You won't be liable for any repairs unless they discover that you did something illegal, like roll back the odometer.

For a 16 year old car, the dealer is going to send it to an auction service and people (often small lots and private resellers) will bid on the car.

You don't need to do anything about the car - the dealer will knock the price off your purchase and charge you for the remaining purchase amount.

About the last point, the thing you should realize is that dealer profit is based on price of new car + profit from sale of your car + financing commission. So if the dealer offers you more for the trade-in but charges your more for the new car, you are not really getting a good trade-in value. Many people like to negotiate each aspect separately (sell your old car to carmax, get financing from bank, and negotiate a new car price) for better transparency

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for this. I forgot to mention that two years ago I took it to Carmax and the dealership is offering the same amount now that Carmax was going to give me two years ago. I'm comfortable with the offer. My question is if it's an issue that the car needs repairs? Is it final sale once I sell it to them even if they find an issue they don't like afterwards? The car is so old I can't imagine they're trying to resell it.

No get a new price. Car prices have gone up. Also look at the retail price if you sold it yourself.

Car sales are final once they’ve paid you and taken the car. Same as if you bought a used car from them.

Thanks for this. I forgot to mention that two years ago I took it to Carmax and the dealership is offering the same amount now that Carmax was going to give me two years ago. I'm comfortable with the offer. My question is if it's an issue that the car needs repairs? Is it final sale once I sell it to them even if they find an issue they don't like afterwards? The car is so old I can't imagine they're trying to resell it.

I was once offered $100 by the dealer and $1000 from Carmax. Defintely get a second number. You can make an appointment on line. Took 15 mins.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 16 year old car. A dealership is offering $2,000 for our existing one after checking it out. Is there anything I need to be aware of before going in? The car needs some repairs and isn't in great shape, but they didn't ask for any specifics on it. They didn't drive it, only looked it over. I checked the lowest condition box on the form.

A few questions:
-Will they a week from now call me saying there are things wrong with the car so I have to refund the money or are all sales final?
-Are they planning to just pull the valuable parts out of the car to sell so the condition doesn't matter?
-What do I need to know going into this sale? What's going to happen?

I'd prefer not to shop around and just get this over with. But like I said the car needs some repairs, and I don't know exactly what those are.

Thank you!

You should at least get a quote from Carvana and Carmax to see if they can beat it. I think for Carmax you might have to drive to one of their locations but Carvana comes to you. When I sold my car years ago I got a quote from Carmax that was lower than what the dealer offered me but I felt better at least knowing. I know people who have gotten some pretty crazy offers from Carmax for beaters.

The dealer will give as little as possible so definitely shop that quote around to the dealers above. You will get more than what you think. Once the check clears and they have your title, you are free and clear even if the car catches on fire.

Anonymous wrote:I have a 16 year old car. A dealership is offering $2,000 for our existing one after checking it out. Is there anything I need to be aware of before going in? The car needs some repairs and isn't in great shape, but they didn't ask for any specifics on it. They didn't drive it, only looked it over. I checked the lowest condition box on the form.

A few questions:
-Will they a week from now call me saying there are things wrong with the car so I have to refund the money or are all sales final?
-Are they planning to just pull the valuable parts out of the car to sell so the condition doesn't matter?
-What do I need to know going into this sale? What's going to happen?

I'd prefer not to shop around and just get this over with. But like I said the car needs some repairs, and I don't know exactly what those are.

Thank you!

You should at least get a quote from Carvana and Carmax to see if they can beat it. I think for Carmax you might have to drive to one of their locations but Carvana comes to you. When I sold my car years ago I got a quote from Carmax that was lower than what the dealer offered me but I felt better at least knowing. I know people who have gotten some pretty crazy offers from Carmax for beaters.

I have a 16 year old car. A dealership is offering $2,000 for our existing one after checking it out. Is there anything I need to be aware of before going in? The car needs some repairs and isn't in great shape, but they didn't ask for any specifics on it. They didn't drive it, only looked it over. I checked the lowest condition box on the form.

A few questions:
-Will they a week from now call me saying there are things wrong with the car so I have to refund the money or are all sales final?
-Are they planning to just pull the valuable parts out of the car to sell so the condition doesn't matter?
-What do I need to know going into this sale? What's going to happen?

I'd prefer not to shop around and just get this over with. But like I said the car needs some repairs, and I don't know exactly what those are.

Thank you!