Sounds good to me, MB. I’ve got a similar viewpoint from my huge-ass Mitsubishi estate thing.

br – you bought your 535i for less than £2k?!!!

-m- I am aware of that, having a brain and all that.

Bit irrelevant then to mention it I’d have thought? It’s misleading to talk about getting more P/X than you would have for a private sale as you’re not comparing like with like – the deal on the table when you buy a car will be totally different if there is no P/X involved.

-m- the fact is, we got a better price in p/x – the person I was replying to said private selling gets you better money. IMO it often doesn’t.

If we’d sold two recent cars privately, we’d have struggled to shift them for anywhere near the prices we got. We also haggled on the purchase price of the new cars and got them down.

Had we sold privately then bought separately we’d have been WORSE OFF. They also delivered the new car (one from Leicester, one from Croydon) to our door each time and drove the old car home saving us HEAPS of time and money. And there was no gap between sale of old car and purchase of new.

P/Xing was MUCH BETTER than selling the old one privately, however you try and spin it.

Having bought and sold many cars, I am aware of prices to change. Clearly a lot more aware than you in this instance.

Hmmm… I think we fundamentally differ here. P/Xing may be more convenient – which is what the dealer takes advantage of – but the overall deal is seldom better financially.

Your statements about getting a ‘better price’ P/X are what is misleading through your posts. You only have to visit an auction to see what your P/X was actually worth to the dealer (and then that includes margin for at least one and likely two other parties) – much less than he offers you as a sweetener in the fantastic deal he does with you, and less than you would take in a private sale. Given that this then eats into his margin he recoups by simply offering you a lower ‘discount’ on the sticker price; hence the cost to change is the only thing that’s important to you as the buyer and quoting the great deal you got with the trade-in value of your old car is irrelevant.

The rare exception is if you trade in a saleable same-brand nearly-new model at a franchise dealer where he can turn the car around and sell it on his own forecourt with no-one else involved; here you may get a better deal.

If you’re happy with your deals then that’s fine; but to talk about the trade-in value being ‘better’ than what you’d have got in a private sale is a flawed argument as (at risk of repeating myself) you’re talking about a different deal on the table. P/X works best when you’re trying to shift something that’s got problems 😉

Regarding the P/X issue,

The last 2 cars I purchased (from new) I managed to get big discounts on the RRPs which I was very happy with but poor amounts offered for the PX vehicles. On both occasions I went back to the dealers and told them I wanted the new car for the agreed price but would be selling my car privately. Dealers had no problems with that on either occasion (and I got about £1500 extra on each P/X car). So the P/X is not always an important part of the deal.

Oh, and on both occasions the P/X cars were 3/4 years old with low mileage and no problems. Managed to sell them privately very easily, at well over book price, so not sure why the dealers were not interested. Worked out fine regardless.

P/X can be a hassle for a dealer and they seldom make money on them (as above, they often ‘lose’ on paper). If you pull your P/X out of a deal they’re not normally going to flinch – which tells you a lot about how good the deal was for you!

There are times and people for whom P/X is simple and hassle free, but generally the trade’s success is built on people who walk away thinking they got a great deal.

-m- I’m getting a little narked with your patronising attitude. I’m extremely clued up on car values and am often asked to check them for friends and relatives. I KNOW what cars are worth.

In both cases we got a very good price for p/x AND bought for a good price too AND got lots of extras thrown in. Your justification is utter BS.

Yes I have had a very poor price for p/x before but I wanted the next car a lot so swallowed it. In this case we got a very good deal.

£6250 for a 2005 Astra 1.9CDTi 150 estate(last year) with 48k on the clock and over four years old at the time. I would have been happy with anything over 5k. Bought BMW 335d Touring just over two years old from Sytners with Used Approved cover and 16k miles for £21k which included delivery and pick up of the two cars, full service, full Supagarding, roof bars, a years tax and more. That is a VERY good deal both buying and selling.

£4000 for a late 2005 Suzuku Jimny softop with 23k on the clock. P/xed for a late 2007 LR Defender 110 XS station wagon with 37k on the clock. £20,500 with new floor mats (£250), tyres all round (£500++), service, Used Approved warranty, a years tax (£435) and some more bits.

They are both GOOD DEALS from proper dealers.

The Astra and Jimny were both advertised for less than the above figures in Autotrader – we got one response to the Jimny ad and that was it.

Like I said, we fundamentally differ. As long as you’re happy with your deal then that’s the important thing.

Myself, I’m really not into cars. I’m happy to trundle along in the T5 you can see behind the MR2. If I took my cycling competitiveness onto the road it would end in very big tears, I’m sure.

You’re not wrong about not being into cars, are you? That’s your T4 hiding back there, it’s not a T5 🙂

I’m with you all the way though – I’d take a van full of fun stuff, on the way to somewhere nice, over something flash anyday!

Like I said, we fundamentally differ. As long as you’re happy with your deal then that’s the important thing.

Yes we do – I know the value of cars, you don’t. I’ve bought new, used private and used dealer cars, p/xed, sold privately, sold to dealer (no p/x), etc many times so know what a good deal is.

I also haven’t factored in a massive advantage of how we bought – we got to check the entire country for the cars we wanted and sold to an “instant” buyer.

If we’d stuck to the local private market, we’d have been selling to a much smaller audience. So we got a good price for old cars and bought the best deals in the UK and also saved 100s in travel costs. If we’d stuck to private selling, we’d have had all that hassle (and time therefore money), got cr4p prices and had each car inspected with a fine tooth comb – both were in great nick but still a hassle.

I’m in awe.

You’re not wrong about not being into cars, are you? That’s your T4 hiding back there, it’s not a T5

Congratulations, you spotted the typo. I’m not always at my best the morning after a Thursday night ride……….

I just p/xed for a deal at a main dealer. I keep wanting to see that I’ve been fleeced somewhere but I did far better than I’d have ever done privately.

Guy’s, before everyone gets their knickers in a knot, there is not a hard and fast rule as to whether it’s best to p/x or not as there are too many variables involved. Dealers will aim to break even on true ‘Trade’ as generally low balling costs deals and high balling costs margin. Trade through auction is notoriously fickle and anyone who ‘knows’ what cars are worth is a better man than me and my years of experience. My advice as always, is to buy the car not the deal. Do your research, get a couple of opinions, check the history and if it seems like a good deal, fine. Also, as cars go wrong, ask yourself would I be confident I would be looked after.

Too late for that 😀

You’re right; which was the point I was trying to make that if you’re happy with the deal you get then everyone wins – however it’s been constructed/pitched/sweeteened.

if it aint broke…..

re: the MR2 – my mate had a 2 litre 16v turbo with all sorts of performance mods. It was a hooligan! Fantastic in a straight line, a little nervous round corners and not comfy at all. But it always put a smile on your face and that’s what good cars are supposed to do…

Good little car for not much money.