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For those that have bought a new vehicle using the "X-plan", have you run into any difficulties with the value of your trade-in because you were getting the X-plan price.
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Only if you're an idiot that doesn't understand the numbers.
Every new-car dealer in the area will give you very close to the actual auction value for your trade in. That's a lot lower than what most people believe it's "worth", but that is the current cash value today. None of them will offer you more "actual cash" for the trade-in than the auction value.
But the paperwork might show you a different set of numbers.
Examples (oversimplified without factory rebates, etc.):
1. Typical deal:
What you see on paper.
New truck: $40,000
Trade in: $20,000
Net you owe: $20,000 + TT&L
What the dealer's internal paperwork shows:
New truck actual selling price: $37,000
Trade in auction value: $17,000
Customer owes: $20,000 + TT&L
X-Plan deal:
New truck X-Plan price: 36,500
Trade-in auction value: $17,000
Customer owes $19,500 + TT&L
Ford pays dealer X-Plan spiff $500
Dealer winds up with the same net $20,000 plus trade in.
So no matter what the numbers on your sales agreement say, all you're really going to get for that trade in is $17,000 cash. I'm sure you've often heard "all that matters is the net difference."
Most customers like to brag to their friends that they are driving a really expensive rig that cost them oodles and goodles of cash. But most of those deals are inflated with both the sales price and the trade-in allowance being higher than the "real" numbers.
Any dealerperson that actually gives you more cash than the current auction value for your trade-in will be out of a job tomorrow. Why should a dealer pay you more for your trade-in than he can buy it for at the auction tonight? Granted, some may try to buy your trade-in at lower than auction value.
How to beat them at their own game?
Before you trade in your old ride, take it to three different dealers that have similar vehicles on their used-truck lot. Ask the used-car manager for a cash bid for your ride. With those three bids, you'll have a really good idea of how much your dealer will allow for your trade-in on an X-Plan deal. The X-Plan sales agreement doesn't allow any "slop" to be built into the selling price, so the numbers you see for the trade-in should be real numbers - without any "overallowance".
If you dealer doesn't offer you the same or close to the same cash price for your trade-in as the three other dealers, then sell your trade-in to one of the other dealers. Your new-truck dealer should be willing and able to handle the paperwork so it appears you actually sold your trade-in to your dealer, who then turned around and sold it to the real buying dealer, so you won't have a sales tax impact. (In Texas, and Colorado and most other states, that sales tax impact is a big deal.)
War story. Li'l Bro asked me to buy him a new Mach 1 when they were a hot seller. (He was in Germany and couldn't do it himself). Car was $30k. Trade in allowance was $8k. So instead, I "sold" the trade-in to another dealer for $10k. Both dealers handled the deal so on paperwork I traded in the old car for $10k, then the new-car dealer sold the trade-in to the used-car jockey for $10k. That saved Li'l Bro $2,000 plus the $650 sales tax on the $10k trade-in value. It took me a coupla hours of time and a few $1.00 phone calls to get it done. Thanks to Gene Louder for helping me find the dealer that really wanted the trade-in.
