Why is it OK to give a dealer a great deal but not your friend!

Phil_RC_1

Phil_RC_1

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Some time ago, a friend at work came to me and asked if I would be interested in buying his car (I work at a small company and actually he went around and asked everyone). He said he would sell it to me for $100 over what the dealer had offered him on trade-in. I thought to myself that this is a great deal. The car would have been a $4-5000 car on any used car lot, but he was offering it to me for $1400. I thought to myself that this is a good deal and bought the car on behalf of my son, a young married man with one child who's car had just broken down a few days prior. The timing was impecable.

This deal raised a question in my mind, Why is it OK to trade our cars in to a dealer for a fraction of what they're worth, but we're not willing to sell it to another individual person for the same price, or slightly more? When dealing with individuals I've heard people go as far as saying "I'd trade it in to a dealer (for a loss) before I'd sell it to you for $xxxx (a moderate prfit!)". I just don't understand! To me this demonstrates our societies spiteful attitude toward each other and our subconscious acceptance of a greedy, corrupt corporate America.

My suggestion! Next time you are thnking about buying a new car or bike and trading in your car or bike, get the dealers best offer, then find a friend, relative or deserving person and sell your car to them for the dealers offer, sort of a pass-it forward gesture and you lose nothing!

Of coarse, if you never trade in your vehicle and usually sell it privately for fare market value, I have no problem with that and this doesn't apply to you.

BTW: I know a dealer IS a business and therefore they are there to make a profit and pay their bills and employees,,, BUT,,,, do they have to pay ALL their salaries for the year off MY DEAL!!!!!!!!!!!

Like my local dealer Midsouth Motoplex in Clarksville TN. EVERYTHING in that store is marked ABOVE retail price, and the sales and service (especially service) are below par,,, but that's another story for another thread.

Phil
 
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Our Toyota dealer is pre-conditioned. When they see my wife coming, they hang their heads knowing they're about to get a beat-down. After 13 yrs with the same salesman, he KNOWS he's going to offer top dollar for a trade-in and as close to invoice on the new car or there is no deal.

Dealers have the MSRP, Invoice, what they actually paid for the car, then it is hit with manufacturer incentives, authorized discounts and depreciation if it is a holdover. If you get the car for even invoice, they are making a VERY good sum of money from it. They will never let on that this is the case.

We've walked from deals and told 'em we're going to the next dealer down the road. They usually call my cell phone within the same day asking to come back to the table and cut the deal. But now that they know we know their hand, they just shut up and write it up.

It's your hard-earned money. Never let a dealer think THEY are in the driver's seat. If that's the case, drive to the next dealer until YOU get the deal you are happy with.

Now your idea of paying it forward? Brilliant! Why not? I love it!!! I actually never thought of it like that and it makes total sense. I'd do it if I was still trading but my wife and I finally stopped payments, bought our two Toyota's outright and plan on keeping them until they die a natural death. First time in 20 years we've been without payments. Loving it.
 
On one hand you castigate the dealer for low balling you, then you say the owner should sell it to a friend for that same amount (plus a small premium). That makes no sense from a financial standpoint. As the owner of the vehicle you should get the maximum, fair market value for the item and not giving it away for a fire sale price to an acquaintance. If you want to do that go ahead, but it is counterproductive and throwing money away, imo. Frankly, I'm not interested in giving a friend a $2,000-$3,000 advantage because I'm too lazy to market the vehicle on my own. Selling it to a dealer has it's advantages in convenience and to many people that is worth the price offered. To each their own, but I thought the idea was to minimize the cost of vehicle ownership. I'm not going to confuse charity with good business sense. Keep charity separate.
 
Evitzee said:
On one hand you castigate the dealer for low balling you, then you say the owner should sell it to a friend for that same amount (plus a small premium). That makes no sense from a financial standpoint. As the owner of the vehicle you should get the maximum, fair market value for the item and not giving it away for a fire sale price to an acquaintance. If you want to do that go ahead, but it is counterproductive and throwing money away, imo. Frankly, I'm not interested in giving a friend a $2,000-$3,000 advantage because I'm too lazy to market the vehicle on my own. Selling it to a dealer has it's advantages in convenience and to many people that is worth the price offered. To each their own, but I thought the idea was to minimize the cost of vehicle ownership. I'm not going to confuse charity with good business sense. Keep charity separate.
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I believe it's not the intent to lose money by his point. His point is, if you are intent on trading and accepting what the dealer offers BECAUSE you don't want to make the effort of a personal sale, then why not extend that discounted price to a good friend instead if that was what you're willing to accept in the first place. ;)
 
Buying and selling almost anything to a friend or co worker can get weird real fast and lots of hurt feelings.

I almost always prefer to sell to a stranger to avoid feelings.

Car dealers are in it for the maximum profit on every sale.
 
FZ1inNH said:
I believe it's not the intent to lose money by his point. His point is, if you are intent on trading and accepting what the dealer offers BECAUSE you don't want to make the effort of a personal sale, then why not extend that discounted price to a good friend instead if that was what you're willing to accept in the first place. ;)
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Fair point. But as someone else just said, selling to friends can get real weird real fast. I can see selling it to a buddy at a great price and then the transmission goes out, he'll come back to you saying you gave him that great price because you knew the tranny was bad. Hurt feelings all around. I just prefer to sell it myself at fair value or let the dealer do it as a trade. Case closed and no issues to worry about later on.
 
