The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

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Dr. Gaius Baltar
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The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Dr. Gaius Baltar »

I got an odd call a couple hours ago. The car dealership wants me to bring in my 2011 Prius, and the guy on the phone said they will exchange it for a new Prius, because there's someone out there looking to buy a 2011 Prius. They made it sound like I could just straight trade my used 2011 for the new model.

This sounds like great news to me! I have won the new car lottery and can give someone my old car and get a new one. Maybe there's an antique car collector out there who is especially fond of 2 year old Priuses?

But I know that Bogleheads are often wise and can see through things like that. Am I being had? Why would a car dealership swap your used, 2 year old car for a new car?
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by KyleAAA »

Yeah, it won't be an even exchange. Google around and you'll see this is a pretty common sales tactic.
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greg24
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by greg24 »

Scam.
MindBogler
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by MindBogler »

They want you to trade in your Prius so that they can sell you another car. I can guarantee you there won't be anything free about it!

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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by InvestorNewb »

How many km are on it? I get calls like this all the time, but don't expect a 1:1 trade.

They will probably give you 1/3 of the price you paid for it.
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Andyrunner
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Andyrunner »

They are trying to stir up business, not trade you staight up. I always got letters in the mail saying they are in a deperate need for 2002 tacomas and willing to give me 30% over kelly blue book value.

They are assuming that you're one of those people that wants a new car every few years.
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Dr. Gaius Baltar
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Dr. Gaius Baltar »

It's got 13,500 miles on it. So 21,700km.
Tom_T
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Tom_T »

Yeah, I get these letters a lot from the Honda dealer, because they claim to have a shortage of "quality used cars", and wouldn't I just love to get a good deal on a trade-in on my 2008 Civic? They say will be very generous. :)
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Bidwell »

This scam is a constant one in today's retail auto business. Avoid taking calls from those Cretans. It's a SCAM. They assume customers are s t u p I d.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by jimb_fromATL »

Dr. Gaius Baltar wrote:I got an odd call a couple hours ago. The car dealership wants me to bring in my 2011 Prius, and the guy on the phone said they will exchange it for a new Prius, because there's someone out there looking to buy a 2011 Prius. They made it sound like I could just straight trade my used 2011 for the new model.

This sounds like great news to me! I have won the new car lottery and can give someone my old car and get a new one. Maybe there's an antique car collector out there who is especially fond of 2 year old Priuses?

But I know that Bogleheads are often wise and can see through things like that. Am I being had? Why would a car dealership swap your used, 2 year old car for a new car?
That's a common misleading way dealers use to get gullible customers into the store to talk them into trading cars. They will indeed swap your 2 year old Prius for a new one. All you have to pay is the difference between the wholesale value of yours and the retail sales price of the new one ... plus taxes and fees.

Dealers are like any other retailer in that they buy wholesale and sell retail. No matter what they tell you or what the paperwork shows, they do not give more than wholesale value for trade-ins. Sure, there's probably someone out there looking for a 2011 Prius ... and if the dealer can get yours for wholesale price, it will be on their used car lot when that someone happens to come along.

The Bill Heard bait-and-switch Chevrolet chain in Georgia and other states was fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for similar and worse fake claims along that line ... along with other bait-and-switch techniques. The ultimate one that triggered them to go out of business with a sudden and unexpected bankruptcy was even more outlandish, claiming that customers' cars had been recalled by the factory and therefore must be traded in on new ones.

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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Atilla »

Yeah - I used to do this. Sales manager gives you a list of people who bought a car 2-4 years previously and you call saying you have a buyer/dealership needs used cars. It's just a way to drum up new car sales.

It actually worked.
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Dr. Gaius Baltar
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Dr. Gaius Baltar »

Maybe if there's something so special about my used car that it's worth the same amount as a new car, he's actually low-balling me. I should ask him for 1.5 new cars in exchange for my used one!

