Just wondering if it made that much of a difference? I usually keep my truck pretty clean, but not detailed clean (at least not everyday). Will a $200 detail save me more than that on trade in value? If not, I think I'll just give it a good clean...................

Thoughts?

Dealership is going to rip you a new one anyways. I would detail it for a private sale.

Quoted: Dealership is going to rip you a new one anyways. I would detail it for a private sale.

+1 They don't care. They just look at it, plug it into the blue book and that is it.

Get it detailed, but don't take it to trade the day you get it back. If the car looks like it was KEPT CLEAN, that goes a long way towards telling how you cared for and maintained it.

Quoted: Just wondering if it made that much of a difference? I usually keep my truck pretty clean, but not detailed clean (at least not everyday). Will a $200 detail save me more than that on trade in value? If not, I think I'll just give it a good clean................... Thoughts?

Dealers have price books and the like that they go by, so detailing won't be that huge a deal for them unless the car is in bad shape.

Now when making a private sale, even the tiniest detail can help you get your asking price.

Frankly, instead of spending 200 bucks to let someone else detail the car, I think you are better off going to Meguiars buying their products, and doing the detailing yourself. You will most likely end up spending a lot less than 200 bucks and doing a MUCH better job of it to boot.

Most "detailers" out there aren't detailers at all. They are just some bubba who thinks he knows how to make a car look good. A professional detailer with real training is worth every penny of the 200 bucks. To tell the difference, ask the "detailer" about what paint and finish care training they have.

Seemingly minor details like clean door jams and nicely cared for weatherstripping can help you get your asking price out of a private sale. A nicely detailed car CAN help you on the trade in value, but that is going to require you being one heck of a salesman. Don't make a point to say that you just had the car detailed either.

Quoted: Dealership is going to rip you a new one anyways. I would detail it for a private sale.

+1

Absolutely not.

They're gonna try and low ball you, then they'll detail it themselves. If you were putting it up for sale then it might matter, but the guy at the dealership isn't going to care.

I say clean it up as good as you can.  The stealer is gonna try and screw you anyways, but you might as well try to make it look good.  That way it will look like it's been taken care of.  When I was trading my 02 F150, every where I took it they offered more because they said it looked like new.

Do not trade it. The stealership will lowball you and say, well we cannot pay you that much because we can get them at auction cheaper. Bullllll @*%$  
I would venture to say that the dealer makes more profit from a clean used car than a new one.

Sell your vehicle on your own and pocket more $$

Been there, done that, learned my lesson.

Only one reason I will trade again. To unload a vehicle with a serious problem that I could hide, failing trans or engine, a lemon, etc. My consious would not allow me to screw an unknowing individual, but a stealership,........no problem.      

I have gotten half way decent trade in values on my vehicles. I have just detail cleaned them myself. I find it easier and more convienant for me to trade the damned thing than sell it myself. It all depends on the make/model/condition of the vehicle, etc...

With a dealer, you have to let them know you are serious and that YOU are the boss. DO NOT put up with their bullshit! Dont sign anything until you have read it in full and are completly satisfied, and have a sales contract. If they make you any promises, get them in writing. If they start haselling you, just walk! Their are a gazillion other dealers hungry for your business!

Do your reasearch or you WILL get RAPED. I cannot stress this enough...

Recently traded in a truck that I had advertised in the paper, and the auto trader for a MONTH! I could not get rid of this thing. It was in exellent condition with 30,000 miles. But it was a bare bones truck... power nothing... NOBODY wanted it...


Took it to the stealership... Looked at new cars, then talked trade...

Car stickered at $17K from my research... market value seemed to be $14K
I was willing to accept 14K cash for my truck... dealer said trade in value was 10K sight unseen...
Told the dealer I wanted an even trade... He said "sign this peice of paper that you will buy if I meet your price" I told the dealer I would not sign anything until I had a sales contract! Dealer starts going off on how he would "lose his job" I said "tough shit"

Some flunky comes back and offers me 50 bucks off the price... Told him that he had just insulted me...and I walked out.... "HOLD IT, I CAN MAKE YOU A DEAL!!!!" I said..."you have 10 minutes"

Comes back and says "well, we took another look at your truck and it is really clean, you took good care of it.... we can make your deal"

Well... I drove out of the stealership two hours later with a new car, traded evenly. No rust proofing, blah blah blah... just an F150 XL traded evenly for a new Ford Focus...

Which I thought was fair... I am sure the dealer made money... and he has every right to...

But he does not have the right to assrape me!

An even trade was quite a contrast to my trade +$4K!

Clean and wax the shit out of it. Clean the Engine too. I did that and they were like wow. It's garage kept right. I was like of course she was my baby. Little did they know how much those 3 coats of wax hid the faded paint.

Dealers have their own detail people who detail every car anyway they get paid whether or not you do it and they will give you no better deal for saving them the work. Make it presentable and take it in.

Better yet, try to sell it yourself, the fewer figures all mixed up in the paperwork, the harder it will be for them to manipulate the # and .... you in your virgin cornhole.

Nah, Give It A Good Clean And Good To Go....

In alot of cases the dealership needs to meet quotas(uncle had a Chrysler dealership), they will actually give u way over book value if ur buying a new car from them. They are willing to break even on the trade in, when they sell it, and hope to get the new buyer into a warranty or an extended service plan.

Always play one dealer against the other, they will fight for ur business

On a related note, I'll be getting rid of my Camaro soon in favour of an S4. The bonnet and front left quarter have some pretty evident scratching on them. Is it worth getting these parts re-sprayed before sale/trade-in? (The 'scratch-hiding' waxes at Kragens seem useless)

NTM

Most dealers don't care if its clean or not, because they will pay their people do it.  

Quoted: Quoted: Dealership is going to rip you a new one anyways. I would detail it for a private sale. +1 They don't care. They just look at it, plug it into the blue book and that is it.

+2 My neighboor is a sales manager at a toyota dealership.  He says they don't even care much about the condition as far as cleaning goes.  They will detail it anyways if they don't wholesale it.

Quoted: Just wondering if it made that much of a difference? I usually keep my truck pretty clean, but not detailed clean (at least not everyday). Will a $200 detail save me more than that on trade in value? If not, I think I'll just give it a good clean................... Thoughts?

No, they will clean it up anyway after you trade it in so they can jack up the price.

BTW, where do you go that you can get a $200 detail? A couple weeks ago my dad got his pickup detailed for $30 bucks.  

Give it a good cleaning but don't OVER clean it.  In other words don't remove your stuff from the trunk, glovebox etc.  This give the dealer the clue that you are REALLY wanting to buy TODAY!  If they think you are just casually interested in trading they will offer you more.  Also have the gas tank with about full to 3/4 full or so, if it's empty they think your desperate to get rid of it.  Don't wash it the same day as well.  You don't want any water in the door jambs and nooks and crannies (dead giveaway).  

When my wife traded in her car about 4 yrs ago.  The dealer even said, we didn't think you were serious about trading.  They gave us $2K more than we we're expecting!  

keep in mind, when u walk into a car dealer, they will do whatever they can to not let u leave without a car.

They screw you bad on trade-ins. My cousin recently bought a new car , wanted to trade his older car which was probably worth about $3000 in on a new car thats price was 18,000 before trade. The sales person said they would give him $1500 for his car taking the price down to 16,500. Then he asked whats the best deal he could get on buying it outright and kept his old car and they told him 15,500. Saved $1000 and got to keep his older car.

+3  NO Your gonna get it up the !@# anyway