What would you do??⁸

[Frankhy]

I'm due to take delivery of my RWD on January 6th. All of a sudden, I have been told by my SA that the valuation on my trade-in will be lower than originally quoted! I put €10k deposit on my car back in April after getting my car appraised for a January trade in, still have all the prices and repayments in writing from May for my new RWD that I was ordering for a 2023 collection. I spoke to the branch financial manager only this week again. The same numbers were talked about, but I decided to go elsewhere for my loan as I was getting better interest rates elsewhere. Within 24 hours, I was told by SA that they need to re appraise my car, and it will be less than what they were originally offering me! To say I'm angry and disappointed in Porsche is a huge understatement. I'm at my limit as it is budget wise after specing my car with €15k worth of extras, which I wouldn't have done if they were going to try to change the deal 3 weeks away from delivery! SA has asked to meet me on Monday now, and I'm so angry I feel like walking away from my dream car, which I would be devastated about. But I know they are screwing me over here. Anyone any suggestions what they would do from here??

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[RAHRCR]

Strange that you would have a quote for a trade that would be valid for such a duration. If you really like the car, these kind of annoyances will fade quickly post delivery. I choose to focus on the big things in life. Letting them know your perspective and giving them a chance to do something is reasonable but I would not tie my overall satisfaction to that outcome. I would tie it to the new car. In that way, you are likely to come out a winner.

 

[tchavei]

It has been common practice for car dealers to overvaluate the client's trade-in to divert them from discounts on the new vehicle or the profit margins (and bonuses) they receive from financial departments. This has been happening for at least the past 40 years (I had a family member who worked all his life in that business and he'd get two paychecks basically. One from the dealership and one from the financial institutions the dealership worked with).

Basically, I was always told to negotiate the new cars price ad nauseum and only at the end throw in the possibility of a trade in. That way I would get a real street estimate of what the trade-in would be worth and the seller wouldn't be able to "embellish" it.

What is probably happening now is that the dealer is seeing a big cut in his commission from the financial service and hence doesn't want to deal with the additional loss (or lack of profit) from the trade-in.

It sucks and anyone who doesn't know how that business works would be mad.

Do the math of what ends up being cheaper. Paying the higher interest rates or getting more out of your trade-in.

You can threaten to cancel the deal and walk away but they do have your 10k already...

Conditions of the contract changed the moment the financial part changed so it's a whole restart (except you're stuck with 10k in it)

Good luck man

 

[Jhenson29]

I’m not sure how they could evaluate the car for a trade in 9 months later.

We had a quote (estimate?) in Feb 21 for our trade in car for a June 21 delivery and it went down on us too. But still above my planned minimum by $2k so all good. But my min was also low. Which is maybe a problem, but I wasn’t upset when I traded it in either, so there’s that.

But separately, should you be more concerned about the trade in value difference being make or break on affording the car? That’s for you to decide, but something to think about.

 

[Archimedes]

I’m surprised that a dealer would provide a trade-in quote for nine months in the future. I’ve never heard of that. Did they caveat that in any way when they gave it to you?

Doesn’t surprise me that the current trade offer is lower though, as the used market has fallen since April.

 

[tchavei]

Usually I'm already happy when they take them so I don't have to deal with privates snooping all around the car and low balling it. I just accept the 10-15% loss selling (trading in) to a professional.

 

[Frankhy]

Maybe I was naive to think that the original appraisal was still valid, but I did ask the SA was this the quote for a January trade in and he said yes. I spoke to him again before the build date was locked in to confirm my extras, again no price change on anything regarding my trade in. Then speaking to the finance manager only this week all the figures were still the exact same but when I said I'd be going elsewhere for my finances due to better interest rates, SA emailed me 24 hours later to say the appraisal wasn't valid and I would be receiving less now as it's out of date. Find the timing of the whole thing very strange, changing the deal 3 weeks before delivery.

 

[Jhenson29]

but when I said I'd be going elsewhere for my finances due to better interest rates, SA emailed me 24 hours later to say the appraisal wasn't valid

I could buy those being related.

 

[ChrisLA]

It certainly appears the two things are linked. The dealer probably realized they would see no profit on the financing and adjusted your trade accordingly. Not a great customer experience, for sure.

You might want to discuss with the lender who offered you better financing. Maybe there is a scenario where you finance through Porsche to close the deal (assuming they will revert to the original trade-in they offered you), and then do the deal with the other lender on a payoff. You would certainly lose some money on fees, and maybe there is a early termination penalty that protects Porsche against the practice, but it’s probably worth the research.

 

[DavidS78]

I take delivery of Taycan CT4S in week 2 of January '23 from Porsche Centre Dublin. I ordered the car in July '22 and got a trade in value for my current car at the time.

It was made clear to me by the SA and the finance person at the time that a re-evaluation of the trade in would need to take place again in Jan '23. In summary, they would not provide a trade in value 6 months into the future.

Have you considered selling your car to a different dealer? Some smaller dealers may be able to offer you more for your current car. A few more moving parts for sure but certainly worth the effort in my opinion to get you into your dream car.