(In all seriousness, I'm going to tell him no thank you. And I'm a little irked that he phrased it in such a way to make me think it would be an even trade)
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Mel Lindauer »

Dr. Gaius Baltar wrote:I got an odd call a couple hours ago. The car dealership wants me to bring in my 2011 Prius, and the guy on the phone said they will exchange it for a new Prius, because there's someone out there looking to buy a 2011 Prius. They made it sound like I could just straight trade my used 2011 for the new model.

This sounds like great news to me! I have won the new car lottery and can give someone my old car and get a new one. Maybe there's an antique car collector out there who is especially fond of 2 year old Priuses?

But I know that Bogleheads are often wise and can see through things like that. Am I being had? Why would a car dealership swap your used, 2 year old car for a new car?
From the sound of your post, I would say that you just might be the trusting gullible type that they're hoping to reach with this scam. Hopefully you'll learn a valuable life lesson here and have your antennae up the next time something that sounds too good to be true comes your way.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by rkhusky »

I would tell them if they want to drop the new car off at the house with ownership papers, they could take the old car back with them.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by JMacDonald »

I actually got a call yesterday from a Nissan dealer who wanted my 2011 Nissan Xterra. He had a new car for me. I am sure he had a new car for me at the new car price and would give the used car price for my Xterra. I told him to call back in 8 years when the car was over 10 years old. He got the message.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by frugaltype »

I've never gotten a call like this. I guess those of us who have twenty-two and forty-four year old cars don't seem like good prospects :)

I'd never do business with a dealership that did that.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by rob »

rkhusky wrote:I would tell them if they want to drop the new car off at the house with ownership papers, they could take the old car back with them.
lol This.... but you might also want to tell them what colour you want to save them a second trip :-)
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

My Subaru dealer not only wanted my wife's 08 outback, they put a price on it. Problem was in the requirements....no accidents. Oh well.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Twins Fan »

I got a call like this from a dealership one time. I had bought a truck from them a year or two prior. They gave the song and dance of wanting to see me again, they had some great deals in stock, they want to get me in a new ride, etc... Like they're my friend. :D

While the sales lady was talking to me she asked, what if we can lower your monthly payment. I responded with, I don't like car payments, so I already paid my loan off... can you beat zero? The call ended pretty quickly after that. :D
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Abe »

Sounds too good to be true. :happy
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Jerrybaby »

Heck, have fun with the guy. Tell him to put a deal together and email it to you. I you like it, you'll call back. Most likely won't, but it would satisfy your curiosity. And make the guy do some work instead of hanging out in the lounge while making some poor prospective customer wait on the sales floor for 4 hours.

And, it will get some salesperson temporarily excited that they have found another dupe.

Really wish you would do it, and then give us an update.
Last edited by Jerrybaby on Thu Mar 06, 2014 4:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by inbox788 »

Dr. Gaius Baltar wrote:I got an odd call a couple hours ago. The car dealership wants me to bring in my 2011 Prius, and the guy on the phone said they will exchange it for a new Prius, because there's someone out there looking to buy a 2011 Prius. They made it sound like I could just straight trade my used 2011 for the new model.

This sounds like great news to me! I have won the new car lottery and can give someone my old car and get a new one. Maybe there's an antique car collector out there who is especially fond of 2 year old Priuses?

But I know that Bogleheads are often wise and can see through things like that. Am I being had? Why would a car dealership swap your used, 2 year old car for a new car?
Tell them it's a deal! Just ask for the model, options and colors of the car you want to exchange for and bring it to YOU!

Sorry, looks like someone else already said the same thing. Seriously, it's a sham to get to to buy a new car. Doesn't mean that you can't work out a decent deal, and the dealer gets a used car to sell to someone that wants to buy slightly used car. He makes 2 commissions this way, so yes, he has customers for your used car at the right price.

