Trading in or private party sale?

[Aluminsx]

So I was on another Forum (Pelican Parts) and one of the posters was trying to sell a BMW motorcycle to buy another one and asked for advise on the merits of selling vs trading in. The seller was from California and was offered $6,500 bucks for his bike with all the bling taken off or $7,500 with all the extra stuff by the dealer on trade for a new BMW motorcycle. The original poster said that if he were to sell the bike privately he would ask 9k for it but, ultimately, decided to trade the bike in.

I chimed in saying that I would rather sell the bike to another member of the forum rather than trading it in to the dealer. My hypothetical scenario was that a person contacted the original poster and offered him the same money that the dealer was offering (I guess in California you don't get any sales tax break on a trade in). All things being equal the seller gets the same amount of money, the buyer gets a good deal on the bike, and the dealership does not get to mark up the trade. Is this unreasonable? I got hit pretty hard on the forum with a couple of guys saying it's the seller prerogative to do whatever he chooses (I totally agree with that but I'd rather be nice to another enthusiast than give the dealership several thousand dollars)

If I wanted to trade in my NSX and was offered 20k for it and really needed to get rid of it I would rather let a fellow Primer make out than the dealership making 5-10 grand on the deal. In New York you get a sales tax benefit so I'd need to get 21.6K for the car to get the same money (just a hypothetical here...my car is not for sale). I'm just wondering if I'm way off base.

 

[docjohn]

it all depends on a sellers ability to "sell" the item.....personaly a solid trade in value outways the bs trying to sell a vehicle to john q public, unless I already have a firm buyer.

 

[Aluminsx]

That's the scenario that the buyer is committed to buying the vehicle at the trade in value. Any BS would make it a no deal because that's what you're paying the dealer for (the convenience of not having to deal with any bull). I just read a post on here where a guy bought an NSX for 15K. Everyone said it was a steal and I'd agree. What if the dealership only offered the seller 15k for the car? Now a guy comes along and offers the same money. Everyone wins in my book (except the dealership that would have turned around and sold the car for 24k).

 

[itrsteve]

If its a car that I care about I only sell them private party and to great people. I'm still in touch with the people that own my two previous m3's and one of my type R's and it has so much value giving good people great deals rather than dumping them off at carmax.

 

[jond]

Trading in only works for normal cars.
With the NSX, you could have a 15 year old example with over 100,000 miles that's still worth $35,000. Good luck getting that from a dealer.
If you want to sell quick, set the price really low and sell it yourself. You'll still come out way ahead of trading it in.

 

[robr]

Trading in only works for normal cars.
With the NSX, you could have a 15 year old example with over 100,000 miles that's still worth $35,000. Good luck getting that from a dealer.
If you want to sell quick, set the price really low and sell it yourself. You'll still come out way ahead of trading it in.

true. i was once looking at a used TL and the dealer said are you trading in the NSX? i said hell no, you couldn't possible offer me enough. he said true, best i could do is probably around 14K.