Was I ripped off on trade in?

aegeanbluecivic

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Hi, I still have not taken delivery of the 2021 civic hatchback sport sonic gray. They are selling it for MSRP in San Diego however do not have the exact car in stock and said to give them a month. They asked for a $500.00 deposit and I used my credit card for safe measures. In the meantime prior to going to the dealership I received a message from them indicating my car should have about 5 to 6k in equity from my current lease based on the information they have. I have driven it for about 12.7k miles in total and my lease is up in December. Checking the KBB the trade in value is about 21 to 23k for excellent condition for my 2018 civic hatchback sport. The salesman said that they needed to spend 1000 dollars to recondition the car and said that about 17k was fair value to me however this is significantly lower than what I anticipated. They said they would repair it and resell it for about 20k but I’m not sure about that as on their website they are selling them for about 22k based on the average and similar mileage. I asked for 18500 and of course they didn’t budge much and stated 17300 was the best they can do. He asked if I new there were issues with the car but I literally just got it serviced last month and the service center that is a part of the dealership said everything checks out aside from a recall. So either he is lying and wanted to low call me as much as he could or I don’t know maybe I am just over thinking it as I expected higher.

When I gave a 500.00 deposit unfortunately I didn’t get anything in writing aside from a receipt and it doesn’t tell me much. It’s not supposed to be used towards the new car as I wanted to use the equity that I had to pay for the down payment.

should I just shop around and see if I can get a better trade in deal somewhere else? I see that other dealers actually have the car that I want and I didn’t sign anything that legally binds me to the car at that specific dealership. Just

Edit: as of 9/17/2021, I got a counter offer from another dealer, went to original dealership to get back deposit, was given an even better deal than before to win my business since I bought prior cars. I feel I was treated fairly the second time! Got my sport in the original color I wanted back in 2018, and now I get the 21 model with the refresh in addition to the touch screen and push start and VOLUME KNOB! Hallelujah!

Honda Civic 10th gen Was I ripped off on trade in? 242127935_2999834390289642_4215328223410117526_n
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Velonici

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Drive it until the lease is done and then sell it on carvana or something. Used civics are going for ridiculous amounts.
I believe that Honda is no longer allowing you to do that. You now have to return it to Honda.
 
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aegeanbluecivic

aegeanbluecivic

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Drive it until the lease is done and then sell it on carvana or something. Used civics are going for ridiculous amounts.
Thank you for the insight, yes it's most likely better to sell it via third party instead of through the dealership directly. Guy was kinda too high pressuring anyways.
 

Shankmeyster

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You can't get out of a Honda lease early unless it's at a Honda store now. After your lease is up it's up to you what you wanna do.
 


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aegeanbluecivic

aegeanbluecivic

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You can't get out of a Honda lease early unless it's at a Honda store now. After your lease is up it's up to you what you wanna do.
So I can't have a third party send a payoff to Honda to meet the payment obligation to securing the car? My payoff is about 14K and quotes on Carvana and Carmax are around 20k. If they give 20k to Honda doesn't that mean the lease is now null?

Just did some digging I guess this is not just Honda but other car companies as well since they want to get in on the profit in addition to their car lots being significantly smaller. I'll just go to another dealership to see what they can offer instead. I appreciate everyone!
 
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bluehatch17

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You can come up with a lease buy out and the payoff amount. Then sell it yourself. Not ideal, a lot of paper work and having to get a new Loan and etc…but the main point was…don’t trade it in for 17k. You can get more. My 2.0na is selling for over $20k.
 

Velonici

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Just so you guys know this is the email that people have been getting about their leases.

"We hope you are enjoying your Honda lease. You have many more months to drive your Honda but, when you're ready for something new, please be aware of an important update regarding your lease return options.

In accordance with your Honda Financial ServicesSM lease agreement, all Honda leased vehicles must be returned to an authorized Honda or Acura dealer. In the event of a purchase, leased vehicles may only be purchased by the lessee named on the HFS lease agreement or by an authorized Honda or Acura dealer."

Might want to check with who you have the lease through about this. Dealerships are desperate for cars and if they can get yours the will.
 
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aegeanbluecivic

aegeanbluecivic

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Just so you guys know this is the email that people have been getting about their leases.

"We hope you are enjoying your Honda lease. You have many more months to drive your Honda but, when you're ready for something new, please be aware of an important update regarding your lease return options.

In accordance with your Honda Financial ServicesSM lease agreement, all Honda leased vehicles must be returned to an authorized Honda or Acura dealer. In the event of a purchase, leased vehicles may only be purchased by the lessee named on the HFS lease agreement or by an authorized Honda or Acura dealer."

Might want to check with who you have the lease through about this. Dealerships are desperate for cars and if they can get yours the will.
Great catch, yeah I haven't really checked my emails lately from them, it's a huge bummer and I get why they are doing it but I still feel it's insane the power they have to enforce this to take market share away from Carvana/Carmax regarding lease purchases. It's like they want to intentionally screw the leasee to make sure they get on top with as much profit as possible because they know their dealers will low ball as much as they can on the trade in.
 

Doc_Mello

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Yes.




? In response to your thread title. You can pretty much bet that the dealer will undercut you. With Honda’s statement that leases can only be returned to them, the dealer has more power to undercut, unfortunately. If you want to try to maximize the system, you’d have to do what @bluehatch17 suggested, but that’s a ton of finagling. Best have an exact trade-in quote in writing.
 


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aegeanbluecivic

aegeanbluecivic

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Yes.




? In response to your thread title. You can pretty much bet that the dealer will undercut you. With Honda’s statement that leases can only be returned to them, the dealer has more power to undercut, unfortunately. If you want to try to maximize the system, you’d have to do what @bluehatch17 suggested, but that’s a ton of finagling. Best have an exact trade-in quote in writing.
Ok I think the best thing for me to do is to just pay off the car in full since I do have the funds for it, then sell it to Carvana/Carmax, whichever offers the most for it. Then purchase the car with the profits. It's a win win for me in the end! Just annoying that I have to go through this loop. Not sure how long it will take for me to get the papers that the car is in my name.
 

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Ok I think the best thing for me to do is to just pay off the car in full since I do have the funds for it, then sell it to Carvana/Carmax, whichever offers the most for it. Then purchase the car with the profits. It's a win win for me in the end! Just annoying that I have to go through this loop. Not sure how long it will take for me to get the papers that the car is in my name.
Probably, yeah. If I was ya, I’d have all of those unknowns hammered out with Carvana/Carmax FIRST, in writing. Like, full trade-in amount, how long does the quote last, can the dealership print the pink slip then and there, etc.
 
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aegeanbluecivic

aegeanbluecivic

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Ok a follow up to this I went to another dealership and they offered 18.5k for the trade in and they also included mud guards, lock nuts and something other but the overall price was still lower than what the original dealer offered. The competitor said they knew the prior dealer and could offer much more which they did so I signed a deal with them instead. The sales guy was very honest to and more informative than the previous dealership so a ton of respect to them. I’ll most likely be shopping their going forward for future vehicle purchases. I appreciate everyone who provided opinions on this matter. Lesson learned is to shop around and don’t let a salesman try to lock you in.
 


 


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