Turning in Car now vs Pickup date on special order ST

[WickedSport]

Hey, its been a while! I am looking to get my wife a 2022 ST. Based on discussions with a few dealerships, they will allow me to use X plan as long as I place an order versus taking one off the lot (which is fine). With how things are right now, I can definitely save some money by doing it this way. We are consolidating from 3 cars to 2, so I will have 2 cars to turn in (a 2015 Sport with 55K on it, and a 2018 Tesla Model 3 Performance+ with 20K). The 2 dealers I've spoken with want me to turn in at least 1 of the cars now, and then the other when I pick up the new ST.

My concern is: How will that work? Usually its all done as one transaction (trade in and new car), so I can save on taxes. If its done this, way, my assumption is they'll just give me a check now as one transaction and the 2nd trade in will be done as a 2nd when I pick up the ST which isn't the most beneficial. I'd lose a little bit of money all other things being equal. I plan on shopping around on trade in's either way, and will get rid of the Tesla first.

Anyone ever turn in a car at ordering?

 

[Spacey]

All a "trade in" is is the dealer buying the car from you at a certain price and applying the money they owe you to the purchase transaction. You definitely don't want to give them the car and get the money from them later. In the current environment I would shop around just selling one of your cars for cash and keeping the money until you purchase your new one on X-Plan. You can probably do better with a private sale than trading it in anyway; as long as you are willing to deal with the hassle of the sale. Places like Carmax provide a simple selling experience, but likely not the best price you can get. However it is usually worth it to get an offer from them to at least see what the bottom end is.

 

[peterk9]

I agree on pursuing a private sale first. Previously used vehicle prices seem to be at an all-time high right now due to limited availability.

Peter

 

[Mbrooks420]

Try Carmax. I know 3 people who sold off vehicles to them for more than they paid, one after 18 months of driving and 25k.

 

[Bluesnake01]

Carmax, Vroom, or Carvana.

We sold my dad's car thru Carvana, it was extremely easy and gave us the same exact amount they est. to give us. Car dealers were giving him 2-3k less as a trade in.

We set up an appointment with Carvana, one person came and looked at the car, took pics of the car, start it up, locked the keys in a key box, wrote a check and was on his way to look at another car. Took about 30 min, a tow truck came later to pick up the car. Yes, it was that easy.

I would only go thru the dealer after finding out what other places are giving you. I also would make the trades the same day.

 

[MikeHTally]

When I traded my Ram and Escape on the Explorer, I cancelled the insurance on both. I got a nasty-gram from DMV, threatening to suspend my license for cancelling the insurance on the Ram "operating a vehicle with no insurance". I had to go to the tax office and "disconnect" that tag from the vehicle. Only cost a few bucks, but was an aggravation nonetheless.