Realistically, you've paid some cash down and making a monthly lease payment around $200-300. You might be able to keep the same lease payment, but with clock reset to 36 months again vs. around 12 now. Now if you have to pay zero costs to make the trade, it might not be a bad deal, and it could be profitable for the dealer. If you have to pay some costs (down, registration) it makes it more so, and if you make a big down payment similar to a new car, then the dealer makes out. He's also making some coin on the resale of your car. The saving grace for leases is that the number of transactions goes up for the dealer, which means he can make deals work with less profit per transaction.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by likegarden »

Dr., you can always go there and have some fun, get a free coffee and donut. Take him at his word and tell him you are there to exchange both cars, and ask him where your new car is.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by SimonJester »

likegarden wrote:Dr., you can always go there and have some fun, get a free coffee and donut. Take him at his word and tell him you are there to exchange both cars, and ask him where your new car is.
Those who play with snakes, eventually get bitten by snakes. While you might get free coffee and a donut, they might sell you a new car!
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Raymond »

modelamike wrote:This scam is a constant one in today's retail auto business. Avoid taking calls from those Cretans. It's a SCAM. They assume customers are s t u p I d.
Agreed.

But what did those Greek islanders ever do to you? :D
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Big Worm »

Classic bait and switch.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by dm200 »

This is one variant of tactics to get you to go in - then, while there, subject you to all sorts of sales pressure to trade the car in on a new car - but not for zero.

Very similar to the situation a few years ago when I was shopping for a new car - and one dealer would not even come close to what I considered a reasonable price on the car I was looking for. Then, several days later, the sales guy calls and tells me they can make a competitive offer - BUT I have to go in person. The sales guy would not make a quote over the phone. I told him I would not come in.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Jerrybaby »

SimonJester wrote:
likegarden wrote:Dr., you can always go there and have some fun, get a free coffee and donut. Take him at his word and tell him you are there to exchange both cars, and ask him where your new car is.
Those who play with snakes, eventually get bitten by snakes. While you might get free coffee and a donut, they might sell you a new car!

Bingo and amen. That's why I say phone and email. The downside to email is that you'll have to unsubscribe from their email listing or they'll inundate you later.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by bertilak »

Same thing happened to me, except with my leased car.

Careful perusal of the paperwork for the deal they offered boiled down to me having negative equity. I could do much better by waiting the 8 months until the lease was up when my equity would be zero. Not good but better than negative. I wouldn't really be saving any of the lease payments unless I wanted to go without a car.

I called all that to their attention and they came back with another, improved, offer but still showing negative equity (I was up about $1000). They started to get a little pushy and annoyed but I reminded them that they called me!

The one point they made that seemed authentic was that, yes, I would still be making car payments but they would be going toward equity in the new car. I countered that by continuing the lease payments I would be building my equity up from negative. So, it was getting somewhere close to a wash but I liked the car I had.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by scrabbler1 »

I have been getting letters from my local Toyota dealer like this for several years, each offering to buy back my 2007 Corolla. Letters are far less intrusive although I am amused by how they glitz up the letters and especially the envelopes to make these "personalized" offers seem so "urgent" and "important." They go straight to the shredder.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by investingdad »

I got a pretty clever one in the mail.

The 'letter' was meant to be an email where the salesperson was discussing with another salesperson the deal they'd put together for their customer. The only thing they needed to make it happen was for Investingdad to come in with his used car so they could complete the transaction. The salesperson writing the email implored the other to make sure the offer was worth Investingdad's time so they could wrap the whole thing up by end of week.

They actually took the time to write the email, send it to somebody so it had the time and IP stamps, and then mail me a copy.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Jeff7 »

Same here. My car's 2 years old.

I told the salesperson that I wasn't looking to buy anything new, and that they'd almost certainly have to offer me a lot more for my current car than they were looking to pay.

