The Difference in Buying & Selling

**Beemerboy** · 03-26-2008, 10:17 AM

Yesterday I was looking at a 1998 Chevy S10 pickup...nothing special about this truck...white, with a matching camper shell, alloy wheels.

Anyway the sales guy starts talking about the plus points of the truck...the camper shell, upgraded alloy rims, new tires, recent new brakes, etc.

Then I got to thinking about all the cars that I have traded into dealerships and how they down played those exact things about MY trade-in

We all here share in same fact that we like keeping our vehicles real clean to protect the investment...and when that day comes that we sell the car, it would draw better $$$ over others of similar years.

What makes me laugh is the way they down play at trade in time only to turn around and up play those features in the sell

I guess I`m easily amused

**Stephan** · 03-26-2008, 10:22 AM

The mark of a true car salesman I suppose...

The best part is trading in your car to a dealer, where like you said they tell you its faults and the fact that it has `x` amount of miles on it takes away from the value, and the price they give you for the car is low...

Then they put it on the lot to sell it, call them back and inquire about the car, the miles are now low and a plus, the car is in great condition and it costs twice as much as you just traded it in for....

**BlueZero** · 03-26-2008, 10:46 AM

Here`s a good but long read on that subject.... Confessions of a Car Salesman

**dr_detail** · 03-26-2008, 06:30 PM

a difference between buying and selling can be explained by this annalogy....

"I read that a car can be washed in 5 minutes.... and I ain`t buying it!!!"

**cwcad** · 03-27-2008, 05:51 AM

Originally Posted by BlueZero

Here`s a good but long read on that subject.... Confessions of a Car Salesman

Yes that was an interesting read. I felt good realizing that I am a pretty good consumer. I do my homework and am a hard barginer when negotiating with a car dealer.

what I also foundout/remember is that all the good homework and negotiating is only as good as your metal to maintain it.

I remember when I purchased my black truck how I had been hard core with all the dealers on each offer. I actually had some good deals but the trucks that I had been looking at did not really grab me so I managed to stay above it all. That is until I found my black truck. The truck just captured my imagination of what I could make it look like rather than how much I was going to spend. I have a small car to trade in and took less for the vehicle than what I had been offered at other dealerships. I wanted this truck. It was not the salesman or the dealership that turned me into a stupid consumer. It was my imagination that did me in.

Years later and still owning the truck I have been back to the dealership many times to see if I could get a loyalty trade in price for my vehicle. With each new salesman my folder is brought out when we go into the office to start the process of barginning for the purchase of a new vehicle and the trade-in of my old truck. The negotiations seems to falter each time when they get that folder out with the old purchase transaction documents. I notice each time that they peruse this folder they have a moment of solemnity but when completed they lok up at me and smile. It is then that I imagine that they are looking at my forehead that has big red letters printed on it that says, "SUCKER." The negotiations soon falter. But then again...nothing has caught my imagination as did my black truck.

Beemerboy, I had a salesman tell me once that my after market wheels actually devalued my truck vs the stock wheels that came with it. It may or may not be true but t is certainly not something that I want to hear from a salesman at the start of the negotiating process.