Is there such thing as an even trade for vehicles?

Question

Meaning I wouldn't have to pay anything for another car if i traded my new car?

I just bought a brand new triple white special edition new beetle convertible this summer (retail $26,630) Although it is the cutest little car in the world, I am thinking about trading it in for a Mini Cooper Convertible because the mini gets double the gas mileage (I drive ALOT and it would save me money in the long run) and when I do want to sell it in the future, the value of the Mini stays solid.

Do you think I can have an even trade off? Because the retail price for Mini convertibles are only around 22 to 24K?

I did pay $26,630 plus tax and because I am also doing installments, I have to pay the interest rate...overall this car cost me in the around $38K due to the interest rate of my monthly payments plus the tax. But my point is, I did pay the retail price for it.

I don't mind getting a slightly used one because I am well aware that my car's value has depreciated (although it has only 8000mi.), but I think that I can probably get a preowned mini with little mileage as a trade to my vw.

and I checked it on kbb.com and it said that my selling price for my car should be $23,615.

Answer 1

To answer your original question, yes. There is such a thing as an even trade, assuming you don't have a balance on your trade. However, even though you say your car had a retail of $26,630, I highly doubt you actually paid that. People always remember what the list price was, yet never remember that they paid thousands less.

Your situation is not realistic. Your trade is worth less than $20,000 already, so you will probably need $3,000 or so to entertain a deal. It might be possible to find a dealership willing to do this on a demo or program car, however no dealer in their right mind would trade a used car for one of their new cars when they have similar MSRP's. Luck 2U.

Answer 2

Yes there are times when you can trade even and even get a check back. However these are rare. Your car a few years ago would have been a better trade to try to do this with. The mini cooper is still drawing a good price and they aren't discounted much. Your Beetle is not in the demand it once was. You need to ask you or self if it is worth the loss you will be taking and if you are willing to right the check for the difference. That is the only thing that matters here.

Answer 3

The trade-in value of your VW is maybe $19,000 at most. If you find a car that retails for that (or can wangle a dealer down to that price) then an even exchange would be possible. However if your best price on the Mini is $24,000 then you'll need $5,000 in cash to pull the deal together. This assumes that you don't owe anything on your VW of course.

I've done a couple of even exchanges in my day, and even did a negative trade where I drove off the lot with a check in my pocket for the difference. However in all cases I lost money on the deal. I just needed to swap vehicles quickly for personal reasons so I was willing to take the hit in the wallet.

BTW, good luck on getting a new Mini convertible for $22k! While a stripper may sticker for that much, most of them are pretty well loaded. And they tend to sell for a premium over sticker in most parts of the country. My nephew recently paid $30k for one that stickered at $28k. It was pretty well loaded but he wanted it and was willing to pay anything to get it.

Answer 4

I am sorry to say no, once you drive a car off the lot it becomes worth 75% or less of what you paid for it, dealers may be able to give you a reasonable price still since the car is less than 1 year old but I doubt they would make any even trade unless you were to get a used mini cooper.

Good luck Nella!

Answer 5

I doubt you will be able to find that. I suggest posting an add on craigslist.org for 22 thousand or whatever value it says on kbb.com (kelley blue book) and say you would trade for a mini cooper if you don't mind a pre owned one. Then you can just buy it from the dealer. Dealers are bad for trading in cars, they give you horrible deals. I don't ever even buy from any dealer but I only buy used cars.

Good luck

Answer 6

Most dealers will only give you the wholesale price for your trade-in. They take your trade and will sell for retail. My suggestion is to look on an online sites for pricing person to person price and sell your trade yourself. My guess is because you just bought the new car it might drop in price as most do when you drive it off the lot.

Answer 7

No, you can't have an even tradeoff. A salesperson will probaly give you a little more than half of what you paid for your car. Whatever you owed the bank is added on to your new car's loan. this happened to me, I wanted to buy a 4runner for $18,888. The salesperson gave me $8,000 for my $33,000 car,that's about 3/4 depreciation, what a ripoff! I didn't trade my car.

Answer 8

it all depends on how many miles you have on your bettel. if you go to kbb.com and punch in all the info on your car they'll tell you how much it's worth