Is it possible to trade in a lemon to a dealership?

Question

I ask this question not b/c I am trying to be sneaky or grimey, but I am curious and this is why. I have a neighbor who is selling his 2000 Ford Focus. My wife spoke with him and he indicated he is leaving and selling a few of his cars. He is a mechanic if that matters. The car has 50,000 miles on it. Clutch and breaks just replaced along with a pump {not sure which one}. This will be my first car {if i purchase it} and I have been doing a lot of searches for used cars. I am only interested in Acura, Honda, Nissan or Toyota because of reliability.

The reviews for the 2000 Focus on Edmunds.com were horrible. From recalls, to untimely repairs, and keys sticking in the ignition it was just crazy. Anyway knowing that he is a mechanic I am still going to have it inspecting by a mechanic of my choice. My question however is if I purchase it and it is just too costly to keep b/c of repairs, and I decide to trade in or sell to a dealership will they accept it with all the issues these cars have? Or will they decline? By the way he is selling for $2,200. KBB is $3-$4.5k i think. Some dealers are selling these for $5.5-$7.5k.

Answer 1

You should be cautious when going to trade your car to a dealer.  If you are not sure of what your car is worth then you can get really ripped off.



Dont be suprised if a dealer makes a low offer. It's simple to get a quote online to check how much your vehicle is going to fetch.  I have recommended http://tradein.123thebest.info - Good luck.

Answer 2

Most dealerships do not turn cars down.  They will test drive it and inspect it and then give you an offer.  Usually quite low but an offer.

Answer 3

Depends on the dealership. Some have incentives to take anything but the most you would get for a lemon is probably 500 bucks.

Answer 4

Certainly, a dealer will take it in on trade. They'll do their own inspecting once it's taken in, and will probably wholesale it off to another dealer, anyway (it'll probably end up on a "buy-here, pay-here" lot). If you do trade it, I wouldn't expect much in resale value on the car.

If it was legally determined to be a "lemon", you wouldn't have it, anyway as the manufacturer would've already taken it back.

Advice? Skip this car. You already KNOW it has issues, and you're taking a huge risk purchasing it. The 2000 Focus models were the first model year, and they had many issues, as you've read. He's selling it on-the-cheap as he knows it's trouble.  

Answer 5

if you can get away with it, if you can disguise the problem. then maybe, yeah.

Answer 6

When selling or trading a car to a dealer...he is the specialist, he should know what to look for when he does the appraisal and makes you an offer.  You are not responsible to say anything good or bad about the car.  

I would however, give this some real thought, because the dealer will buy for wholesale, so you may not get what you want from him.

Answer 7

Dealers will kiss your feet to get that car.  The focus is selling like hotcakes with the price of gas being so high.  If the price of gas falls, the car may be less valuable, but I wouldn't worry about that.

Just don't be so whiney.  A car is a very complex piece of machinery.  If you're going to own one, learn how to take care of it.