Dealer trade price - insulting
Discussion
Looked at a mini cooper today. Thought I'd get a trade price against my Fiesta ST2. My car is in very good condition, refurbished alloys, recent tyres and brakes, ST3 satnav upgrade, the lot.
So I ran WBAC quote on the fez first to get a ball park on the trade. The WBAC quote is based on a car of average condition for the age so mine would have been worth slightly more given its condition. Came back as £6650. Low but hey ho, its WBAC.
So sales lady inspects car, agrees its mint, does the usual goes off to talk to manage for 15mins, comes back asks the same questions again and then goes off to talk to manager for another 15 mins (why do they always do this?). Comes back and offers me £5700 trade

Then tries to tell me the private sale value of my car is not much more, erm no. I politely show her auto trader versions of my car for sale on my phone!
I know they need to make a profit but jeeez, how do they ever sell any cars?
So I ran WBAC quote on the fez first to get a ball park on the trade. The WBAC quote is based on a car of average condition for the age so mine would have been worth slightly more given its condition. Came back as £6650. Low but hey ho, its WBAC.
So sales lady inspects car, agrees its mint, does the usual goes off to talk to manage for 15mins, comes back asks the same questions again and then goes off to talk to manager for another 15 mins (why do they always do this?). Comes back and offers me £5700 trade


Then tries to tell me the private sale value of my car is not much more, erm no. I politely show her auto trader versions of my car for sale on my phone! I know they need to make a profit but jeeez, how do they ever sell any cars?
if its not a car they will show they often get it underwritten and use that guaranteed price to them as the basis for the PX, these prices are generally low as there is another company taking a slice of the pie
also depends on how the dealer likes to do deals
some do not want to reduce the screen price so will over value PX/s to compensate
others may want to do the reverse or have other ways to massage the figures like finance incentives
at the end of the day its the total cost of change that matters not the individual prices of all the elements of the deal
also depends on how the dealer likes to do deals
some do not want to reduce the screen price so will over value PX/s to compensate
others may want to do the reverse or have other ways to massage the figures like finance incentives
at the end of the day its the total cost of change that matters not the individual prices of all the elements of the deal
stargazer30 said:
I know they need to make a profit but jeeez, how do they ever sell any cars?
Because people decide they want the car and as long as the monthly's add up then they don't really care about the finer points of the deal.OP I assume you're talking main MINI/BMW dealer? I know when we bought our MINI a couple of years ago they offered a really low px value for our (non ST) Fiesta, but then they were going to punt it off for auction the next day as they really don't want anything like that on the forecourt. Doesn't fit in with the brand...
You don’t have to sell it to them. They don’t have to but it from you.
That’s why WBAC are booming. Hassle free way to dispose of your part ex.
If you want to get a better price sell privately. It all depends on how much you value your time. Be prepared to deal with all the calls asking about best price. All the time wasters that don’t turn up after you’ve taken time out of your day to prep the car. The idiots that try to low ball you. It might be worth it to you. Maybe not to others.
That’s why WBAC are booming. Hassle free way to dispose of your part ex.
If you want to get a better price sell privately. It all depends on how much you value your time. Be prepared to deal with all the calls asking about best price. All the time wasters that don’t turn up after you’ve taken time out of your day to prep the car. The idiots that try to low ball you. It might be worth it to you. Maybe not to others.
Zetec-S said:
stargazer30 said:
I know they need to make a profit but jeeez, how do they ever sell any cars?
Because people decide they want the car and as long as the monthly's add up then they don't really care about the finer points of the deal.OP I assume you're talking main MINI/BMW dealer? I know when we bought our MINI a couple of years ago they offered a really low px value for our (non ST) Fiesta, but then they were going to punt it off for auction the next day as they really don't want anything like that on the forecourt. Doesn't fit in with the brand...
I have a low ball Evans Halshaw and WBAC offer recently, very disappointed but not insulted by it.
It was about a 1/3 of potential private sale cost, I just assumed they were not interested and don't see the value of a rare variant of a common car.
I can't be doing with a private sale so will just keep it I reckon.
It was about a 1/3 of potential private sale cost, I just assumed they were not interested and don't see the value of a rare variant of a common car.
I can't be doing with a private sale so will just keep it I reckon.
stargazer30 said:
My car is in very good condition, refurbished alloys, recent tyres and brakes, ST3 satnav upgrade, the lot.
You say that as if it matters. It does, if you're selling it privately but I doubt the MINI dealer even looked round it, and if they did, they wouldn't have noticed the items you've stated. Interesting that there was around £1k difference from WBAC as that would be the sort of money to refresh it (as I say, they don't know if it's a good example) for putting it up for sale. If they're a big dealer group they may have a Ford franchise and it could end up there. They could have contacts of traders wanting it, it could end up as a second car for the secretary's son or it could go to auction.
As has been said, they've polled around their trade underwriters and thats the best price anyone would put their hand up for it at.
If you can sell it for more, great.
We went to trade in our 2018 Cooper S and the MINI dealer who sold it to us offered use £12,500 for it. I sold it via Facebook of all places for £15,995
Long gone are the days (if they ever existed) where you had to buy the car, take the dealer finance and accept the trade in price from one specific dealer.
Usually i break it out to three seperate transactions.
If you can sell it for more, great.
We went to trade in our 2018 Cooper S and the MINI dealer who sold it to us offered use £12,500 for it. I sold it via Facebook of all places for £15,995
Long gone are the days (if they ever existed) where you had to buy the car, take the dealer finance and accept the trade in price from one specific dealer.
Usually i break it out to three seperate transactions.
Whats it worth? - 2013 ST2 with 47K on the clock, full service history, very good condition. 2 owners.
lol on calling my fat, I'm no powerfully built company director but I do gym train so I am quite fit.
Sell it privately, yeah I usually do but I'm put off as its an ST, so its going to be time wasters, best price for cash m8t, and test pilots.
I shouldn't be insulted but being a petrol head I do take pride in my cars (and yes I know, its only a fiesta)
lol on calling my fat, I'm no powerfully built company director but I do gym train so I am quite fit.
Sell it privately, yeah I usually do but I'm put off as its an ST, so its going to be time wasters, best price for cash m8t, and test pilots.
I shouldn't be insulted but being a petrol head I do take pride in my cars (and yes I know, its only a fiesta)
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