Just a thought, financially speaking, you're likely better off putting a For Sale on your 2019 than trading it in.

If you want a Ram, order it online from Mark Dodge in Lake Charles, LA.
That's their thing, pass-through factory orders.

The one suggestion I will make is be prepared to walk out if they don't agree to your offer. The last three new cars we purchased were done on offers we made that were not accepted at first, but were accepted after we said "no thanks" and walked out the salesman's cubicle. For my current truck, the dealership called me back about two hours later and accepted my offer. For my wife's current vehicle, they ran out the door and caught us in the parking lot.

It might have been four vehicles purchased that way, but by the time the Toyota dealership called us back the next day after our visit, we were in a Honda dealership making a deal that - you guessed it- was our second visit to them that same day.

If you do walk out of a deal, just be nice about it. The people at the dealerships have much less incentive to call you back if they really don't want to see your face again.

C

My experience has been the opposite. That creates a lot more headache, can take a long time to sell, and you'll lose the tax benefit of trading in.

I've bought a handful over the last few years. My advice is use autotrader or similar to find what you want and contact a minimum of three dealers, tell them what you're looking for, and get their offers. I've bought my last two trucks sight unseen this way. They shouldn't need anything more than milage, VIN, and a handful of pictures to appraise your trade.

You'll get like $10k variance between dealers. It's bizarre and really shows you how much of a scam the auto industry is. If any of them try anything the least bit shady, tell them to get bent.

ETA: Oh, and stay away from anything Keating owned.

Based on the other thread, I think if you try to sell the GMC right here on TexAgs you may start a bidding war. Clean low mileage truck, older driver, TexAgs...yeah it will sell fast.

Mark Fairchild said:

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Howdy, I am considering trading in a 2019 GMC pickup for a 2026 Ram pickup. I was never, am not now, and since this is probably my last new vehicle purchase, a Sharp car trader. So I have questions and need advice. This is going to be a cash purchase.

1. What is currently the discount off MSRP for a new vehicle? What is the minimum discount acceptable?
2. It is my understanding that you do not divulge it is cash until the deal is made.
3. Both the trade and purchase vehicle are top of the line, so I think that the dealer has more $'s to play with on discount than a lower end vehicle, true?
4. I know that tax is paid on the difference of the purchase less trade value, true?
5. Title and License Fee are fixed by my county, Aransas, true?

Now the advice section.
1. I have read, seen YouTube's on what to expect when you walk into the Finance Dept to finalize the deal. This is the time they have 'gotcha' and try to tack on additional charges that are not required.
2. What fees/charges are acceptable and what are fluff that the dealer tries to lop on to make extra dollars.
3. Can you negotiate/flat out refuse to pay things that are not actually a part of the legal transfer requirements.
4. In reference to #3, what are the only required Legal Fees that a dealer can charge?
5. I WILL NOT be purchasing any kind of Extended Warranty or Insurance at all, no special insurance for tires or whatever, use USAA as car insurer.

THANKS for Helping an Old Ag!!!!

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Howdy, Mark.

I currently work in car sales and while every dealership is different I can give you advice based on how we do things here.

Questions:

1. As far as discounts go for MSRP, I am not going to be much help in that regard. Our group does not sell anything over MSRP. We do not do any kind of mark-ups regardless of the car or the demand for certain models. So with that being said, we do not discount new vehicles at all. The only new vehicles that are discounted were used as "Courtesy Loaners" for a month or two and so a discount is given to account for the mileage and use added to the car. I also work in a luxury brand, so this may not be the case for places like Ford, GMC, Chevy, etc. or in your case RAM.

2. I personally do not care if the deal is cash. My only priority is making sure that your needs are met and selling the car. We do cash deals here all the time. Of course the finance department would love the chance to finance the deal for you. But, at least here, the price does not change in a cash deal versus a financed deal. To be on the safe side, I would just keep that information to yourself just in case that dealership works differently.

3. At my dealership, there is more profit margin in the higher-end vehicles than in our entry level vehicles. But, it is not as great a difference as you think. As for your trade-in, this is where a lot of people that come in get hung up. The overwhelming majority of people take a look at KBB (Kelly Blue Book) and demand that they get that number, if not more than what is listed.

One, people that do bring in KBB numbers are thinking that they should get the private sale numbers vs. the trade-in value. That is never going to happen. Yes, you can get more if you sell your vehicle privately. The benefit of trading in your vehicle is to eliminate the hassle involved with getting the entire amount of money owed to you as well as having to deal with all of the paperwork, ie title, involved. If you can sell your truck privately and get more money then do it. That money is just as good at the dealership. We don't care where the money came from. I tell people all the time to sell their car to CARMAX when they are offered more for their car by them than what we are offering and then to bring that money to us and use it as part of their payment. However, as mentioned above, you are going to lose the tax benefit if you sell it vs. trade it in.

Secondly, KBB is about 6 months behind the current market on used vehicles. At least where I work, we use real time MMR info. MMR stands for Manheim Market Report. This provides the industry-standard, wholesale market value for used vehicles that is updated daily based on millions of Manheim auction transactions. When giving you a value for your trade-in, we are looking at what we can successfully get if we can't sell the car and have to send it to auction.

4. Yes, the taxes are based on the amount that you are paying for the car. If you trade-in your current vehicle, then the amount that you owe for the new car will be less and therefore you will be paying less taxes. If you sell the car privately, you will be paying more taxes since the value of your trade has not been removed from the price of the new car.

5. Title, registration, license, etc. is all determined based on the address where the car will be registered. We do a fair amount of out of state deals and so all of those costs are based off of where the address that the customer gives us where it will be registered.


Advice

1. I tell all of my customers before they go into finance, that they are going to be presented with different warranties and products. That is part of the job of the finance department and they are just doing their job. Listen to them. Ask questions if you have any. But, at the end of the day you will know what products or warranties are best for you and your family. For instance, when my wife and I bought her a car last year we bought an extended warranty because we keep and drive our cars for a long time. However, I have several customers who buy a new car every 1-2 years. Buying an extended warranty is just a waste of money in that instance.

2. Where I work the only fee that is added is our Doc/Dealer Fee. It is included in every deal and it is non-negotiable. Even as an employee, I had to pay it when we bought my wife's car. It is standard at every dealership. The amount may vary but it is a standard fee. We don't add anything else and I would be wary of any place that added more.

3. I am unsure what you are referring to here. Like I said in the point above, we don't add anything more to our deals. You pay for the vehicle, the doc/dealer fee, and tax, tag, title. That's it. The doc/dealer fee is non-negotiable. To take it off or discount that amount for one customer compared to another is illegal. Everyone pays it and pays the exact same amount.

4. See my two points above.

5. I would tell the finance manager that as soon as you get in the office with them. Just tell them you don't want them to waste their time. We have that happen all the time here. They may try to convince you to at least take a look at some of the products/warranties. Just be firm and say no thank you and that you aren't interested no matter what.

Hopefully this helps. Good luck!

There should be a tax credit on private sales if another vehicle is purchased within a certain period of time. It's ridiculous to lose that when selling to a third party. Of course dealerships would fight any such proposal.