Questions about trading in a car

[2001-400ex'er]

Last week I bought a 99 Grand Prix GT and I didn't know it had tranny problems. I took it to a dealer and they offered me a great trade in price, question is, if it runs fine (just shifts hard after driving it over 10 miles) when I trade it in, can I get in any trouble? Can they somehow make me take it back if they figure it out after I get a new car? Thanks a lot, I feel bad about screwing a dealership over but someone got me so I'm just redoing the deal.

[yellowzo3]

If they test drive it and say a-ok then I guess its their problem. Dealers screw us over everyday so I doubt anyone on here would feel bad for them because they have to fix one transmission lol.

The dealer you bought it from sold it to you with a bad trans, so pass it along :D

[Scro]

I wouldn't just go in and tell them it had tranny problems right off the bat. But, I wouldn't lie if they asked if it had any problems either.

[ATVMX33]

remember the golden rule...

[slightlybent47]

Its buyer beware. If they except it it's there baby.
They will just send it to the auction anyway, they only put the best trade in on there lot, and everything else goes to auction.
The answer is no they can’t come get you.

Just be careful they don’t give you a good trade in price for the old car and then tack the extra on the new payment.

Say you want a car that is 10.000 and they offer you 3,000 for the trade in.
Sometimes they will try to get to you by taking two thousand of the trade and tack in on the sale of the new one. They do this to make the trade in look good to you, but they will try to screw you on the sale.

[2001-400ex'er]

Thanks guys, kind of makes me feel better about trading it off, but then again someone did that to me. And trust me if I bought it from a dealership I would bring it right back, but it was private. He had basically the same car for $5,200 and he offered me $4,000 so I think its a good deal, now I just have to find a car they have that I like.

[DOUG_LONGISLAND]

Jesus 4000 for a 99 grand prix?

That's a win.

[destey]

I would just say here it is and say as little as possible. If they directly ask you I wouldn't lie, but I wouldnt go and talk down your vehicle. Its one thing if you're selling private-private, but its these guys profession and I would assume whatever price they gave me encompasses all problems they (surely) would find.

If they didn't find the problem you have to wonder about how good they are at what they do.

[Toadz400]

How's the transmission fluid level? What's it look like? Make sure it's at the proper level to see if it at least helps the problem.

[slightlybent47]

Originally posted by Toadz400
How's the transmission fluid level? What's it look like? Make sure it's at the proper level to see if it at least helps the problem.

That’s what I was thinking. If you really like the car check into getting it fixed. It would be cheaper than a car payment.

[toby400ex]

Learn how to replace the transmission, its not that hard. And it would cost less than a grand if you replaced the tranny yourself.

[Toadz400]

Originally posted by toby400ex
Learn how to replace the transmission, its not that hard. And it would cost less than a grand if you replaced the tranny yourself.

It's probably more work than he's willing to do. Transmission work on a FWD car is usually a huge pain.

[byrdman37876]

Originally posted by Toadz400
It's probably more work than he's willing to do. Transmission work on a FWD car is usually a huge pain.

Anything requiring crawling under a car is a pain :p

[Toadz400]

Originally posted by byrdman37876
Anything requiring crawling under a car is a pain :p

Very true! It's one of the many reasons why I only drive trucks. :blah: