Selling current car before or after delivery?

[skydreamerjae]

I noticed a lot of people are selling their cars before taking delivery of a Tesla or whenever they've been scheduled a delivery date (which tends to backfire because Tesla is being a douche about delivery time frames and people end up car-less for 2-5 weeks+). But my plan is to take delivery, and then sell my current car. What are the pros and cons of selling before and selling after delivery?

 

[VT_EE]

Pro for selling after- You are not screwed when Tesla changes the delivery at the last minute. This happens a lot.

 

[starboarder]

Sell after, their delivery estimates are not reliable enough unless you have alternate means of transportation when your stuck carless (coming from someone who sold their car in Sept and still waiting).

 

[m3-ricardo]

in WA - the sales tax for the car purchase is calculated on the cost of the car minus the trade in value ..

so in WA (and any other state that allows this) its most beneficial to trade the car in .. its like getting 10% more on your trade in.

 

[19White3]

Depends if it is your primary car I suppose. The 3 will be a 3rd car for us. With the exception of collector cars, most cars only depreciate each month so we decided to sell first, pocket the money, and wait. The savings on transfer tax didn't make up for the higher sale price offers I received.

 

[skydreamerjae]

Thanks for the input guys

 

[Reggie1970]

I noticed a lot of people are selling their cars before taking delivery of a Tesla or whenever they've been scheduled a delivery date (which tends to backfire because Tesla is being a douche about delivery time frames and people end up car-less for 2-5 weeks+). But my plan is to take delivery, and then sell my current car. What are the pros and cons of selling before and selling after delivery?

Hi. The pro is you have your car until the new one turns up. If there’s a delay in delivery of the new car you’re not too bothered The cons are you have to sell yours after. There maybe a delay before you can sell yours thus having extra costs on insurance etc. Also the value of yours will keep on dropping. I sold mine beforehand as Audi offered me more than Tesla & I maximised the value at that time. The money is in the bank ready for the new car. I’m lucky as I have a van I can drive so not overly worried when it turns up.

 

[George75]

Have you considered trading? I'm trading mine the day of delivery for a number of reasons:

• Tesla matched the better offer from CarMax +$2,500 on a trade
• The trade brings the amount paid in taxes down by around another $700 - $800
• I get to keep driving until Tesla has a pickup date

Cons with this setup are my current vehicle will continue to lose some value over time while I wait. I got prices from both Vroom and Carvana which where only about $500 over what CarMax offered. I'll never do another private sale, some people are way too difficult to work with. I thought about selling to one of the other guys but then I'd lose the savings on taxes and I'd have to rent something while I wait for an unknown amount of time.

 

[Uncle Paul]

If it is your only car, it is better to take delivery of your Tesla first, get any issues sorted out, then sell your other car.

Amazing how clunky your other car feels driving, after spending some time in a Tesla.

 

[jonquiljo]

Sell after. I am an idiot who believed Tesla would deliver as promised. Cars don't depreciate much in thebshort term anyway.

And yes, even if it is your 2nd car - don’t get rid of it. It’s not worth the hassle. Even 2 (or more - family) getting around with 1 car is not easy.

 

[hmmwv]

Tesla matched the better offer from CarMax +$2,500 on a trade

Wait, so Tesla matched your Carmax offer, plus added $2500 on top of that? Or is the final matched offer is $2500 more than what Tesla originally offered?

 

[George75]

Wait, so Tesla matched your Carmax offer, plus added $2500 on top of that? Or is the final matched offer is $2500 more than what Tesla originally offered?

The offer from Tesla was $2,500 under what CarMax offered. Tesla matched the CarMax offer. I wish they'd throw another $2,500 on top of that ha!

 

[M3 Dream]

Laughed at what Carmax/Telsa offered for my wife's 328i. Posted it on CL about a week ago, sold this weekend for full asking price (3,250 over trading in options).

She won't have a car till our Model 3 is delivered, so looks like I will play chauffeur

 

[tren01t]

Sell after. I am an idiot who believed Tesla would deliver as promised. Cars don't depreciate much in thebshort term anyway.

And yes, even if it is your 2nd car - don’t get rid of it. It’s not worth the hassle. Even 2 (or more - family) getting around with 1 car is not easy.

Yeah, I am holding out on trading my 2018 MBZ C300 Coupe until my M3 arrives. Have offer from Tesla but they will honor Carmax value if higher (will get offer 1week prior to trade in). Should be about 2K difference in break even point (according to MBZ payoff. Car has 9400 mi and it is garaged 99% of the time(not my primary vehicle which is key). I will also check with Vroom and Carvana about 1.5 weeks before delivery. It will depend on your scenario and whether or not your trade in is a daily driver or not. Just the same, that is my strategy

 

[RangerMac]

in WA - the sales tax for the car purchase is calculated on the cost of the car minus the trade in value ..

so in WA (and any other state that allows this) its most beneficial to trade the car in .. its like getting 10% more on your trade in.

Yes but I can get 20% more for the sale of my vehicle over trade in value, most of the time. So my $30,000 trade nets $33,000~ but I sold my vehicle for $36,000 so I am up. Tesla just uses KBB trade in and they will match Carmax which is usually a joke.

 

[acarney]

in WA - the sales tax for the car purchase is calculated on the cost of the car minus the trade in value ..

so in WA (and any other state that allows this) its most beneficial to trade the car in .. its like getting 10% more on your trade in.

Maybe not with the sales tax exemption now. If Tesla isn't giving you the best offer for the car and you're saving $2000-$2500 (depending on your local tax rate) with the sales tax exemption, it might be better off selling the car instead of a trade.

I would say sell after taking delivery, unless you're taking delivery of an inventory car and/or have already been matched to one and know it's physically at your delivery center. So probably within a couple day window of actually getting it... though still there is the wild card the car goes to someone else in a mix up

 

[hmmwv]

Maybe not with the sales tax exemption now. If Tesla isn't giving you the best offer for the car and you're saving $2000-$2500 (depending on your local tax rate) with the sales tax exemption, it might be better off selling the car instead of a trade.

I would say sell after taking delivery, unless you're taking delivery of an inventory car and/or have already been matched to one and know it's physically at your delivery center. So probably within a couple day window of actually getting it... though still there is the wild card the car goes to someone else in a mix up

I agree, with my SR+ no FSD my reminder sales tax is $1600, so if you are trading in a car that's more than $20,000 then you will no longer take advantage of the tax saving.
I find it funny that with Tesla you don't really get the car until you actually drive it off the lot, reading the forum it seems that anything can happen before that, even bizarre events like the store claims the car arrived in wrong color and denies delivery. Maybe after delivery I'll keep my car in the garage, so Tesla can't snatch it midnight (I haven't bough Homelink yet).