Should I trade in my 2019 SR+ for the 2021?
- Thread starter Higgles
- Start date
is that all worth $4500...to you? I wouldn’t pay for most of that unless I had to...the extra range maybe, but only if the time value of those 13 extra miles was a big deal... I have many other things to spend $4500, but to each their own.
Carmax offered me $2k less than Carvana for my car when I traded it in to buy my M3. I asked and they said right now they are paying a lot less than Carvana and they know it, they don’t know how Carvana is paying their prices. Northern Virginia here, in case market matters...
Yes. When I sold my car last year on Craigslist to buy the model 3. I just brought all the information to the dmv for both cars and they applied the credit right there.
TheJDJ
Member
I sold a Jeep Grand Cherokee to Carvana last year. It was a simple and easy process. They brought a flatbed and and check and it was done in minutes.
I just sold a 2014 MINI Paceman all4 JCW to Carvana on Saturday and had the same experience. I think I paid $34K and Carvana cut me a check for $16.5K, very generous IMO: $17,500 for 6 years of ownership means I paid about $250 per month to own a very fun little hatchback.
P.S. With the proceeds, I got a MINI Cooper SE (electric), which is a neat compliment to my wife's TM3+.
So easy to buy and sell! I might be able to sell and buy a new car without leaving the house. How long after you filled out the paperwork did it take for Carvana to pick up your car? Was there any way to postpone pickup after all the paperwork was done?
You can schedule an appointment as soon as you accept their offer, all done online. Pickup delay depends; I had a guy in a Prius (carvana logo'd, ID'd, very legit) show up to do the paperwork the day of the appointment, and a tow truck came later that evening. Funny thing, the tow truck had the car all winched up and then left in a big hurry...later a flatbed came to take away in the dead of night to take my Cx-5.
I did the Carvana website on Wednesday night and immediately got the offer. It then asked me to upload my DL, the title, and a pic of the odometer, which I completed Thursday morning. By Thursday afternoon, they verified whatever they needed to and were ready to set my appointment. I could have chosen to drop it at their Houston location Friday, but I chose a Saturday home pickup.
The guy came in his flatbed, drove the car around the block, had me sign the papers, hit the "go" on the ACH payment (I got immediate text and email payment notifications; the money hit my bank by Tuesday AM), loaded the MINI, and drove away. My involvement took maybe ten minutes, total.
Mattopotamus
Member
This is the real question you need to ask yourself, and are things that only you can answer. Personally, it is not a big enough upgrade to do a trade in for the same trim. You are essentially paying $4500 for a heat pump/extra range, that you most likely do not need if you are considering the SR+ again. At that point, you are paying $4500 for chrome delete, windows, and a different center console.
I think it makes perfect sense. You also have a newer car that will last longer. A warranty reset. Fresh tires etc.
In MA I would lose the trade in tax credit if I didn’t trade into the same dealer as where the new car is coming from. In other words I’d have to trade into Tesla for that tax savings. Other states might vary on those rules.
But hell yeah. For $4500, I’d do it.
And I’ve done exactly what you are doing with Jeep’s before. When you get a really good trade offer it can be worthwhile. But I did go up in trim. I purchased 3 Jeep’s in 3 years. But the trades were insanely good. Friends and family thought I was nuts. But if you run the numbers it can be fine. Loan or no loan.
One way I run the numbers is this.
Amortize what it cost to own the car for the life time of the car. I use 10 years as it’s almost worthless by then.
Say it cost $38,000 for 10 years. What did it cost per month to own?
$316/mo ($38,000 /120 mo)
Now take that $4500 and divide it by $319.
Comes out to 14 months.
If you owned your 2019 longer than that you’d be ahead by paying $4500 for a “reset”.
Your paying $4500 for the usage you already got out of your car you have now. As long as the cost per month is close to what you are ALREADY paying to keep what you have, why not?
Mattopotamus
Member
Sorry, can you expound on this a bit more please? Why wouldn't you need the heat pump and extra range if it's the SR+ again? Is it because it's only a 13 mile added range?
You could. But that locks you in. OP would not have an option to “upgrade” if he was locked into a lease. And I would have been locked in with my Jeep’s. I didn’t plan on upgrading when I bought the first or second. But was free to do so.
I also compared the Amortized cost to upgrade over the months I owned it to what a typical lease would be to clarify in my head if it was stupid. For example if you took the $4500 and amortized that over say 14 months (I’m picking number out of hat but more towards the expensive side) how does that compare to a lease? Bet you it’s lower than a lease.
I Just did a quick search and I see a lease is around $400/mo (with good size down payment). That’s $4800 a year. And that doesn’t include amortizing the down payment in.
Leases make sense if you run the full course and you stay under mileage and get a great deal. But very inflexible if you are the impulsive type
He ends up with a car that’s 2 years newer!!!
New tires, new warranty, 0 miles, new specs, no battery degradation, perfect condition. For $4500. That’s a bargain. People pay more for full PPF. Just get a new car !!
Mattopotamus
Member
That was my thought process. Most people who own the SR+ are not too concerned with range, so the addition of 13 miles and even winter range increase is of no concern. Again, that is just my thought process. If OP was worried about range, he would be looking at the LR.
