Can i change my mind and bring a trade in to my delivery appointment?

[SGM1980]

Got the text to schedule my appointment yesterday, and my appointment is tomorrow. No one has contacted me and i haven't been able to get in touch with anyone.

I'd originally said i wouldn't trade in, but if they match CarMax i would like to change my mind and trade in.

Can i just come to my appointment tomorrow and do it?

 

[Casmium]

Going to say probably not, most of the trade in stuff is dealt with outside the delivery/service center

 

[tashtibet]

you will get better price with for sale by owners than trade.

 

[Need]

you will get better price with for sale by owners than trade.

True, unless OP is in one of those states that let you have a trade in sales tax credit. But I am pretty sure you can't just bring your trade in on the day of getting your car. The trade in has to be valued ahead of time and put on the contract.

 

[mswlogo]

True, unless OP is in one of those states that let you have a trade in sales tax credit. But I am pretty sure you can't just bring your trade in on the day of getting your car. The trade in has to be valued ahead of time and put on the contract.

Which is a very high probability since 44 states do it that way. Tesla will match CarMax as well.

OP should get the trade on his account BEFORE delivery or you will be very disappointed come delivery day.

 

[jjrandorin]

Which is a very high probability since 44 states do it that way. Tesla will match CarMax as well.

OP should get the trade on his account BEFORE delivery or you will be very disappointed come delivery day.

44 States may do it that way, but OP does not state where they are located, and the state that sells the most Teslas by FAR (California) does not.

 

[waterbrain]

True, unless OP is in one of those states that let you have a trade in sales tax credit. But I am pretty sure you can't just bring your trade in on the day of getting your car. The trade in has to be valued ahead of time and put on the contract.

While the trade credit is valuable, it may not be as valuable as what you could get through a private party sale.

For example, if Tesla gave you $10k for your trade and your sales tax is 7.5%, you would pay $750 less in sales tax on your Tesla. If you were able to sell your vehicle for more than $10,750, you're better off selling it yourself. A $12K private sale would mean $1250 more in your pocket than the trade. Often times, the difference between trade value and private party value is much more than a couple thousand dollars.

It's up to you to decide whether that difference is worth the headache of having to sell your car.

Oh, and don't forget to factor in the additional payments and insurance you may need to pay on your old car if it takes a few months to sell.

 

[mswlogo]

While the trade credit is valuable, it may not be as valuable as what you could get through a private party sale.

For example, if Tesla gave you $10k for your trade and your sales tax is 7.5%, you would pay $750 less in sales tax on your Tesla. If you were able to sell your vehicle for more than $10,750, you're better off selling it yourself. A $12K private sale would mean $1250 more in your pocket than the trade. Often times, the difference between trade value and private party value is much more than a couple thousand dollars.

It's up to you to decide whether that difference is worth the headache of having to sell your car.

Oh, and don't forget to factor in the additional payments and insurance you may need to pay on your old car if it takes a few months to sell.

I tried selling my 2017 Jeep Summit for $1000 over CarMax estimate plus TaxCredit (~$2000) so I traded it.

If it takes 2 months your not listing it at market value. It should not take more than a week to sell any car private. Unless it’s some uber rare, specialty or expensive car.

Why would more payments matter? Only extra would be interest. And I would hope most folks don’t have a loan on the car they are trading in. Makes it tricky to sell private to because it can take some time to get the title from the bank. Not sure how that all works if you trade a car with a loan on it.

Lower priced cars are often better to sell private because dealers don’t really want them and give especially low offers on.

 

[SMAlset]

I am sure all your documents have been prepared by now without trade-in calculated in and could delay a closing.

Take the car to CarMax and they will give you a check on the spot and handle all the the DMV title transfer paperwork for you.

 

[SGM1980]

Wow, lots of responses all of a sudden. I'll give you a rundown on case anyone stumbles upon this thread.

I decided to take my husband and baby on a test drive/car seat trial today, the day before my delivery. The husband had never driven one.

While there i asked about adding a trade, and they said i could do it if i told them by the end of the day, and really as soon as possible. I do live in a state where a trade in would save a few hundred bucks, so why not?

So we went through the process of adding my car as a trade in, and it's gotten more complicated since i played around with a trade in weeks ago. We had to go out and take photos of the car and upload them... And the loan is through Chase, but there are like 5 different Chase options, so i have no idea if I'd even put the right one down.

Anyway, the plan was to get their number, then go to CarMax for what i assumed would be a higher number.

But when we got to CarMax they really low balled us so we went to Auction Direct and they beat Tesla by about 2 grand.

So we took my trade in back off, which was much easier and was just a button click, so if anyone is on the fence, definitely add the car because it's much easier to take it off than add it.

They did warn me that it might push my delivery back a day if they couldn't get the trade in stuff done in time. I tried to add the car on a Saturday at about 3pm with a 4pm Sunday appointment.

 

[Fredneck]

True, unless OP is in one of those states that let you have a trade in sales tax credit. But I am pretty sure you can't just bring your trade in on the day of getting your car. The trade in has to be valued ahead of time and put on the contract.

Even then the better price you will get by private sale will pay the added tax and still let you buy a whole lotta chargin' for your EV. It's a bit of a hassle, but I enjoy the horse trading myself.

 

[SMAlset]

@SGM1980 , so how did it go today? And what did your husband think after driving it? Assume this will be your car not his to drive?

 

[SGM1980]

@SGM1980 , so how did it go today? And what did your husband think after driving it? Assume this will be your car not his to drive?

Went really well!! It's giving me a charging equipment fault when i try to charge on 110 (haven't had the electrician out for the NEMA outlet yet).

Other than that it's completely amazing. I have a million little things to figure out, but everything melts away when I'm actually driving.

And this is totally my car. My husband is 6'4" and although he actually fits in it amazingly well, a smallish sedan is not his first choice of car.

 

[kcoms]

I am sure all your documents have been prepared by now without trade-in calculated in and could delay a closing.

Take the car to CarMax and they will give you a check on the spot and handle all the the DMV title transfer paperwork for you.

Ditto. When I was trying to get rid of a junker a few years back, NO ONE seemed to want to buy it even though it ran fine. Multiple dealers even told me they wouldn't even take it for free as a trade in. I went to CarMax and they gave me a check for $1,000 on the spot and did all of the paperwork. Total time in and out was about an hour and a half.