 

[Frankhy]

I take delivery of Taycan CT4S in week 2 of January '23 from Porsche Centre Dublin. I ordered the car in July '22 and got a trade in value for my current car at the time.

It was made clear to me by the SA and the finance person at the time that a re-evaluation of the trade in would need to take place again in Jan '23. In summary, they would not provide a trade in value 6 months into the future.

Have you considered selling your car to a different dealer? Some smaller dealers may be able to offer you more for your current car. A few more moving parts for sure but certainly worth the effort in my opinion to get you into your dream car.

Thanks for the response. It's good to hear from someone else dealing with Porsche Dublin. To be honest, if the SA had made that clear to me that the car would need to be re-evaluated in January, I would have said that's perfectly fine. The disappointing thing is being led to believe everything was the same up till now, 3 weeks away from delivery to be told the price is going to change. Why would Porsche send me on quotes only this week of the repayment options if the car still had to be re appraised a second time? I don't understand that part. Anyway I'll just have to see how it goes with them Monday and take it from there. I might look into selling my car to a different dealer, it's a good idea. Thanks

 

[Murph7355]

Sounds like they reappraised your trade in, the same way you reappraised their finance

At the point of doing the deal, you should have confirmed whether the various elements to the deal were independent. So if you chose not to go with their finance, or even not trade your car in, what would happen. That should have been done at the point of spec lock, which is when you can get your deposit back.

See what they have to say on Monday. Be prepared to walk. Taycan aren't getting more rare and the market is going to start looking shaky soon, IMO.

 

[whitex]

Thanks for the response. It's good to hear from someone else dealing with Porsche Dublin. To be honest, if the SA had made that clear to me that the car would need to be re-evaluated in January, I would have said that's perfectly fine. The disappointing thing is being led to believe everything was the same up till now, 3 weeks away from delivery to be told the price is going to change. Why would Porsche send me on quotes only this week of the repayment options if the car still had to be re appraised a second time? I don't understand that part. Anyway I'll just have to see how it goes with them Monday and take it from there. I might look into selling my car to a different dealer, it's a good idea. Thanks

I think your SA was uninformed of simply mislead you. I've bought many cars over the years, and binding trade-in quotes always expiry dates (I've seen anything from 3 to 30 days max, typically 1-2 weeks). Sometimes dealers give you a guesstimate trade-in value but forget to mention it too (quick way to check that is ask if you can trade in the car right there on the spot, even if your new car is coming few months later - they can keep the fixed amount credit for you). They do guestimates because those don't require much work from them (actual binding valuation requires more work from them, unless they literally just trade to the wholesale auctions, then you can get a quick lowball binding price offer).

Bottom line is trade-ins and interest rate quotes always have expiry dates, never 6+ months away (if you get one, they are screwing you over so much on the deal that they can eat huge swings). You can usually trade in your car early (while quote still valid) and deal without a car for a while. You usually cannot take a loan out on a car you don't have though, so there you will always be a the mercy of the market (unless you take a loan out early secured against some other assets then buy the car in cash). I would not attribute malice to your dealer's repricing your trade-in. I bet that was going to happen no matter where you finance, they just didn't bother doing the legwork for a binding trade-in price until your delivery was imminent. Where the dealer might have wronged you was that they didn't explain things properly and therefore mislead you.

 

[TXAG]

I spoke with three different dealers here in the USA, and all of them said the only time they'd issue a quote on my trade-in (a 2017 Lexus RX 350) is when my Porsche was at the dealership and they could inspect my trade-in (used car markets change, my trade-in could have been damaged between ordering and delivery, etc.).

The dealer I went with knew I was paying cash, which in hindsight I suspect dinged my trade-in value as they couldn't make money through financing.

So what did I end up doing when I saw the dismal trade-in value? I didn't let it get to me. It's part of the cost of (and I was too excited for) getting my Taycan exactly the way I wanted. My advice is the opposite of @Murph7355 , but now you've heard both sides and I hope it helps you make your choice.

 

[whitex]

I spoke with three different dealers here in the USA, and all of them said the only time they'd issue a quote on my trade-in (a 2017 Lexus RX 350) is when my Porsche was at the dealership and they could inspect my trade-in (used car markets change, my trade-in could have been damaged between ordering and delivery, etc.).

If you tell them you're willing to leave the car with them there and then (or within a few days) they can give you a real trade-in quote. Of course you can only do that if you have something else to drive however long it takes to get your new car in. You still retain sales tax credits on that trade-in value if you do trade it early, for states where sales tax credits apply.

The dealer I went with knew I was paying cash, which in hindsight I suspect dinged my trade-in value as they couldn't make money through financing.

Neh. They will always give the lowest trade-in they think they can get away with, otherwise they are leaving money on the table, regardless of how much money they are making on the new car and financing. Now, that said, where how much they are making on the other aspects does come into play, is if you are trying to negotiate up the trade-in value and are willing to walk away unless you they up it (so from their perspective they are facing losing the deal on the new car if they don't give up profit on the trade-in). This doesn't work when the new cars sell themselves however, since the dealer is not worried about losing the sale. This is quickly changing by the way, as demand for cars is dropping fast. Not just cars, retail sales for Black Friday were announced recently - below market expectations.

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