Trading In Your Old Car When Getting Your Elio

[Jim H]

I'm 200+ miles and $60-80,000 away from a Tesla

I believe most of us are in the same boat.

 

[Elio Amazed]

IMHO, I think it would be detremental for EM to do anything but refer potential "traders" to one or more 3rd parties.
Most dealers have enough "wiggle room" built into MSRPs that enable them to give far more than they can recover from trade-ins.
EM has built a very small profit margin into their business model and by all indications do not have any wiggle room at all.
As has already been suggested, I don't think Elio desires or can afford the additional staff and cost it would take for a "in house" trade-in program.

Too many irons in the fire. It's supposed to be KIS, remember? Do one thing and do it well?
Attempting to be too many things to too many people and trying to provide for all needs is one of the quickest ways to sink a business.
Many dealers send the majority of their trade-ins to local dealer's auctions where they recover only a fraction of what they paid for them.
But even that would take an additional logistic and staffing structure.

Granted, there are dealers that do well in both new and used and actually go to the auction to buy and detail when they run low on used stock.

But EM would not be able to give most folks what they think is a "fair" price for their trade-in because of EM's low profit margin business plan.
That, IMO, would negatively effect potential Elio owners more than not taking trades and giving a referal to a 3rd party.

I don't think anyone who really wants an Elio is going to change their mind because they have to dispose of their current ride "off campus"

 

[zelio]

IMHO, I think it would be detremental for EM to do anything but refer potential "traders" to one or more 3rd parties.
Most dealers have enough "wiggle room" built into MSRPs that enable them to give far and above more than they can get out of trade-ins.
EM has built a very small profit margin into their business model and by all indications do not have any wiggle room at all.
As has already been suggested, I don't think Elio desires or can afford the additional staff and cost it would take for a "in house" trade-in program.

Too many irons in the fire. It's supposed to be KIS, remember? Do one thing and do it well?
Attempting to be too many things to too many people and attempting to provide for everyone's needs is one of the quickest ways to sink a business.
Many dealers send the majority of their trade-ins to local dealer's auctions where they recover but a small fraction of what the dealer paid for them.
But even that would take an additional logistic and staffing sturcture.

Granted, there are dealers that do well in both new and used and actually go to the auction to buy and detail when they run low on used stock.

But EM would not be able to give most folks what they think is a "fair" price for their trade-in because of EM's low profit margin business plan.
That, IMO, would negatively effect potential Elio owners more than not taking trades and giving a referal to a 3rd party.

I don't think anyone who really wants an Elio is going to change their mind because they have to dispose of their current ride "off campus"

As long as I don't have to sell it myself, I don't care how they handle it. :-) Z

 

[Elio Amazed]

As long as I don't have to sell it myself, I don't care how they handle it. Z

Thing is, you won't get close to what most dealers would offer from a third party business who's buying your vehicle outright,.
Again, most folks won't think they're offering even close to what the vehicles worth and in most cases, they'll be right.

I understand that you personally want an alternative, but people are almost always far better off selling their vehicle themselves.
Especially when dealing with 3rd party businesses that only buy cars from the general public to flip them.

I've seen countless dealers give people with no trade-ins (because the dealers really wanted to sell new cars) almost the exact same discount off the MSRP that they've given other people for their trade-ins time after time.

So what I'm seeing is a lot of dealers essentially giving you nothing for your trade-in that you couldn't get from haggling, either there or at a dealer down the road. It's all a sham because it's built into the dealer's larger margin to begin with.

Trade-ins are going to be a sensitive issue and I think EM is going to have to be careful with it.
They're are going to have to stay on top of how it's being handled by the 3rd party or parties.

A percieved negative experience with a referred 3rd party can, and often will, end up casting a bad reflection on EM even though the "trader's" conscious mind knows that EM really had nothing to do with their bad "trade-in" experience.

That's just the way the cookie crumbles and how the human psyche works

 

[zelio]

Thing is, you won't get close to what most dealers would offer for your "trade" from a third party business who's buying your vehicle outright,.
Again, most folks won't think they're offering even close to what the vehicles worth and in most cases, they'll be right.

I understand that you personally want an alternative, but people are almost always far better off selling their vehicle themselves.
Especially when dealing with 3rd party businesses that only buy cars from the general public to flip them.

I've seen countless dealers give people with no trade-ins (because they really wanted to sell new cars) almost the exact same discount off the MSRP that they've given other people for their trade-ins time after time.

So what I'm seeing is a lot of dealers essentially giving you nothing for your trade-in that you couldn't get from haggling, either there or at a dealer down the road. It's all a sham because it's built into the dealer's larger margin to begin with.

Trade-ins are going to be a sensetive issue and I think EM is going to have to be careful with it.
They're are going to have to stay on top of how it's being handled by the 3rd party or parties.

A percieved negative experience with a referred 3rd party can, and often will, end up casting a bad reflection on EM even though the "traders" conscious mind knows that EM really had nothing to do with their bad "trade-in" experience.

That's just the way the cookie crumbles and how the human psyche works

By the time Elio Motors is ready with my vehicle I will be about 74 y/o. I am a single woman who lives alone and I am not going to put myself through the angst of selling my own car. I will donate it to NPR before I sell it myself. :-) Z

 

[Elio Amazed]

By the time Elio Motors is ready with my vehicle I will be about 74 y/o. I am a single woman who lives alone and I am not going to put myself through the angst of selling my own car. I will donate it to NPR before I sell it myself. Z

Cool. Like I said, I totally understand where you're at with this.
I just spewed all that basically for the greater good.

 

[CheeseheadEarl]

Z, if you were local to me, I'd sell it for you.

In 27 years of driving, I have yet to trade in a car. Heck, since I don't buy new, only 3 of my rides have come from a dealer to start with.

Me, I'll become a 3 car owner, for a while anyway. The Silverado will stay for the heavy lifting, and the Buick for backup/multi passenger use. Up here, registration and basic liability insurance is cheap enough to make this a valid option. I understand that isn't the same for everyone, though.

When the Buick needs replacing, I can decide then if an Elio/truck combination is all I need.

 

[Jeff Porter]

As an afterthought - Elio has been compared to Tesla a lot lately, business plan wise. Does Tesla accept trade ins? I've no idea, I'm 200+ miles and $60-80,000 away from a Tesla

LOL me too!

 

[Dustoff]

I believe most of us are in the same boat.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

I'm hoping they allow you to do the trade-in at CarMax or another national chain where the value is applied to the Elio. Note: Trade, not sell, because in many states the trade isn't subjected to taxes like selling would be.