James1906

I wanted to get some advice from the forum who have "pre-traded" their vehicles for a C7 (or previous unreleased order to build Corvette gen.)

I currently have a 2006 Black C6, A6, 3LT, with exterior and interior mods with 51K miles (title in hand.) I have an offer from a local dealer in Illinois to take my car on “pre-trade” for $24K with the tax savings coming to about $2200 towards a new C7 convertible.

This would be my first build to order car purchase. And definitely my first none test drive car purchase. So for me $71K is a big deal without ever driving the dang thing. At this point, I have no issues trading in my car towards a C7 convertible (I'd prefer to sell my car outright.) But If I'm going to trade and pay MSRP, I'd like to get the best trade-in price for my car and I would love to take delivery by March 2014 (around my birthday.) I’m not sure when this local dealer would get their orders placed, nor am I sure they would get their orders pulled before another higher Corvette volume dealer.

Have you any of you ever done a “pre-trade”? (never heard that term before.)

How did the process go? Did you receive a check for your vehicle on the day of the trade? Did the dealer honor your tax savings weeks or months after the trade in was completed towards your new vehicle purchase?

Have any of you done this for out of state dealers?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Rob2000Vette

my understanding is you trade your car today, the dealer gets your car to try to sell now. Yes they honor the 24K trade in against the new vehicle and you save the sales tax. Here is the kicker, they have to keep your 24K until your car comes in otherwise it would not be considered a trade. If they give you your 24K cash back to you then it would be considered a purchase from you and not a trade in on the new C7.

There is nothing wrong with doing this, you just need to understand you will not have your car nor the 24K cash until your new Vette arrives.

texvette2

I've done it a couple of times. But I usually have 3 or 4 cars around. What is
good, let them have the car now, get your money. You don't have to worry about a
an expensive fix coming up while waiting. Having a wreck and dealing with a
diminished value car and negotiating a trade again

I've had the option of putting the money on the car, getting a check less new deposit

jschindler

I've done it more than once, but with a dealer I know extremely well and I deal directly with the owner. My concern with doing it now is that you don't know when they will get an allocation for a convertible, and if you don't know the dealer really well you are putting yourself at the mercy of their credibility.

For sure I would make them write you a check for your car, have everything in writing and very specific, and be sure you know how long they can keep your car on the books as a trade.

michaelinmech

A pre-trade can be good for both the dealer and you.

You are using the agreed trade in value of you car as a large deposit toward the new one. Dealer gets your car now to sell - you get a frim price now.

Make certain that, if for some unforeseen reason, you have to back out of the deal, that you will be getting either your car or the trade value back in cash.

AORoads

I like all the posts above. What I don't know is how to nail down two things: what Michael wrote re either your car back, or the cash it was agreed to; or the actual C7 allocation to the dealer. I also like the fact that Jim uses an owner to the do the deal with, but that may not be mandatory.

I think what I'd do is have the "contract" read over by a lawyer with your specific input of what you want done, to be certain it's in there. But even before I did that, I'd find out for certain that this dealer HAS an allocation and that you will be at/close to the top in ordering your car (if this is a convertible). Without that, I'd go to another dealer that definitely has an allocation.

green2000

This is what I did. Dealer also gave me the option to for me to keep my trade until my car came in at a lesser trade amount. Both arrangements were fair to me.

C6VINCE

I "traded" my 2005 c6 back in late may for 23; ill get another 1800 or so tax benefit. They wanted to hold on to the money until my blade silver baby shows up, but I demanded a check on the spot. They initially balked, but then agreed to it. The bread is sitting in the bank. There was no way I was going to give up my mag red mint c6 AND not have one penny in my pocket. This wait has been long enough, let alone not having the $ in hand! BAsed on the wording in the paperwork, my pre trade will still give me the tax benefit. Stand your ground and say you want the cash.

Big Dan 427

OP check your states laws, I believe that in some states there is a time frame from which the transaction has to be completed. It may be by end of any given calendar year or a specific time frame, i.e. 6 months. Check into those details and get everything in writing and notarized if possible.

450hp mike9

I traded my car on 9/3 and 30 days later I had to pay tax on the deference . This is what I waited 30 days for

They also applied $498 from my GM card.

harley2

Did trade in June to save few thousand on taxes!
Dealer has had 30k+ for the last few months!
My C7 got built a couple days ago!

Grand Sport 13'

I've decided to sell my 13 while I'm waiting for the C7 I have yet to order. Surprisingly Carmax offered me 49k for my GS. Bought it used a year ago for 53k....I'm happy. Just gotta bank some cash now while I wait

BRCC

I have done a couple early trades with my local dealer over the years and basically you get todays trade in value plus the tax break. This time I had a WC Z06 a friend of mine wanted and he knew I was going to get a C7, my dealer let us do a in & out where I negoiated the price between my friend and my self and basically sold it through the dealership and the money went as trade in to the C7. Our dealer charged a nominal fee ($200) to do the transfer and paper work.

Note some states will allow this and some will not, being I do not know the laws in your state you might check on that.

Doing the in & out technically you sell the car your self, therefore, getting higher than trade in value and still getting the tax savings on the trade in.

Altman

i went to kerbeck and we agreed on the trade in. kerbeck said to bring the car back on monday for them to keep since i had no way to get home. went back monday and the "liars" changed the trade in. they are the sleaziest people in the world to deal with. i won't go into the entire story but i raised hell. went home and made some calls the general manager? went to BRYNER Chevrolet who are CLASSY AND NICE. Car now at 3400..........by the way they took the deal the crooks at kerbeck backed out of. they also have my car and drove me home. karbeck might be the biggest but they are also SLIMY
GO TO BRYNER.........

AORoads

Suns_PSD

You have lost the sales tax credit for this trade-in. When they write up your Sales Order for the new car, they will have to charge you sales tax in the total price. They can't very well subtract $23k off the Sales Order when they already have given you that money.

James1906

Wow! thanks guys. Please keep your experiences and opinions coming. This really helps. I also need to check Illinois law on the time limit on pre-trade for taxes. If someone already knows, please share.

C6VINCE

Wrong! Sales order was already written up and the tax is based on the balZnce after the trade.

Larry/car

I personally will not do a pre-trade. You don't have the car, the new car might not arrive on time, paperwork could get messed up and you have to pay sales tax on the full price. I negotiate the deal and trade in price prior to placing the order. With the profit cushion currently in place, a few dollars either way shouldn't be a problem.

Altman

In the state of pa. You only pay taxes on the balance AFTER the trade