I think people are missing the point.

Selling or not, to a friend or relative isn't the point.
Selling at or below market value isn't really the point either. Please reread the 12th sentence.

Why do some of us willingly let a business like an Auto Dealer get away with buying our stuff at a 70% discount and never give it a second thought, and we would be appalled and insulted if an individual made us the same offer. Why deny the same benefit to an individual. That is kinda the point.

Auto dealers are generically known for their dishonesty, price gouging, number games, making you "feel" like you got a good deal all the while ripping you off. Convenient, maybe, good deal NO! but as a whole, we accept it.

No offense was meant to anyone. Please reread the original post, take your time. Try to understand the actual meaning of what was written. Most of the time we are all guilty of Scanning rather then reading for comprehension, Myself included.
 
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Evitzee said:
Fair point. But as someone else just said, selling to friends can get real weird real fast. I can see selling it to a buddy at a great price and then the transmission goes out, he'll come back to you saying you gave him that great price because you knew the tranny was bad. Hurt feelings all around. I just prefer to sell it myself at fair value or let the dealer do it as a trade. Case closed and no issues to worry about later on.
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If you explain, the cheap price as "What the dealer offered me on trade-in + $100" then he knows exactly "Why" the reason for the price.

It's common knowledge, you take a chance when buying anything used, whether from a dealer, individual, where ever, whatever. If your friend tries to hold it against you, that you gave him a great deal, he's not much of a friend anyway, and not to smart.
 
Phil_RC_1 said:
Why do some of us willingly let a business like an Auto Dealer get away with buying our stuff at a 70% discount and never give it a second thought, and we would be appalled and insulted if an individual made us the same offer. Why deny the same benefit to an individual. That is kinda the point.
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I think we let the dealer 'get away' with it because the transaction includes an element of getting a new vehicle in the deal, that comforts people; we want the shiny new object. The other reason is convenience, many people don't want the hassle, are lazy, or not comfortable advertising a vehicle privately and having strangers come to their home. All of those issues are missing in doing the same deal with an aquaintence, we feel we are giving too much away in that situation whereas the dealer route masks the financial element. A lot of it is psychological, but the manufacturers and dealers use that to sell product. It's true in all retailing.
 
I've only ever traded 1 thing in at a dealer and that was my Ducati. I got like 4-500 under bluebook I dont remember for sure, totally worth it to be out from under that money pit with no extra hassle.

Now when we got rid of her trailblazer the dealer offered us 3k (high mileage) I sold it for 6400.

I think a lot of it is the fact that if you trade it in nobody knows who it belonged to previously, therefore can't come after you. There are people out there like that.
 
" Why is it OK to give a dealer a great deal but not your friend! "

........... Because the dealer wont bitch, moan, cry, turn you into the bad guy and ask for a refund 1, 6 or 12 months later if even the smallest issue turns up .


I prefer to never see something again once its sold.

I could count the friends/family on one hand that I would even remotely consider selling something too.
 
Wow, I didn't expect such conviction in response to this thread. I'm 52 and as a rule, never trade-in at a dealer,, I always try to sell for fare market value, and if a friend wants to buy whatever I'm selling, I will usually give them a little better deal then I would give a total stranger. This hasn't happened that often mind you, but I have sold to family/friends and had no real issues.

When the guy at my work decided to sell his car at trade-in offer, I just thought it was a honorable idea, that he paid it forward, so to speak, and I,, being the friend who bought it for my son actually appreciated it,, and the car did break down at some point but the thought never crossed my mind to go bitch at my friend who had done a good thing by me.!! Some-People!!!! I guess!!!!!
 
I've sold things to friends but these are people I trust and who know the sale is "AS IS" without expectations. I'm also very up-front with any known problems so they know before they buy what it will take to fix it or what to expect to break next.

Unless you're buying certified used with a warranty, you are buying someone else's problem regardless. I've told my kids, if you're buying a car for under $7k, expect to put money into it and if it's under $5k, it's a money pit riddled with issues. Steer clear.
 
FZ1inNH said:
I've sold things to friends but these are people I trust and who know the sale is "AS IS" without expectations. I'm also very up-front with any known problems so they know before they buy what it will take to fix it or what to expect to break next.
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Sounds about right. Stipulating "as-is" and Being honest and up-front is the only way to do business (friend or stranger!!) and can help head-off those disgruntled buyers coming back on you.

BTW: I'm NOT suggesting that you other guys who have had issues selling to friends were dishonest and cheated your own friends,,, I am sayin you might wanna reconsider who your friends are though!!!,,,,,,,,,, I'm joking,, I'm joking!!! :angel:,, Seriously though, I smell what you guys are stepping in,,, and I have certain "friends" that I would never consider doing business with (buying or selling) but over the years, that hasn't stopped me from dealing with my other friends and family with no issues.

FZ1inNH said:
Unless you're buying certified used with a warranty, you are buying someone else's problem regardless. I've told my kids, if you're buying a car for under $7k, expect to put money into it and if it's under $5k, it's a money pit riddled with issues. Steer clear.
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True,, true!!!
 
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