Negotiating Trade-In

[InTheRockies]

Hi Folks. I’m looking to purchase a new TT and considering trading in my current TT. Camping World offered me $15,500 as an outright purchase price for my trailer, and I’m not buying anything from them. The dealers I’m negotiating with for the new purchase are offering around $14k for my trade and aren’t budging. NADA value (FWIW) has my current trailer at $22,850 low retail. I’ve let the dealers know that I know the NADA value and shared that CW will purchase it outright for “X”.

So, my question is, what else can I do if anything to at lease get trade offers that match the CW purchase offer?

I can try to sell privately but timing wise would love to wrap up both transactions in one, rather than waiting for my trailer to sell.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[dedmiston]

InTheRockies wrote:
I guess I know at the least I have the cash offer from CW to fall back on.

I'm probably missing something, but what's the harm in just taking CW's offer and being done with it? Are you looking for more than they're offering?

I've sold plenty of cars, motorcycles, and other stuff, and the private RV sales are a lot harder. Usually with a motorcycle or a car, you pre-screen the texts and phone calls and then show it to two or three people before you're done. With an RV though, it's a lot more work to find just the right buyer. Think of how many RVs you walked through at a lot before you picked one. It's been a while now, but I think it took 2-3 months to sell my last trailer, and I showed it to 2-3 people per week.

[InTheRockies]

Thanks for all the info and advice. There’s no lien on my current trailer so that’s pretty straightforward. I’m prepping it to post on FB Marketplace and see what kind of response I get. I guess I know at the least I have the cash offer from CW to fall back on. I was able to negotiate pretty good deals on the purchase of the new trailer. Sales tax in my state isn’t too high, so I should be able to cover that difference pretty easily with a private sale. I do live in a very rural area, so a bit concerned about buyer pool. I may bring my trailer to the closest city and pay for a month of storage which isn’t very expensive and arrange to meet buyers there.

[StirCrazy]

ya if they won't match that one offer you got sell it there and put a down payment on it unless the tax savings covers that. one thing I always do is get the purchase price of the new unit to where you are ok with it before you even talk traid in. had one dealer ask about my traid in and I flat out told him "we will talk about that after we figure out how much I am paying for this unit" other wise they try to baffel you with numbers and you don't get the best deal on one of the other.

[fyrflie]

There is a group on Facebook that may be able to help with your transaction.
RV Pricing and Appraisal
For a fee they can give you an accurate appraisal of what your trailer is worth.

I have not used them but have read good things about them.
Good luck with your purchase.

[Walaby]

I think there's a number of variables in today's market that we haven't experienced in previous years.

1. Sales of new RV's continues to be hot. So, dealers less inclined to negotiate prices on new RV's. They still negotiate, but much harder to get the significant reductions from MSRP that have been routine in the past.

2. Hot market for used RV's. That plays to your advantage here in that as long as you ask a reasonable price for your RV, never a better time for private sale than now.

3. Inventory shortages. I don't know how it is lately, but there's been a real demand on inventory. So, makes finding a replacement harder.

If it were me, I would consider selling it separately. Depending on what you can sell it for, you will offset most, if not all, of the tax benefits to trading in. Work up a small spreadsheet to figure the tax reduction on a 15K trade, and then make sure you sell it for at least that much over 15K. Will be a net increase to you.

If it doesn't sell quickly, you can always still trade it in. Worth taking a shot.

Mike

[ken56]

The trailer market is hot so why not sell it yourself? Get that extra cash in your pocket instead of throwing it away so the dealer can make it on their sale. Post it on Facebook Marketplace or something similar...see what happens.

[p220sigman]

Seems to me that if you don't want to sell yourself, take the Camping World offer and go to whatever dealer you want to with a $15,500 down payment. The dealer doesn't care what the NADA value is. They are only concerned with what they can actually sell it for. It all ends up being a shell game. They agree to give you another $1,500 for your trade and then don't come off the price as much. It doesn't matter which you negotiate first. If you negotiate the trade-in price and they give you more for it, they don't come off of the price as much to account for the extra value of the trade. If you negotiate the price first and they come off of the price more, then they don't give you as much for your trade. Remember that it is a business transaction. The dealer has decided how much they need from the deal and will not likely dip below that without some other outside incentive coming into the mix.

The other option is decide what you are willing to pay for the new unit including your trade and negotiate from the bottom line. For me, the only number that really matters is what I have to pay for the new unit. Then the dealer can put whatever number they want on whatever line as long as the out-the-door price is what you are happy with.

You didn't indicate if you have a loan balance on the current TT, but that could certainly weigh into the mix if you are trying to cover the balance as a part of the deal. I still think it makes bottom line negotiation easier because they still have to figure in the payoff with the deal.

[RetiredRealtorR]

Bear in mind that when you trade-in a unit, your sales tax on the transaction is based on the trade difference, and not on the full purchase price of the new unit, so that in itself narrows the gap a bit.

I'm making the assumption that the $14,000 trade allowance is a net figure based on a discounted price on the new TT, and not an allowance to be deducted from the MSRP of the new TT.

I'd just use it as a negotiation tool. Take your offer from CW, in writing, with you to the dealer(s) you're trying to buy from. Then, make them a legitimate offer. Be ready to buy. Don't be wishy-washy. Tell them, for example, "if you give me $15,000 rather than $14,000 for my trade I will give you a deposit and sign the paperwork right now".