A former car sales worker shares four tips for scoring a great deal on your trade-in at a dealership in a now-viral TikTok.
In a video with over 19,000 views as of Saturday, TikToker Kaitlynd (@reddnea) says that the first key is to hide the fact that you want to trade in your car until you’ve negotiated the deal on the vehicle you’re buying.
@reddnea what should i go over next? #dealership #cardealership #carbuyingtips #moneysavingtips ♬ Mysterious and sad BGM(1120058) – S and N
1. Don’t reveal your trade-in at first
“If you have a trade-in, no, you don’t,” she says. “Wait until you have everything exactly where you want it on the new car you’re buying.”
The next step: When they ask how much you want for your trade-in, don’t tell them outright. Kaitlynd says that specifying a number could lead you to lose out if the dealership was going to offer more.
Research shows that it can be more difficult to sell your car at market value as a trade-in compared to private sales, according to Bankrate.
2. Consider sales tax
She also urges viewers to consider sales tax.
“Let’s say the car you’re buying is $20,000. You want $10,000 for your trade-in, but they say, ‘I’m only giving you $9,000,’” she explains. “You were initially going to pay 10% on $20,000, which is $2,000. Now that they give you the $9,000 trade-in credit, the [tax] is going to be roughly $1,100.”
She says the dealership will tell you that you’re saving $900 in sales tax, which is just $100 dollars less than asking instead of $1,000 less.
3. Don’t go with the salesperson to inspect your trade-in
Her next tip: When the dealership workers go to look at your trade-in, don’t go with them.
“What they want you to do is go out there with them so they can silently walk around the car and poke around at dents to get you to tell on yourself,” she says. “They want you to realize, ‘Oh, maybe my car isn’t worth what I think it’s worth.’”
4. Factor in upgrades
Finally, Kaitlynd encourages sellers to tout the upgrades they got with their trade-in to get a better price. Think: all-weather mats, tool kits, tires, and cameras.
“When they make the price for that car, they are factoring in those things like all-weather mats,” she says.
However, some viewers note that the tips didn’t work for them.
“CarMax said no!” one writes.
Others claimed this might not be how it works across all dealerships. “I don’t know how long you were in car sales but this 100% is not all dealerships. a lot of not correct info. The biggest one I want to respond to is the accessories,” one user said.
The Daily Dot reached out to Kaitlynd via TikTok and Instagram direct message.
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