blksolara

I'm exploring a resale or trade in of my wife's 2014 Lexus IS350 F Sport. It currently has 88K miles on it, no accidents, garage kept with all maintance/service done. We love the car but life happened, and we need a bigger car for our 2 kids.

Originally, I was looking to trade it in for a new 2022 Lexus NX but inventory is so low, I cant even get allocation. I'm now thinking if I should go ahead and just sell it, KBB estimates $20-$24K.

I could use some advice, what are your thoughts? Sell it now while market for used cars is hot? or do you think I can hold onto it for another year or two and the value will keep up. We hardly drive it and put about 20 miles every month on it.

Please let me know.

Thanks,

macmaster

1) Purchase your NX at MSRP. You say you can't get an allocation but this is a mass-produced car. It's not like an IS500. Search other dealers, search out of state dealers. Get on a waiting list. Put deposits down. I can tell you've done some research but you're going to need to work harder at this and get a little lucky. You can do it!
2) After you've purchased your new car, list your IS350 on the private market. It'll sell no problem. Use local classifieds or local apps like OfferUp. You'll get several thousand dollars more than a dealership.

This maximizes your savings and profit. This only works if you're financially stable and can afford a new car without selling the old one. This is one example of how the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. When people are forced into situations, you can't make the best financial decision. Hopefully that's not your case. Good luck!

blksolara

Thanks for the advice, I never sold a car before in the private market but I'll give it a try. I could use the bump given recent econcomy.

mcomer

You lose your privacy when you sell privately. Couple of steps to minimize the concerns
include meeting for showings away from your home or work. Prepare to transact business
in a secure location, check your town's Police Station for facilities you can use. Completely
clean out your car, check the Owner's Manual folder for old repair orders or Insurance Cards
that have your address and phone number. This step is true even when using the Dealer.
In IL (not sure about CA) you get a tax reduction based on the trade-in value. If buying a
$50K car and trading a $15K car you pay tax on the $35K transaction. (you paid tax when
you bought it, right?). Current conditions have altered all the values but not the underlying
methods of buying and selling cars (and houses).

macmaster

True. Conceal your personal information during test drives and initial meet-up(s). When it comes time to sell though, there's nothing you can do about it. Your address will be on the title. You'll get their address and drivers license number, which also go on the title. You'll have each other's information. It's a 2 way street.

My point is, assuming you trust the buyer and everything checks out, you don't need to be concerned about your personal information being given to the buyer. He'll be as worried about you as you are of him.

liazon

iTrader: (1)

Selling privately is definitely the way to go. Trade-in value stinks. It’s purely for convenience and it costs way too much. I’ve sold all my cars privately on craigslist. Sure you get your share of potential scammers but you can weed through them quickly as their scams are obvious. I always have a telephone conversation with the buyer before meeting up with them. You can tell a lot from a phone conversation about the type of person you’re dealing with. If you aren’t comfortable with the person just say you’ve already got a buyer lined up at you’ll let them know if it changes.

once the right buyer decides they want the car, and you agree on price , always do a nonrefundable security deposit of i.e. $500. use a written agreement that states you’ll hold the car for x number of days while the buyer sets up payment. If he doesn’t come through in the timeline he loses the money. Complete the transaction at a bank. Wire transfer or cash only (unless you don’t hold title then you’ll have to make arrangements with your lender)