cjaama wrote:

My friend has a 2013 Audi S6.  He bought it new and rarely drives it, so it only has 22kmi on it.  He prefers an SUV and his wife wanted a Tesla.  So, he is going to be taking his wife’s Merc ML and they just ordered a Model X (bleh) for most of their daily duties and they will be ditching the S6. 
Tesla offered him $38k as a trade-in on the S6.  He has gone to local dealers and the best offer he’s gotten was $40k, but with that he would be losing out on the savings in sales tax when trading in.

I told him he should at least put some effort into trying to sell it privately.  He likes the idea of getting more for it, but does not want the hassle of dealing with people.
I’ve checked cars.com and ebay, but the prices are kind of all over the place.  It’s been dealer maintained and serviced since new and the only flaw I know of is some minor curbing to one wheel.  What do you think he could get for it selling it privately?  And if selling privately, by what means would you sell it?  I told him the easiest route is to just list it on Bring-a-Trailer and set the reserve for what he needs to get for it.  If it doesn’t meet the reserve, he’s out $99, big deal.  I also suggested listing it on VW Vortex and other enthusiast sites, where he wouldn’t have to deal with jaggoff tire kicking lowballers.

Any advice is welcome.  Thanks

NADA is about $47k, so I think he could get around $43-45k for selling privately.  I would list on eBay, BaT is a good idea too.  Maybe Cars.com or CarGurus.  Forums are also a good idea.  I would avoid Craigslist with a car like that.  The $38k in on trade compared to getting $40k outright comes out to pretty close the same with the tax savings.

Looked up the Manheim Market Report, looks to be around a $39-40k car at the auctions, so you figure dealers will mark it up a few thousand, and sell close to $45k.

mbandi has a good point too.  Since the price is higher, it does become a little tougher since many buyers will need financing.  He can always try consignment too, though he would still be taking a hit.

Last edited by drewsro (2017-05-03 13:01:45)

snowphun wrote:

Keep in mind sales tax implications: in many states, your trade in value is subtracted from the cost of the new car to determine sales tax. So a trade of $38k is a tax savings of $3372 in NY.  Often that makes trade in value "close enough" to selling privately and you get to avoid all the private sales drama.

He does reference that above.  Also, how did you get $3372? It looks like New York collects 4%, but it also depends on the county/town also.

drewsro wrote:

snowphun wrote:

Keep in mind sales tax implications: in many states, your trade in value is subtracted from the cost of the new car to determine sales tax. So a trade of $38k is a tax savings of $3372 in NY.  Often that makes trade in value "close enough" to selling privately and you get to avoid all the private sales drama.

He does reference that above.  Also, how did you get $3372? It looks like New York collects 4%, but it also depends on the county/town also.

Yeah, I'm not sure about that math either.  As you mentioned, the state collects 4% (going to have to take your word on that), but the county usually takes another 3-4%, maybe closer to 5% in some counties, maybe he calculated for closer to 9%?

drewsro wrote:

cjaama wrote:

drewsro wrote:

He does reference that above.  Also, how did you get $3372? It looks like New York collects 4%, but it also depends on the county/town also.

Yeah, I'm not sure about that math either.  As you mentioned, the state collects 4% (going to have to take your word on that), but the county usually takes another 3-4%, maybe closer to 5% in some counties, maybe he calculated for closer to 9%?

That's my guess.  I read that the state takes 4% and then counties can charge up to 4.5% or so.  If you just Google New York sales tax, it gives you 8.85%, but that is different from vehicle sales it sounds like.  Either way, if he is willing to take the time, he will get more selling it on his own, but finding a buyer with cash will be tough.  Trade-in is simple, quick, and hassle free.  Just you won't get as much.  Depends on how much his time is worth to him.

Sorry, my hasty Google came up with the 8.875% rate, not the correct 4% rate.  That's very reasonable and I'm pretty sure NY doesn't have annual excise tax? CT steps things up with an even higher tax rate if it's an expensive car, and of course annual property tax.

KDUB wrote:

Rennlist will also produce a lot of legit buyers. Audi's get a decent following on that board.

I was thinking about that, but I'm going to be the one creating forum posts, because he's a numb nuts with no time and I'm hesitant to create a brand new user account and then say, "hey fellas, this is my first post, want to buy a high-end car that's not even mine?".
I posted it to VW Vortex, where I created an account 12 years ago and posted two dumb things with my username from my early 20s.  Here's a link:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.p … t105153185

drewsro wrote:

finding a buyer with cash will be tough.

Why couldn't someone get an auto loan through a bank to buy this car?

mbandi wrote:

cjaama wrote:

drewsro wrote:

finding a buyer with cash will be tough.

Why couldn't someone get an auto loan through a bank to buy this car?

They could. I think the point Drew was making is that it would require another step, introduce another party into the mix, and therefore be more hassle. Correct me if I'm wrong Drew.

Exactly that.  I could get a loan from my credit union, but the car would have to get to their location somehow, which would be another hassle.  That's why I was saying it could be tougher, but not impossible.  Just depends on the bank.

KDUB wrote:

cjaama wrote:

I ended up signing up for Rennlist with the intention of listing the car, only to find out you need to be a paying member to post in the classifieds.  Eff that.

I think it is $20/yr. Worth it IMO.

The volume and type of buyers that will view the ad at that site will likely exceed all your other "free" online positing, combined. Just my 2 cents.

Yeah, I'll consider it, thanks for making the point.  It would also come across less Nigerian Prince'ish if I paid to post it there.

Might just depend on the place.  If I wanted to do a private sale loan, they would need to physically inspect the car (check the VIN).  If you need a CARFAX, just let me know!

cjaama wrote:

Bit the bullet and paid the $18 for a membership to list it on Rennlist.  They're mailing me two stickers, so totally worth it!
https://rennlist.com/forums/vehicle-mar … st14162073

You put a $ sign on the price, which it says not to, just saying 

KDUB wrote:

cjaama wrote:

I ended up signing up for Rennlist with the intention of listing the car, only to find out you need to be a paying member to post in the classifieds.  Eff that.

I think it is $20/yr. Worth it IMO.

The volume and type of buyers that will view the ad at that site will likely exceed all your other "free" online positing, combined. Just my 2 cents.

Car sold and was driven off into the sunset today.  Credit to KDUB for convincing me to suck it up and post it on Rennlist, which is where it sold from.  Only got about three interested parties there, but obviously one of them was a very interested party.  Never got a response from anyone on VWvortex, which was the only other place I listed it.
The buyer is happy and so is the seller.  My friend's Model X is being delivered tomorrow, so everything was timed perfectly.

Well that seemed to work out very well.