, which OP's isn't).

        Right now, why pay someone $500 to take their old banger worth nothing? In the current market they can just sell the car to someone else and not deal with the hassle of a trade in. There's no guarantee that previous trade in value will still apply now because the market is different.

        • spackbace on 29/12/2021 - 18:16
          +3

          A bunky is worth $500 to a wholesaler all day long, it's just its market price unless something is really wrong with it, then it could be worth $100 or even no commercial value

          Yes, I've seen valuations with "ncv" written on them. It's rare, but it's the dealer not finding any buyer for it, not even at scrap metal pricing.

          Even after negotiation, if you 'suddenly' announce a trade in, we'll give you the trade in price of what it's worth (or less)… If you want more for it, we'll just let you walk out

          • MS Paint on 29/12/2021 - 18:48

            @spackbace:

            ncv

            Needle control valve?

            • spackbace on 29/12/2021 - 18:55

              @MS Paint:

              no commercial value

            • meowsers on 29/12/2021 - 20:07

              @MS Paint: New Century Version.

              You see, most dealers are very religious, and just like the NCV are "aimed at young readers and those with low reading skills/limited vocabulary in English"

              Are you familiar with the Ferengi?

  • Mokr on 29/12/2021 - 18:10

    A 2010 Honda is worth around 5 K.

    Five year depreciation 1k?

    • spackbace on 29/12/2021 - 18:17
      +5

      Did you just compare a Honda and an Astra…?

    • dcep on 30/12/2021 - 02:54

      even 1999 civic worth more than 1k

  • Hithere on 29/12/2021 - 19:25
    +3

    wondering if it's worth shopping it around to second hand dealers to see if it's worth more.

    Forget the trade in figure, ask what the change over figure is.

    • pegaxs on 29/12/2021 - 20:29
      +4

      This. I don't know why people focus on their trade in price. I always tell the dealer; "I dont care about what you offer for my car, I am only here to talk my out of pocket." What my change over will be is all I care about.

  • Jugganautx on 29/12/2021 - 19:27

    I got offered 1k for my 2008 Kia rio with 140,000km back in 2019.

    I don't think they'd even touch the astra in this climate.

  • pharkurnell on 29/12/2021 - 20:45

    How much do you think its worth?

    Ex was offered 1000 by 4 different dealers on a new ASX for mid 2000's very clean not breaking down daily mazda 3 with 130,000klms on it

  • Euphemistic on 29/12/2021 - 23:45
    +1

    You have options.
    1. Trade it in and cop the $ loss
    2. Sell it for scrap and expect very little.
    3. Sell it unreg after you cancel rego (low $)
    4. Sell it privately gumtree or faceache. List it low, ignore lowballers accept $1-1.5k. Locally it seems there’s nothing registered for sale under about $2k. If in Vic you’ll need a roadworthy to transfer rego. You could make the buyer responsible, or actually get one if the car is close to roadworthy. A broken car won’t pass, but an unreliable one might make it through if it’s just electronic gremlins or similar.

    Ultimately I’d probably deal with the headaches of gumtree and collect a little extra cash.

  • Rayzorback on 30/12/2021 - 11:54

    They will give you $500 trade value to dispose of the shot box money pit…. Easy and convenient.

    Or

    Go through hassle of negotiating low ballers that will offer $300 scrap or parts and all the associated crap that comes with private sales

    Trade away dude

  • MontyMacaw on 30/12/2021 - 12:43

    Sounds like you will step up to the guillotine and calmly place your head under the blade. So just do it and move on.

  • OzHunterNSW on 30/12/2021 - 14:15

    Look, your car is worthless….. trade it in and just get rid of it. At least you may get a tank of fuel out of it

  • LFO on 30/12/2021 - 14:59
    +1

    but to be honest I hate haggling with randoms

    Unfortunately is a very simple proposition: either you put time and effort to sell your car for a higher amount or no time at all and basically let it go for whatever is on offer.

    Pretty simple, your move.

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