I'm more the "drive it into the ground" sort.



scrabbler1 wrote:I have been getting letters from my local Toyota dealer like this for several years, each offering to buy back my 2007 Corolla. Letters are far less intrusive although I am amused by how they glitz up the letters and especially the envelopes to make these "personalized" offers seem so "urgent" and "important." They go straight to the shredder.
If advertising comes with a postage-paid return envelope, I've started to scrawl "REMOVE" across the entire form and then mail it back. Stop wasting my time, and I'll stop wasting yours. :)
I just hope the recipient's letter-opening department is so kind as to do something more with them than just throw them in their shredder - something like, "hey, this guy's actually putting in some effort to waste our postage. Let's get him off the advertising lists."

Or else they have some statistical analysis which says that people like me do still buy something enough to make it worthwhile to keep sending mailings.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by jasc15 »

jimb_fromATL wrote:The ultimate one that triggered them to go out of business with a sudden and unexpected bankruptcy was even more outlandish, claiming that customers' cars had been recalled by the factory and therefore must be traded in on new ones.

jimb
I've become so cynical, that I am even wary of recall notices. I received 2 for the car I bought last year. It is a 2003 model, and I can't imagine there are still new recalls on a car that old.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by tomd37 »

Somebody wants my wife's car. In our case it is several of the mechanics at the local Lexus dealership. She has a 2001 Lexus ES300 with only 62,000 miles on it. It has been maintained at that dealership since its purchase there and is in excellent shape. Every time she takes it in one of more of the mechanics say if she ever wants to sell it call them first. Apparently this 2001 model was a very good one.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Geologist »

jasc15 wrote: I've become so cynical, that I am even wary of recall notices. I received 2 for the car I bought last year. It is a 2003 model, and I can't imagine there are still new recalls on a car that old.
There certainly can be recalls on 2003 models. You can always find out independently because Consumer Reports and (probably) the US Dept. of Transportation report on them. As I am the original owner on a 2004 model, I recently received a recall notice directly from the manufacturer. I'm guessing that you aren't known to them as you bought the 2003 model last year.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by cheese_breath »

My Chevy dealer wants both my Impala and Silverado back. At least he's honest enough to say he'll give us a great trade in (not full purchase price) on new Chevy vehicles. I've received so many of these offers they just go straight into the trash.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by fulltilt »

I get letters all the time telling me that the dealer can put me into a brand new Honda CRV for the same monthly payment as we are paying now....
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by inbox788 »

fulltilt wrote:I get letters all the time telling me that the dealer can put me into a brand new Honda CRV for the same monthly payment as we are paying now....
With high resale values, they probably can at a profit with leases, but chances are they'll sneak in extra profits on added expenses. They do zero down leases all the time, and after 2 years, you're probably not underwater. Depreciation curves in the first 6-12 months are probably behind payments, but 1-2 years into it, should be pretty much on track. After 3 years, there's often a little bit of equity on some models. I've know folks who have cashed out on cars with 0-6 months left on the lease and had a little value added to the next lease, or simply taking it to Carmax before the lease was up, and Carmax paying the last few payments and writing a small check to the lessee. Generally done to avoid the over mileage penalty.

Also, unless you're crossing model year changes, the improvements each year are relatively minor, with half the changes involving changing colors/patters on tail lights. Funny thing is that I've paid off my CRV, and I've thought about calling them up and accepting their offer of $0 monthly payment, but I know it would just be a waste of time for everyone.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by nisiprius »

I think it's a scam, because I think the Prius is in pretty good supply these days. Obviously, if they can "exchange" your old Prius for a new Prius, they have new Priuses in stock.

The only way someone could be willing to pay the same amount for a 2-year-old Prius and a new Prius would be if new Priuses were in such short supply or had such a long wait that it was almost impossible to get a new Prius. That is, "I am willing to pay the new price for a 2-year-old Prius if I can get the old Prius today and I'd have to wait months for the new one."

This is surely just a weasel-worded way of saying "we will make you a great trade-in offer but you have to come in to find out what that offer is."
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by fsrph »

Lots of car companies/dealers do this. Subaru has a guaranteed trade in program but are more up front about it. To use the Subaru program you enter your VIN in this website http://www.subaru.com/finance-center/gu ... n-program/ . It will tell you the trade amount if you buy a later model Subaru. Then, if you chose to, visit a Subaru dealer.

