Part Exchange Etiquette

[G-Rich]

Hi,

Apologies if this has been asked before - I can't see anything in a search.

I've bought and sold loads of cars over the last 15 years, but never part exchanged one.

My query is - do you negotiate a PX price for your car, then negotiate the price of the car you are buying; or is it simply one negotiation of the new car price drop based against the PX? Maybe a daft and simple question...!

Thanks
R

[TooMany2cvs]

The only figure that matters is the cost to change.

[mattrg]

I always negotiate the cost to change. I don't mind how they come to that cost whether it's a good px value or a good price on the new one. As long as I'm happy with the cost to change then all good.

[G-Rich]

Cost to change - understood - need to make a phone call

[R2T2]

What I tend to do is look online for good/poor trade in rates, and then what a dealer/private seller prices and have a look online for models similar to what you're after.

Also do some research on your own car, try and find one for sale with similar miles and the same sort of age and see what that's going for.

Example.

I've been looking at a 330i to swap my car for.

I have a minimum selling price If I were to sell it private.
And I have a minimum trade in value I would take.

I then looked at the car to see if it was above, at or below market value.
I then thought of a price I would like to swap for (Usually factors in a couple of hundred off the car, and my minimum trade in cost.

Go there, look over the car, decide you want it, and explain that you want to pay X amount to swap.

[maurauth]

As above, some unsavoury characters will try and give you "what you want" for your old car and then bump the new cars cost. Unless you really want to go at it and get a price haggled down for the new car and then introduce your P/X at the end of the negotiation, but then you'll probably get told they can only give you peanuts etc and to sell it privately if you want a good price for it etc.

Most good dealers will just deal with a cost to change figure for you though as long as you explicitly state you don't give a fk about any other numbers than the bottom line cost to change and you don't care how they do it.

[Sheepshanks]

Everyone says "cost to change" but the last 2 new cars I've bought, the salesmen very much led the discussion to a discount price on the car I was buying. It was only once we'd done that that they asked about p/x.

In the first dealer (VW) they did then merge the figures so we ended up talking about cost to change but in the more recent one (Honda) they very much treated it as doing us a favour taking the car off our hands, and they used WBAC to value it!

[thelawnet]

Negotiate the price of the car first, no PX, and when you're happy with that only then ask about PX prices.

No point in confusing the two.

That's assuming you would be willing to sell elsewhere if they give you a sh*t PX price.

[bitchstewie]

Personally all I care about is cost to change, nothing more.

I've always been honest with sales people and said "Do whatever you like your end with the top and bottom numbers, all I care about is the one in the middle" and they seem to appreciate it.

I've had a few comment on how they wish more customers would take that approach rather than getting totally hung up on what they're offering in p/x vs. another dealership.

[Sheepshanks]

bhstewie said:

I've always been honest with sales people and said "Do whatever you like your end with the top and bottom numbers, all I care about is the one in the middle" and they seem to appreciate it.

The snag with that is that if you're not getting the deal you want then you don't know where it's going wrong - you don't know if they're not discounting the car to the extent that other dealers might, or if they're under-valuing your px.

[bitchstewie]

Sheepshanks said:

The snag with that is that if you're not getting the deal you want then you don't know where it's going wrong - you don't know if they're not discounting the car to the extent that other dealers might, or if they're under-valuing your px.

If I'm not getting the deal I want I'll go elsewhere.

To me there's no point me arguing that my car is worth more or they should be discounting theirs less, at least not to my way of thinking - I just want a number and if it's wrong I'll give them chance to improve it, up to them how they do it, and if it still isn't right I'll try somewhere else.

I'm not saying that taking a different approach is "wrong", simply explaining the way I look at changing cars.

[UK345]

All that matters is the difference to change. When a dealer uses WBAC to value a car I lose interest very quickly

[Sheepshanks]

bhstewie said:

To me there's no point me arguing that my car is worth more or they should be discounting theirs less, at least not to my way of thinking - I just want a number and if it's wrong I'll give them chance to improve it, up to them how they do it, and if it still isn't right I'll try somewhere else.

Sure, but without a pretty good idea of the discount available and the value of your car then you don't know what the right figure to change is.

If you've done your research and worked it out then that's fine, but (to my mind) if the deal is not what you want then you might as well point the salesman in the right direction and give him a clue where he's going wrong!

[loskie]

UK345 said:

All that matters is the difference to change. When a dealer uses WBAC to value a car I lose interest very quickly

You could always WBAC his car and offer that to him in return.

[Sheepshanks]

UK345 said:

All that matters is the difference to change. When a dealer uses WBAC to value a car I lose interest very quickly

What's the problem with using WBAC to value as long as the cost to change is what you want?

I took a WBAC + £50 valuation (you also save the fee, and of course WBAC have a reputation for knocking down the value) - but the car we were buying was at near-as-dammit the DtD price.

I could have tried to sell the p/x privately, but it was carrying a number of issues plus I really can't be bothered with the hassle.

[aw51 121565]

UK345 said:

All that matters is the difference to change. When a dealer uses WBAC to value a car I lose interest very quickly

Quoting this one (above several others) for no particular reason , I had to give a car's value in an application for Grant of Administration last autumn. The dealer I asked to quote used WBAC and Glass's Guide (both online nowadays, the latter being online rather than a book was a surprise!) - and both were pretty close to each other. Both were also lower than I expected, but in the same bit of the ballpark.

Mind you, the chap also told me he'd hold the quote if I let him have the car ( a base-model Jazz) in the next 6 weeks...

I'm still driving it .

[speedking31]

UK345 said:

All that matters is the difference to change.

Not necessarily.

Dealer values your car at £5 but the cost to change is as expected. After a week, the car you bought develops a serious fault and you want your money back. He's sold your car on, but returns the £5 that he 'paid' for it. Would you be happy?

[ClaphamGT3]

thelawnet said:

Negotiate the price of the car first, no PX, and when you're happy with that only then ask about PX prices.

No point in confusing the two.

That's assuming you would be willing to sell elsewhere if they give you a sh*t PX price.

I would certainly recommend this route. As far as possible you want the best deal on the new car and on the PX. For me, cost to change has always blurred the detail on both. If you understand the true position of both, you can understand where the opportunity to push for the best deal is.