Trade In's.

[MReda]

Anytime you trade, you will be getting wholesale and not retail value. Selling privately will yield more.
There are numerous companies that will make you an offer and come take your car away, all are usually similar in price and will also be similar to Rivian or Tesla. Worth checking around as occasionally one of them will have a better price than the others.

Just to emphasize your last point about checking around, I think the world of venture capital and tech invading the used vehicle market has had an impact. Carvana offered me 20% more than CarMax on a vehicle I sold recently. Maybe I still could have gotten more in a private sale, but I value my time pretty highly, so I doubt I would have gotten a better deal overall. Worth investigating all options.

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[cohall]

Just to emphasize your last point about checking around, I think the world of venture capital and tech invading the used vehicle market has had an impact. Carvana offered me 20% more than CarMax on a vehicle I sold recently. Maybe I still could have gotten more in a private sale, but I value my time pretty highly, so I doubt I would have gotten a better deal overall. Worth investigating all options.

Definitely agree.

Carvana just gave me the high end of private-party value for my car, and made it the easiest process I could ever imagine (literally a total of less than 20 minutes of my actual time from offer to cash in hand). Carmax and Vroom both offered me about $6K less than Carvana did. Investigating all options is the best advice.

 

[Swilly]

Definitely agree.

Carvana just gave me the high end of private-party value for my car, and made it the easiest process I could ever imagine (literally a total of less than 20 minutes of my actual time from offer to cash in hand). Carmax and Vroom both offered me about $6K less than Carvana did. Investigating all options is the best advice.

I just had the same experience with Carvana. So easy and offer was way above Volvo, Carmax and other online buyers. Thinking about selling them another vehicle as they offered $1k more than I paid for the car 14 months ago. I will never trade in again.

 

[Eeyore]

I totaled my last car, so no trade in funny business. I just turned over 300K miles in my Civic, so I'm just hoping that it will last until my R1T is ready.

 

[Swilly]

I totaled my last car, so no trade in funny business. I just turned over 300K miles in my Civic, so I'm just hoping that it will last until my R1T is ready.

?
I once totaled a vehicle the night before I was supposed to trade it in. That last glory ride across the golf course proved to be a very poor decision.

 

[Swilly]

Another thought/question is whether they’ll be offering any sort of premium for trading in EVs. I vaguely recall Audi offering incentives if you trade in a Tesla for an e-tron when they first hit the market.

I would love to see Rivian go the other way (maybe not out of the box due to financial constraints) and pay premium for ICE vehicles, with value based partly on its MPG. The worse the MPG the larger the premium they pay on the trade. They could use trade-ins as a marketing strategy, able to claim they have taken X number of ICE vehicles off the road and reducing carbon release by X. Make a huge scene of destroying the worst ICE offenders and turn the scrap into parts for future Rivian vehicles.

 

[electruck]

I would love to see Rivian go the other way (maybe not out of the box due to financial constraints) and pay premium for ICE vehicles, with value based partly on its MPG. The worse the MPG the larger the premium they pay on the trade. They could use trade-ins as a marketing strategy, able to claim they have taken X number of ICE vehicles off the road and reducing carbon release by X. Make a huge scene of destroying the worst ICE offenders and turn the scrap into parts for future Rivian vehicles.

But they won't be taking any ICE trades off the road by scrapping them. They would take a huge loss doing that. That's the kind of thing governments might do but not start up companies trying to make a profit.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

But they won't be taking any ICE trades off the road by scrapping them. They would take a huge loss doing that. That's the kind of thing governments might do but not start up companies trying to make a profit.

Also, the cash-for-clunkers program has been considered a huge mistake, after the fact. Taking these older vehicles off the road disproportionately hurt lower-income families by reducing supply of older used vehicles and driving prices up.

 

[sevengroove]

But they won't be taking any ICE trades off the road by scrapping them. They would take a huge loss doing that. That's the kind of thing governments might do but not start up companies trying to make a profit.

Also, the cash-for-clunkers program has been considered a huge mistake, after the fact. Taking these older vehicles off the road disproportionately hurt lower-income families by reducing supply of older used vehicles and driving prices up.

Agree with these sentiments - the best way that Rivian can incentivize customers to get in their vehicles is by building kick*ss vehicles that customers want to get into. This will play some part in getting ICEs off the road, but artificially offering a higher trade-in value for those - especially considering that i) most folks who can afford a Rivian won't need that bonus, and ii) there's plenty of demand already - is not something that makes sense for them to do at this time.

Auto manufacturers with a lot of volume and pull should absolutely consider this approach especially if it feeds into a broader strategy to bring affordable EVs to market.

 

[MReda]

I would love to see Rivian go the other way (maybe not out of the box due to financial constraints) and pay premium for ICE vehicles, with value based partly on its MPG. The worse the MPG the larger the premium they pay on the trade. They could use trade-ins as a marketing strategy, able to claim they have taken X number of ICE vehicles off the road and reducing carbon release by X. Make a huge scene of destroying the worst ICE offenders and turn the scrap into parts for future Rivian vehicles.

I like this idea, only because the vehicle I intend to get rid of would be worth more with this method.

 

[Swilly]

I like this idea, only because the vehicle I intend to get rid of would be worth more with this method.

We think alike.

 

[Mjhirsch78]

Heh. 10 year old Impreza gets donated for our next vehicle. It has been a dud since day one. Already replaced most of the engine once (under warranty) and starting to show signs it is headed that direction again. Hopefully someone with automotive know-how can make some money for charity. My wife and I look at cars as tools to be used to the end rather than investments. Drove the last one into the scrapyard on fumes and prayers. To each their own.

 

[Eeyore]

?
I once totaled a vehicle the night before I was supposed to trade it in. That last glory ride across the golf course proved to be a very poor decision.

Of the 4 people in my immediate family, only my wife hasn't totaled a vehicle. I was the only one that was responsible for it. My son was borrowing my truck and stopped at a stoplight. A BMW ran the light and hit my truck. My daughter was stopped and got rear ended. Thankfully she wasn't hurt, but the Altima was totaled. It protected her well enough that I bought another to replace it.

 

[staples]

Of the 4 people in my immediate family, only my wife hasn't totaled a vehicle. I was the only one that was responsible for it.

How'd you do it?

 

[Eeyore]

How'd you do it?

Driving home from work 2 days after the country road had been traveled because of snow. I lost control when I got into the gravel on the shoulder and just before the car stopped, the car rolled onto it’s back. Almost like slow motion. It was an Acura integra.

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