Basically, when it's time to sell, if you're not considering a private sale, go to Carmax first for the appraisal and take it with you. It's good for 7 days and 1000 miles, I believe. Then go get it appraised at dealerships. Why not? Minimally, you'll get the carmax price. If it's too low, then private sale may be the way to go.

Does anyone know if a dealership will just straight buy back a car? I'm not looking to trade it in. I'm assuming they would.

Absolutely. You can sell your car at a dealership. They have a used car lot?

Actually, I'm just making assumptions. I would think so, though.

they do. but they won't pay you more than trade in

They may choose to, they may not. Autotrader has a list of dealers that will.


For carmax, they offer the lowest price a similar car has auctioned for recently, usually right about the KBB "fair" trade in price...assuming the car is in good shape.

It pays to be an alert and comparative shopper, too. A few years back, there were dealerships that ran limited time specials where they would buy any car and beat or match any CarMax price quote, so if you brought them your car and the quote, they would meet it.

CarMax gave me $29k for my '09 370Z (MN6/sport/nav/touring/5k miles) back in May. I was very happy with that...it was right at the "private party sale" value per Edmunds and far more than I could've gotten on trade.

I also sold them an '08 Armada LE with 55K miles on it (bought new in July '07) right around the same time for $25k. I was pleasantly surprised by that price as well and I can guarantee I'll go to them before even considering a trade-in from here on out.

^What do you drive now???

It's simple. If you're considering a trade in shop expect to receive less and if you're not ok with that then sell it private party. They guys need to make money too, they are offering you a service and thus you need to pay for it. I'd say the spread to be expected would be in the $2k range at least.

It's October and snow is coming, you have no leverage, prepare to get raped

Go to autotrader and get the autostrader quote that is what my dealer asks me to do.

I just sold my 06 g35 coupe to Carmax lately and here is what I can tell you. I have a buddy owns a lot sale cars and we put my car on sale this April. Price was same as KBB retail price. Only 2 hits in 2 monthes and both bailed out. After 2 monthes we dropped the price below the KBB value still no bite. In September, I started to take my car to all the dealerships asking for appraisal. From Infiniti to Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Hyndai... I don't have a job so I have plenty of time. The results are very disapointing. They all offered 5k below the KBB trade in value. A side note, I converted my g35 to stock. The car has no accident, paint is in great condition and it runs excellent. So I took it to Carmax at last, surprisingly they offerred me 2-3K above other dealerships. I tried few more car dealerships afterwards in 7 days, no one can beat Carmax offer though it's still below the KBB trade in value by 2k. I was very happy at that point and sold my car to Carmax.

Here is my opinion... Private sale will give you the best $$. But a rwd sports car is not very popular in our region nowadays especially the winter is coming. Even I could offer finance and I had plenty of time to sale it, no luck for the entire summer. If you plan on sale it yourself, you have to be prepared it's gonna take a long time + insurance + tax + maintenance and other headaches. Otherwise if you plan on sell it back to dealerships, Carmax is the best place to go first.

heck yeah i did, but i ended up not going the carmax route and ended up getting $4500 out of my old cobalt which then went towards the down payment on the Z on top of what i had already saved for a down payment...in the end if you have the patience and time to sell private party it is worth it as long as you are fair with your price.

I am trading my 2011 Infiniti sedan in on a 370Z that I ordered. Went to three dealerships and all three including carmax gave me the same price which is trade in.

In Louisiana (do not know about other states), a trade in reduces the sales tax on the purchase price. In other words, I will pay sales taxes on the difference between the new vehicle and the trade in saving me $2400 in sales taxes.

was offered 23k at my local nissan dealership. just sold it privately for 25.6k (including my tire and wheel warranty). kbb value with 35000 miles is 26.6k in "good" condition with my options touring, sport nav etc. I think with the current economy and the time of year in my region I kinda lucked out on what I got. these cars are tough to sell right now. I put it up for sale at the beginning of summer for 28k and I put about 10k miles on over the summer.