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#241
novox77 said:
It's not Tesla that's lowballing - it's that Tesla is not really in the business of trade-ins like a dealership would be, and they are just providing a service so that people can get rid of their old car if they want. From what I was told, Tesla posts the trade-in on a used market and let dealers, auction houses, etc bid on it. There's no incentive for Tesla to lowball you (or to get you an exceptional deal). Highest bidder "wins" and Tesla just acts as the messenger and coordinator. But yeah, there's no reason to go thru Tesla if you can find some other entity that will pay more for your car.

Trading in a 2011 Hyundai Sonata 2.0T Limited. Not sure if I'll commit to the trade-in. I'd be a completely EV household and I feel like it's still good to have an ICE backup.
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I beg to differ with you on the low ball question. This was my experience. In mid 2017 I was considering upgrading from a 2016 Model S 75 to a Model X. My car was not even a year old with less than 18K miles. Basically an excellent condition vehicle. Telsa offered me $48,000 for my trade. We all know that Tesla was not going to auction this vehicle away, it was going to wash it and sell it as a CPO for its full resale value. I walked away and still own my beautiful Model S None of us would except this low ball especially if your trying to buy another Tesla. If i was selling this vehicle I would expect a low ball if I was just trying to get rid of it and not upgrading... Anyway My personal opinion about Tesla policy.
 
#243
I unfortunately had to spend some time in the auto sales business after college. Trade ins are the most lucrative avenue for sales revenue. Buy low, sell high. No dealership will ever give you more than high KBB “trade-in” value. They’ll try to get you to take less. If they offer more than high trade-in price, they are most certainly raising the MSRP and concealing it within the loan (because the buyer isn’t doing the math themselves). This means the buyer isn’t actually getting what they think they are for their trade. This is very common. Since Tesla only sells cars at MSRP and doesn’t do shenanigans (which is impressive because pretty much every private franchise dealer does), they can’t hide profit behind the car, therefore they can’t offer high trade-in values. The most profitable way to get rid of your car is probably Craigslist, if you have patience, time, and can spot a scam.
 
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#245
valkeriefire said:
I unfortunately had to spend some time in the auto sales business after college. Trade ins are the most lucrative avenue for sales revenue. Buy low, sell high. No dealership will ever give you more than high KBB “trade-in” value. They’ll try to get you to take less. If they offer more than high trade-in price, they are most certainly raising the MSRP and concealing it within the loan (because the buyer isn’t doing the math themselves). This means the buyer isn’t actually getting what they think they are for their trade. This is very common. Since Tesla only sells cars at MSRP and doesn’t do shenanigans (which is impressive because pretty much every private franchise dealer does), they can’t hide profit behind the car, therefore they can’t offer high trade-in values. The most profitable way to get rid of your car is probably Craigslist, if you have patience, time, and can spot a scam.
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Worked this to my advantage last time I bought a car. Knew my car I was trading in was easy to sell, and that their offer was on the low end, but I responded positively but carefully non-committal (such as "Oh, that sounds like a pretty good offer", never "yes" or "ok"). Waited until absolutely everything was nailed down on price, including some freebies, then casually mentioned "Oh the trade in? Yeah, sold it somewhere else."

What's the point of my story? Oh yeah, I like not having to play games when buying a car ever again.
 
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#246
Mayo said:
I beg to differ with you on the low ball question. This was my experience. In mid 2017 I was considering upgrading from a 2016 Model S 75 to a Model X. My car was not even a year old with less than 18K miles. Basically an excellent condition vehicle. Telsa offered me $48,000 for my trade. We all know that Tesla was not going to auction this vehicle away, it was going to wash it and sell it as a CPO for its full resale value. I walked away and still own my beautiful Model S None of us would except this low ball especially if your trying to buy another Tesla. If i was selling this vehicle I would expect a low ball if I was just trying to get rid of it and not upgrading... Anyway My personal opinion about Tesla policy.
Click to expand...

makes sense they would lowball if it's a Tesla and they plan to certify it for resale. In this case they do have a business interest in getting your car as low value as possible. for regular ol' ICE cars, they couldn't care less what another party offers you for the trade.
 
#247
novox77 said:
It's not Tesla that's lowballing - it's that Tesla is not really in the business of trade-ins like a dealership would be, and they are just providing a service so that people can get rid of their old car if they want. From what I was told, Tesla posts the trade-in on a used market and let dealers, auction houses, etc bid on it. There's no incentive for Tesla to lowball you (or to get you an exceptional deal). Highest bidder "wins" and Tesla just acts as the messenger and coordinator. But yeah, there's no reason to go thru Tesla if you can find some other entity that will pay more for your car.
Click to expand...
Whatever CarMax does in 30 minutes to figure out their offer, Tesla could probably do on a much lesser scale (CarMax was packed when I went). Espeically since all Tesla pickups are appointment based, they know when people are coming who want their car appraised.

They could even just do it 3 days a week, hire/train somebody to do it.
 
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