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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by inbox788 »

nisiprius wrote:I think it's a scam, because I think the Prius is in pretty good supply these days.

The only way someone could be willing to pay the same amount for a 2-year-old Prius and a new Prius would be if new Priuses were in such short supply or had such a long wait that it was almost impossible to get a new Prius. That is, "I am willing to pay the new price for a 2-year-old Prius if I can get the old Prius today and I'd have to wait months for the new one."

This is surely just a weasel-worded way of saying "we will make you a great trade-in offer but you have to come in to find out what that offer is."
In general, it's a scam to get you in to buy a new car, but the math isn't simply switch a used car for a new car. There is a depreciation curve that is fairly flat for some of these cars, and you're extending your payments an extra couple of years (i.e. buying 2 more years of their product -- kind of like getting a free smartphone for 2 year contract renewal). If you paid $250/month on a zero down lease, and the car depreciated exactly $250/month, at the end of the lease, it's worth exactly the residual. At the end of the lease, if you were to re-lease the car for another 3 years, it would cost less (it's a used car), or you'd just lease a new one for the same terms.

The buyer of the used car isn't the same as the one who leases a new car. To get good leases, you need good credit. Some folks like Certified Used cars, while others don't have great credit and have an easier time with used cars. Dealers can sell these cars for high retail value, while attaining them for trade-in values. Often, they make more money on these deals than competitive new car sales.
What the dealer has done is sold you a vehicle that is more profitable to the dealership. Used cars return a higher profit than new cars in most cases, especially because so much information is available on new-car pricing.
http://usedcars.about.com/od/certifiedp ... oblems.htm
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by steadyeddy »

A good friend of mine once bragged about receiving such a letter. Turns out the car he had leased only one year earlier was in such high demand that the dealership gave him a new one for the exact same payment!

I congratulated him. No use causing him to cry over spilled milk.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Rusty123 »

My brother and his wife took their 2 year old Nissan into the dealer for a recall. They were later told their car wasn't covered by the recall. While there the sales manager came up to them and said he would get them into the same car (same trim line) for the same payment they were paying (car loan - not a lease) with the loan reset to five years. They drove a new car with the same trim line and decided to do the trade. The sales manager then proceeded to quietly change the car out to a lessor trim line and didn't tell them. They didn't realize this until they got home and it was too late since they signed the paperwork. Bottom line, from now on I always record the VIN for a car I am test driving and then buying and verify the number all through the process on all paperwork and final delivery.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by Fallible »

I'm not certain I'd call it a scam, i.e., illegal. I've gotten similar mailings and just assume it's another sales pitch with a catch or two or three somewhere. I don't bother to figure it out because whatever the catch is, or even if there isn't one, the pitch is to benefit the dealer, not me. Of that, I'm certain.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by ClevrChico »

Never go to the dealer except to pick up your new car. And warranty work... Never deal AT the dealer. Dealers WILL give an appraisal of your trade via a VIN and photos. Some will even save you the trouble and appraise the car at your house.
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Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by S&L1940 »

Big Worm wrote:Classic bait and switch.
the offer I keep getting is that they will pay me what I paid for the car - with a deduct for mileage and any body work that is needed
at least the offers are upfront with the "small print". when I am ready, I have really low mileage - like 5,000 per year - I would call their bluff.
the catch is that the mileage charge - even for a car like mine - still adds up to a hefty sum. they do not figure that I can not multiply and subtract.
Don't it always seem to go * That you don't know what you've got * Till it's gone
jlawrence01
Posts: 1904
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2013 12:34 am
Location: Southern AZ

Re: The dealership wants my 2 year old car back?

Post by jlawrence01 »

The dealers are NOT stupid. They can very easily get a 3-5% sales rate using this tactic.

By the way, they send this out about every other year so you'll get an opportunity to sell it back to them later.
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