Quote Originally Posted by mrtew
When I traded in my van for my VehiCROSS I thought I got ripped off because they only gave me $14,000 even tho the chevy dealer only would give $12,000. The next day a friend said that I shouldn't have traded it in because he worked with someone that wanted it so I told him that it was down at the Isuzu dealer if he was serious. He really was and went and bought it the day after for $18,000, so we both got ripped off. We could have both come out $2000 ahead if we'd just known eachother's plans a day earlier and the dealer wouldn't have made $4000 for one day's work if we'd just communicated better! I've heard that most dealers don't even make any money off new car lots... they just sell them to attract used cars and service bay customers.
I sold my '90 Trooper to CarMax for $8k some years back. A neighbor that worked at CarMax told me a CarMax employee bought it from CarMax for $12k. I don't feel I got ripped off, though. CarMax just made a typical profit on a used vehicle. Most people aren't aware they typically pay retailers 100%-400% markups on clothing over what merchandise actually cost them wholesale. It's called capitalism.