Current Events > How tf does vehicle trade-in value work?

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I get an email from my dealer saying the bluebook value of my car is $29k, so they are willing to offer me a $15k trade-in credit. Even discounting the $5k I still have left to pay on this thing, that's still way lower than what they ackowledge it's worth.

Am I missing something?

Make a counter offer

And then I put my car into carvana and they are offering more than bluebook lol

car dealers are an outdated structure, assume everything they are trying to do is to rip you off as much as possible. Assuming you dont immediately need a car today, just buy it online through one of those online venders.

The email is going to show an inflated value to entice you into calling. KBB's supports this by also showing an inflated, best case scenario value to drive you to trade in through their site. Carvana needs product so they will inflate values. You just have to use the values against each other as part of the negotiation, but you'd rarely get the highest number unless you have a rare car that is highly sought after.

lilORANG posted...

And then I put my car into carvana and they are offering more than bluebook lol

As a person who used to work for Carvana, they almost always offer more because their business is to churn out inventory as fast as possible. Not matter how good or bad the condition of the car. They pretty much do whatever they can to grow inventory. Whether through buying from people, auctions, other dealers, ect.

Dealerships will rip you off to the furthest extent possible. Thats all there is to it, really