camry trade-in value?

[landofvanilla]

hi all, I just got a call from my toyota dealership and they said they're in need of certified toyota used vehicles, so they're prepared to make me an offer for my 04 camry LE if it's in good condition.

I'm interested, because i really want an 07. however I know that model might not go on sale til the end of the summer, AND I realize trade-in value at dealerships is usually less than what I could get selling it myself. But this would be directly selling the car to them, not trading in towards a new car..just yet.

Anyone have any experience with selling your car to the dealership? If so what's your opinion on the amount they offer you?

[Eye8Pussies]

usually, if you're just selling it to them, then you'll get the short-end of the stick

but if you trade in, then it's usually pretty fair- plus it saves you some tax

[JMSinMD]

We used to do this at my dealership as well. You're getting people to come in and sell their cars for less than their worth and then buy another car from them. It's NO special. Wait until you're ready. Jon.

p.s. best websites for car prices are

edmunds.com (the best, prices for MSRP and true invoice are spot on)
kbb.com
carmax.com
consumerreports.com (but I think they charge you)

If there are any questions you have feel free to private message me and I'll try to help you as much as I can. Whatever you wind up doing STAY AWAY from the F&I people who try to stick you with undercoating, paint treatment, rust proofing, alarms, etc that is where the dealer makes ALL the profit. DO NOT HAVE THEM DO ANYTHING TO YOUR CAR.

[shimpi]

On the other hand, Toyota usually has their ToyotaThon almost every Winter. That's the best time to get a new Toyota because that's when they have the lowest APR financing on a 60-month note through Toyota Motor Credit. Downside is, your credit rating has to be above 650 to qualify.

Personally, I almost always prefer a certified used Toyota over a new one because its more affordable and makes more sense to me. Since well maintained Toyota's usually retain a higher value compared to other Japanese imports, if I ever do decide to get a new Toyota, I'm confident I'll get good trade-in value.

Your 2004 LE is only two years old. Ever thought of leasing instead of buying? That way, it won't cost as much as buying, and you can just get a new Toyota every two years.

[JMSinMD]

Every month there is another 'sale.' They call it different things but it is just advertising. Remember the rebates that they offer should come off the lowest price you've agreed on because it's coming out of Toyota's pocket directly and not the dealership. Jon.

[Cyorke]

Just keep it until you are ready to buy the 07 if that is what you want to do. Like someone said you will probably get more on trade and you should save on the taxes since you will only pay taxes on the difference between your trade nad the new vehicle. If you jsut go sell it to them you are going to get wholesale value, less than what they can buy it for at auction. Trade in value is normally closer to waht they can actually buy it for at auction to put on their lot. Also when you do go to buy the new one you are going to pay taxes on the total amount of the new vehicle. if that is 35k dollars then the taxe will get pretty hihg. On the other hand if you trade yours in and you get 15k for it then you only pay taxes on the difference which is 20k. In some instances it can be a pretty significant saving. I am jsut using round numbers, in no way am I aying you will get 15 for your car. All of waht I said is based off of a used car dealership I worked for that worked similar to Carmax. IF someone wanted to jsut sell us their car we would give anywhere from 1000 to 3000 less than what we could get it for at auction. That way if we decided to take it there then we made a good profit off of it or if we decided to seel it on our lot the same thing applied. However if they were trading we would give them what we could get the car for if we were to buy it at auction.