Exposing Ridiculous Auto Sales Advertising

Are you really falling for this trade vehicle baiting?

If you are like millions of potential car buyers nationwide, you have been exposed to ads from sellers that may look appealing, but the reality is that they have little to no substantive value for you as a shopper.

All too often in the car sales game, gimmicky ads purport 'savings' and extras that simply hold no real value and only present the facade of helping you to make a purchase.

Here's the reality: we have previously redefined a 'trade' as a 'vehicle that you are presenting for sale'. You aren't 'trading' anything; you are obtaining a monetary offer on your vehicle that may or may not present itself as equity against your proposed purchase.

With this in mind, ads such as the aforementioned might suggest that if you have a vehicle worth $5000, the buyer is now most graciously going to pay you an extra $750! 

Does that truly sound realistic?

Think about it: if the dealer intended upon selling 100 vehicles that month that involved 'trades', they would be willing to skew their inventory cost by $75,000? I think not...

Keep in mind (as we have previously discussed) that 'trades' are worth what they are worth. Also keep in mind that as an appraiser, I may assign my buying offer while another appraiser may think your vehicle is worth $500 (in their opinion). Car values are subjective at best.

So what about these ads, you ask? I will politely call them BS. The ads are designed to do one thing and one thing only: get you though the door and in front of a salesperson! 

Rest assured that the sales managers at Enterprise Car Sales are meeting with their salespeople in the morning giving them a copy 'the new ad' and making sure that they are aware of the 'offer'. And I can tell you with certainty that Enterprise doesn't hire the sharpest people in the business from the outset.

INSIDER TIP: stick to our formula of attempting private sale of your vehicle to maximize your return if possible. No car dealer is going to happily hand you $750 with a smile on their face. To them, $750 is gross profit, and that is how the sales department is paid. Do you honestly believe a salesman wants to part with $175 commission? Do you believe a dealer is going to gratuitously add $75,000 to their inventory cost? The answer is emphatically 'NO' on both accounts. $75,000 of 'water' usually puts a used vehicle out of a job.

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