Sell Car Back To The Dealership (Find Out The Procedures!)

Last Updated on January 15, 2023 by Leepu Da Maxim

Of course, it is possible to resell a car to a dealership. In general, dealers usually offset this exchange with a new sale by the vehicle seller. Thus, those who only sell the car without buying another new car receive a much lower offer than they might expect. This is how the dealership wins. 

Key Takeaways

• Selling a car back to the dealership can save you time but in most cases, you will get less value for your car compared to the current market value
• You can use the “trade-in” value of your car as a down payment if you are planning to buy the new car from the same dealer
• If you want to sell your car back to the dealership then first you should contact the dealer and negotiate the price
• You have to complete all the necessary paperwork like the title, registration, etc, before closing the deal

Tips For Sell Car Back To The Dealership

Tips	Description
Enough Money	The amount of money received must be sufficient to finish paying for the vehicle
Possibility Of Exchange	Those who want to buy a new vehicle can get a good discount offer with the possibility of an exchange
A Vehicle With Good Mechanics	The costs of repairs to the vehicle are deducted from the new sale between the owner and the dealer
Avoiding Low Offers	When the owner does not want to buy a new vehicle the dealer’s offer is usually too low
No Obligation To Buy	Dealers are usually not required to repossess the car if the owner of the vehicle regrets the purchase

Will A Dealership Buy My Car If It Has Damage?

In case a car has a large amount of damage or missing parts the sale can hardly take place. However, some dealers can inspect the vehicle and calculate the cost necessary to apply to all repairs a car needs.

In these cases, the dealer can make an offer to the vehicle owner that includes deductions for repair costs. So, if an owner accepts the offer, the dealer can buy the car even if it is damaged. With the result of the sale, the dealer will take care of implementing all necessary repairs. 

Is It Worth Selling Your Car To A Dealership?

Sometimes, a wide variety of users may mention that it is profitable to sell a car privately. Here, the main advantage that could be obtained is a superior offer and a good amount of money. However, car sales experts can mention some advantages that are obtained when selling to a dealership.

At the same time, in times of economic crisis, this can be valuable for those who want to sell a car efficiently without wasting too much time, weeks, or months with the sale. Otherwise, all private used car sales would be made only to other private persons. Today, there are a lot of people who decide to opt for selling to dealers. Below we can explain why.

1. Money And Time

Of course, among the most obvious advantages first is the time and money that a user can take advantage of when selling a car to a dealership. In principle, it is necessary to consider that selling a car privately requires time and effort in any situation.

Although there are cases in which some vehicles are sold very quickly and without effort, the truth is that this does not happen in most cases. In turn, there are a lot of steps that must be taken before the sale of the car and these steps must be taken by the owner of the vehicle.

Of course, this takes time and may even require some money in some situations. Here, it will be necessary to obtain a valid certificate for the road. This certificate must be obtained after meeting some requirements for people who want to sell a car legally.

The person who does not acquire this roadworthy certificate would hardly be able to sell the car. If they do, it is an illegal sale that does not meet all the requirements. Also, one of the requirements for obtaining a valid road certificate is to comply with safety standards. Meeting these safety standards can be difficult in some cars.

In particular, some vehicles are too deteriorated to successfully meet safety standards. Instead, the vehicle owner should be responsible for implementing all necessary repairs. As you may notice, these repairs will also require a certain budget. The exact estimate of course depends on the amount of damage or wear on the vehicle.

Once these steps have been accomplished which takes some time you should advertise the car. This procedure requires that the car be advertised online in addition to traditional methods. Vehicles that are not advertised online are unlikely to be sold in a residential, sparsely populated area.

Vehicles advertised online usually take a certain amount of time. Specifically, this depends on the supply and demand of a certain make and model of vehicle. So, without this online advertisement, only the owner adds a greater difficulty and the vehicle will hardly end up being sold at the end of all the effort.

To achieve a higher probability of sale, the owner must take really attractive pictures of the car. From then on the owner of the vehicle must wait for interested parties and potential customers to emerge. So, many of these people intend to perform a test drive to check the mechanics of the vehicle.

When the potential client finishes the test drive, the negotiation is opened to be able to establish a fair price. Finally, the owner must simply transfer the registration to finalize the sale. As you can see, this is a somewhat difficult procedure in most cases.

In contrast, selling to a dealer requires much less time, effort, and money. When the owner has all the required documentation, he or she can approach the dealer. In most cases, the entire procedure takes no more than about 30 minutes.

Here, the dealership employee and the vehicle owner will negotiate for a fair price. Also, the positive aspect of selling a car to the dealer is that the money from the sale is obtained immediately in most cases.

2. Security In The Sales Procedure

Another very important point when selling a car to a dealer is safety for both parties. Here, it is necessary to keep in mind that a vehicle owner does not know who the potential customers of a vehicle are. Therefore, it is not possible to determine if they are interested in a vehicle or if they are thieves.

These people are often found along with tire kickers. These people are not interested in buying a car but in gaining an advantage by harming the owner of the vehicle. So, it would be a bad decision for a car owner to invite one of these people into their home. In general, people may feel somewhat interested or disinterested in the car.

Then on a large number of occasions, the car is stolen and the owner has facilitated this theft without realizing it. It could also happen that this theft takes place during a test drive. Many times thieves provide a driver’s license as a guarantee for the car owner trusts them. Here, what the car owner doesn’t know is that it could be a fake driver’s license.

When the potential fake customer takes the test drive they never return with the vehicle. Finally, another very common situation is that negotiation does not end well. In these cases, aggressiveness may appear from one of them. In particular, this may occur on the part of potential customers who drove a few kilometers to check out the vehicle.

As anyone can tell, all of these disadvantages are not present when the owner of a car sells the vehicle to a dealer. In this case, the dealer is a company that must necessarily comply with certain rules and standards. Even this is even more important when it comes to a reputable company buying and selling cars and vehicles.

Therefore, here every vehicle owner can feel very safe and confident because the law protects them. So, the worst situation that could happen is simply a low offer for the car. Therefore, this means that no employee of the dealership will steal the car from the owner. Without a doubt, peace of mind is a great advantage that owners can enjoy. 

3. Exchange Possibilities

In a private sale, the possibilities of exchange are practically nil. On a few occasions, there may be a potential private customer who also has a vehicle he wants to sell. In any case, this is a very strange situation with a great disadvantage. Here, the offer of the potential customer is only limited to one vehicle in most cases.

Therefore, it is really difficult for the potential customer to be the owner of the vehicle that the first owner is looking for. Besides, many people who wish to sell a car do so to acquire a new car. So, a dealership is one of the most convenient options due to the greater supply of vehicles it can offer.

When a car owner wants to sell his or her vehicle to a dealership, the clerk will ask if he or she would like an exchange. On many occasions, the dealership may have the car the owner is looking to buy. This is where a certain negotiation can be set up which can be beneficial to both parties.

Here, the price that the owner can get for the new vehicle could count as selling a good discount. Of course, this does not usually happen when the first person has nothing to offer the dealer. On the contrary, car owners who only want to sell a vehicle without buying a new one receive too low an offer. 

References:

https://www.cars.com/articles/how-does-selling-to-a-dealer-work-1420680461999/

https://www.kbb.com/car-news/can-i-sell-my-car-to-a-dealership/