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Trade in experiences
- Thread starter Gt1948
- Start date
Most will report that Tesla will offer you a very low price on a trade in (around 70% of market value), but they also tell you that right on their website. Some don't care as the hassle of selling the car is gone and you get the tax reduction on the pending vehicle.
I just did this. Basically, Tesla will take a Carmax trade-in value which we all know is pretty much the bottom-line number. I have used the Carmax number previously and can almost always get a dealer to beat it, but the convenience factor of just getting it done with the associated tax benefit on a trade made me go that route.
mspohr
Well-Known Member
You'll always do better selling as a private party on pure price, but it really depends on value of car and your willingness to do the work. The tax break is not insignificant on a reasonably nice vehicle. In my case I would have had to get another $2k or so to make it worthwhile. The Tesla factor also weighed in: when you are spending this much money on a car, the value of another $1 or $2k seemed to fade away a little bit... 
Tesla OA got the vin number of MY tradeIN and came back with an offer that matched KBB. Not sure who he had to speak too.You'll always do better selling as a private party on pure price, but it really depends on value of car and your willingness to do the work. The tax break is not insignificant on a reasonably nice vehicle. In my case I would have had to get another $2k or so to make it worthwhile. The Tesla factor also weighed in: when you are spending this much money on a car, the value of another $1 or $2k seemed to fade away a little bit...
Told me these number usually don’t change.
Lhshockey24
Member
I had an excellent trade-in experience! Quick and stress-free!
I could've sold it for a slightly higher price to a private buyer, but who knows how long this would've taken.
Besides, my car needed some work, and a private buyer would've been much more picky. Here is how it went for me:
Step 1. Got an offer from Tesla.
Step 2. Went to Carmax and got a cash offer (a little higher than what Tesla offered initially)
Step 3. Went back to Tesla and had them match the Carmax price (in order to save on sales tax). They agreed no questions asked.
In my case, the trade-in price ended up being higher than the KBB instant offer. I am happy!
I could've sold it for a slightly higher price to a private buyer, but who knows how long this would've taken.
Besides, my car needed some work, and a private buyer would've been much more picky. Here is how it went for me:
Step 1. Got an offer from Tesla.
Step 2. Went to Carmax and got a cash offer (a little higher than what Tesla offered initially)
Step 3. Went back to Tesla and had them match the Carmax price (in order to save on sales tax). They agreed no questions asked.
In my case, the trade-in price ended up being higher than the KBB instant offer. I am happy!
CarMax’s appraisal took about an hour. They thoroughly inspected the car and even took it for a spin. I didn’t prepare my car in any way, as I didn’t really expect them to beat Tesla’s offer (which I didn’t even mention to them). So I was surprised when they offered me $1000 more than Tesla.
The only catch is that the CarMax’s offer is only valid for a few days. So you better be ready to sell or trade in your car right away. If you wait a week or two, they will insist on a new appraisal and there is no guarantee that the price would stay the same. In my case, I was ready to take their offer if Tesla refused to match it. But since they have matched it, I opted to go the trade in route because in Ohio the full trade in value can be deducted from the new car price for sales tax calculations: that’s another 8% or so of the trade-in value! This may not be the case in other states though.
Again, since the CarMax quote was only valid for a few days, I traded in the car to Tesla right away, a couple of weeks before my Model S was ready for delivery. That wasn’t a problem in my case, as I could use my wife’s car. In fact, I wanted to sell my car ASAP, to have one less thing to worry about and to be able to finalize the financing calculations.
The only catch is that the CarMax’s offer is only valid for a few days. So you better be ready to sell or trade in your car right away. If you wait a week or two, they will insist on a new appraisal and there is no guarantee that the price would stay the same. In my case, I was ready to take their offer if Tesla refused to match it. But since they have matched it, I opted to go the trade in route because in Ohio the full trade in value can be deducted from the new car price for sales tax calculations: that’s another 8% or so of the trade-in value! This may not be the case in other states though.
Again, since the CarMax quote was only valid for a few days, I traded in the car to Tesla right away, a couple of weeks before my Model S was ready for delivery. That wasn’t a problem in my case, as I could use my wife’s car. In fact, I wanted to sell my car ASAP, to have one less thing to worry about and to be able to finalize the financing calculations.
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If you sell your old car to CarMax or a private buyer and then buy a new car, you pay sales tax on the full new car price.
If instead you trade in your old car toward the new car purchase, then some states allow you to subtract the entire (or partial) trade-in cost from the new car price and pay sales tax on the difference.
The rules vary from state to state. Some states don’t even have sales tax at all.
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eye.surgeon
Active Member
No sales tax benefit in California. California collects sales tax on the value of the vehicle when it's new and every single time it's sold for the entire life of the car. Quite a scam they have going on.
My experience was notably better than expected. I submitted my vehicle for evaluation entirely by taking a set of pictures and providing them to Tesla. They never required inspection of the vehicle and their initial offer was 2k above blue book (18k versus 16k), which was good for 14 days or 500 miles. There was no inspection at the time of taking delivery of my Tesla either, they just took the keys and title.
Prior to engaging the Tesla trade-in process, I had mostly read reports that Tesla provided low offers, so I was expecting more hassle.
Prior to engaging the Tesla trade-in process, I had mostly read reports that Tesla provided low offers, so I was expecting more hassle.
Mine was painless, got more than Carmax and KBB, no inspection required, dropped it off when picked up my X and that was it.
We took our car to Carmax and got a higher quote than Tesla orginally gave my husband. And no, we didn't mention buying a Tesla. When it came time to sign the papers and trade the car in Tesla did honor their matching policy to Carmax and we got the higher value for it. Don't recall the difference but remember being surprised by it. Even Tesla was surprised and of course they asked for the Carmax quote. We did have our ICE car detailed a bit before going to Carmax and they put it up on the rack to inspect. I'm not sure what Tesla "did" to give us the initial quote...maybe just eyeballed it and went with a lower KBB evaluation?
Tesla gave me a quote of KBB's "very good" trade in value. They only took pictures of the car, odometer, vin, and measured the tires. Never started the car or drove it. Carmax usually took a long time testing your car. Tesla said they will match any quote from Carmax. Be aware that Tesla quote is only good for 14 days. We got the quote when we ordered the MX. Now our DA said the quote expired and we will need to get a new quote when we are closer to the delivery date in middle of December.
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