I have a Ford Focus I want to sell. Where can I find the trade in value Ford uses? I know they will try to rip us off.

Would also be nice to see what the truck is still worth.

Thanks!

Eric

 

kbb.com....then subtract some because they still want to make 2k a trade at most dealerships. Tha2k on the, not the too.

 

Thanks I was wondering if KBB or Nada is more accurate?

 

I've always taken an average of the two. KBB always seems to have a higher value than NADA (at least the times I've used it in the past).

At the end of the day, it's worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Have you thought about selling private party? Can usually get more than trade, though more hassle that way. Also, if you live in an area that has sales tax on vehicles, if you trade in you will only have to pay sales tax on the difference between trades. You may already know all of that... just my 2 cents.

Best of luck

 

KBB Fair trade in value for a pretty nice conditioned vehicle is probably a decent number to figure.

Take it to Car Max and they'll give you an actual wholesale value. Much over that and your "trade value" is just money coming off the value of having a new car sale. They aren't trying to rip you off, they just probably really don't need another used Focus on their lots. I sure don't. And yes, the reason we take a trade is to make money. Since most folks are smart enough to buy a used vehicle for under KBB we don't always (often?) make that $2k markup you may think. Additionally we have all the overhead such as the cost of CPO programs and washing and stuff. Ford doesn't care what a used vehicle is worth beyond the residual values of their leased units, and those tend to be higher than market value so I wouldn't use them as a factor.

Edit: If I can buy your focus at auction for x dollars, than it's worth x dollars. If you're trading it in and I give you more than x dollars it's because of the value of the new deal for me. I think that's a fairly honest way to consider values. Folks generally want to trade in their vehicles for higher than wholesale, and that's fine, we'll do it, but it's only because of the value of the new car deal, not based on how much we might make on the trade. Like I said, if I can buy Foci all day long for $9k at auction, why should I pay $11k for yours? Because I want the new car trade! That still doesn't change the actual value of your deal, it just means I have $2k in mark up on my new vehicle to make your trade worth more on paper.

 

Ok makes sense. We will just keep it for a while if nothing works out. It has low mileage and is not old and in a good condition.

 

Frantz made an excellent point. These cars are available like ripe fruit in August. There isn't much profit at the time of sale when new and there isn't much residual value later in life.

In 2002 I bought a new very well equipped Focus from my former dealer. I had just been promoted and was executing my final set of orders to San Diego, Ca.

Two years later when I retired, i drove the Focus back to Va. It only had 16K miles on it as I had quite literally spent the past two years at sea. I went back the dealer and worked a trade for a 2004 Expedition. The dealer didn't even want to pay it off even though it only had 1/2 half the miles that it could have had to be considered as average. The car was pristine.

After walking out the second time, he gave me $1000 over wholesale in order to get me to buy a 4x2 Expy with the 4.6L v-8, a vehicle that he literally couldn't sell.

I learned my lesson on compact cars. Lease them or run them till they die and toss em in the junk heap.

 

Most dealerships use the auction value for vehicles instead of KBB. They will not want to pay more than they can get that vehicle in auction otherwise they will be losing money. If you really need to sell the vehicle at KBB price, you will need to sell private party.

 

Cars don't have the value like a pick up. and the dealer is in the business to make money. Doesn't make sense to give $2000 for a car that you can only get $2000 for.......cant make a living at zero profit. but I know some dealers will lowball your trade. Been there before.

 

We got 9000.- for it. Sounds fair to me and traded it in for a 2014 Escape Titanium with 30k miles.

 

We always used Black Book which is the average price the vehicle is selling for at the local auctions. CarMax is a great place to get your initial quote.

 

Besides KBB or NADA. I have also used Edmunds. They have a retail, trade, and private party pricing.