I have been the owner of a Mustang GT for the last five years, I have properly maintained the car during all that time and have kept it spotless. I believe in the old theory that if you take care of your car, then it's going to take car of you.

But the problem is that the car HAS NOT been taking care of me. The car has 69,000 miles currently and has pretty much given me nothing but problems for the last two years.

The A/C has broken down twice on me and the dealership supposedly fixed it the first two times. But you what? It has broken down again and in the 95 degree Florida heat, in a black car, with black leather seats a working A/C system is pretty much a necessity.

Also, the intake cracked and now it's leaking coolant at a medium pace. I admit, I have done some spirited driving every now and then, but a sporty car should be able to handle a little abuse every now and then. So maybe I'm directly responsible for this one, but then again, a performance car should be able to handle it somewhat.

Those were basicly the two major problems but I've also had little things popping up and I'm tired of being nickled and dimed to death with this POS.

I've never traded a car in with problems like this, so my question is.....Will the dealership accept it? I'm figuring that they'll give me less money for the trade in because it's a POS. But could they refuse the trade in all together because they wouldn't want to fix it or something?

 

They will have their mechanic check the car. Just don't tell them anything and let them discover it. Sometime they don't care cause they want you to buy a car from them.

 

Let them find whatever problems there are without help from you. They will reduce the trade value accordingly, but you still need to insist on the highest price you can get. This is daily work for the used car appraisers. I traded my mothers old car with a blown head gasket (but still running) and got the price I wanted.

 

They may not notice anything at all.

I traded in my '94 T-Bird SC with some major problems (electrical & engine), and they never noticed. The car was in mint condition as far as looks went, inside and out. They sent a junior salesman out to drive it and check it out, and when he was done there were a bunch of guys hanging around checking it out. It looked like new!

Anyway, I knew they'd lowball me, because it had almost 138,000 miles on it. I made out ok.

 

Most any dealer will take anything on a trade in. Even cars that are wrecked, or don't run. The trade in value is effected accordingly. I wouldn't point out anything being wrong with it, Used car people appraise cars every day, usually based on outside appearance and milage.

Even if they don't resell the car, they can always sell in at auction. What they would really like to do is sell you a new car.


BTW, I wouldn't blame any of those problems on driving it hard. It sounds like a typical Ford product to me.

 

You have to figure karma into the equation -- but I do know a guy who has traded in two cars to carmax, both with rather substantial problems and never had an issue.

 

awww....this all makes me feel good about buying a used car.

 

we will take anything, it is our job to ask you and look at it for issues. you must discose if there is any frame damage if you are aware of it. on the other hand Cali dealers HAVE to disclost if the car has frame damage or is a reviouse rental or salvaged, we usually let the wholesalers take them and sell them on sled lots or send them to mexico!
MAtt

 

A dealer bought my Miata without driving it or even popping the hood. Really. He had a buyer lined up for it and probably turned around and sold it to them with out ever checking it out. Didn't have any major problems but it kind of opened my eyes to the used car experience.