Unless you’re driving something extremely high-end, your car probably isn’t special. Neither is mine. 

But if you’ve financed or leased from a dealership in the past five years, chances are you probably received an email. Or a fancy letter. Or perhaps, you’ve received a phone call telling you that your specific vehicle is in high demand. They are also apparently prepared to pay top dollar for it.

It’s flattering. It’s also a trap, according to one TikTok creator.Kathie (@kathiethecarmama) has spent 30 years in the car business. She’s seen every trick, run every play, and watched customers drive out underwater on a loan they didn’t need.

Don’t Take The Bait From The Dealership

In her TikTok with over 5,500 views, Kathie starts with the question.

“So why are there all of a sudden thousands of people who want to buy your trade — is that why the dealership is just dying to get it from you? There’s not,” Kathie warned.

Kathie goes into the real reason why you are getting these emails.

“It’s getting towards the end of the month. Dealerships have to sell new cars in order to make their volume bonuses from the manufacturer,” she continued. “So what’s the best way to do that? Reach out to you and get you to believe that your trade is worth so much more than it actually is, so you’ll come into the dealership,” she explains. 

Then she lowered the boom.

“And then what happens when you get there? Shocker — your car is not worth that much. But you’re already there,” she said. 

Since you are already there, the dealership hopes you still want to do a trade in with numbers ready. 

“They’ve already gotten all the numbers ready for you. And they’re hoping they’re gonna wear you down long enough for you to just go, ‘You know what? I’m already here. Might as well just do it.’ And then you’re in a higher car payment,” Kathie shares. 

Getting into a higher car payment wasn’t the buyer’s intention, but certainly the dealerships.

She ended the clip with advice: “Make sure you do not fall for those tactics when you get those emails from the dealership, because that’s all it is — it’s a ploy to get you into the dealership so they can sell you a new car and hit their volume bonuses,” she advises. 

So what’s the deal? When did this start? What’s the trick?

How Do Dealerships Use Emails To Get You Back Into The Car Lot

So the concept of the “we want your trade” mailers, as we know them today, began in the late Nineties. While the big, generic “big sale” flyers have been around forever, this specific tactic of telling a prospective customer that their vehicle is in high demand for a “buy-back” is a fairly recent development.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software replaced the old filing systems and allowed dealerships to know who was in position for a trade. Then, “equity mining” tools helped scan these databases for people who owed less than their car was worth. Use a little automation to personalize the letter, and you’re in business.

Now, the goal isn’t actually to buy the used car off the customer, though they’ll definitely take it. 

“The dealership [will sell] your car for a lot more than what you sold it to them for. They are looking for car owners who want the latest model cars,” one TikTok commenter wrote. 

More specifically, the dealer wants to flip that customer into a brand-new loan. 

These people already know your roundabout credit score, the equity on your car, and your zip code.

But the illusion is that they’re constructing a false reality to make you believe you have the power, where you are the seller, and they are the buyer.

Wait, Where Is The Top Dollar Offer That Was Emailed?

You come expecting a check for your car. But the “top dollar” offer vanishes. The slithery used-car manager “walks” your car and finds scratches, tire wear, or whatever “market adjustments” that lower the value. 

But you’re already in the game, and now he’s turned your trade-in into a down payment. They are going to blend numbers on you. This means they will mix the price of the new car, the trade-in value of your old car, and the interest rate into a single number, your monthly payment.

Consumers are smart, and they’ve mostly seen through the “we need your specific car” letter because so many dealerships spam them out. However, because the cost of sending mail is cheap compared to the potential profit of selling a single car, dealers only need a 1–2% response rate to reach a profit. They will get thousands in back-end financing and warranty products they tack on to just one vehicle.

What The Dealership Hopes You Will Do

What the dealership wants is you driving off the lot in a new whip with a new monthly payment you’ll be making for the next half-decade or more. You might even be making the same payment as before, but you’re already locked in.

Those volume bonuses Kathie spoke about are unlocked by the stair-step incentive.

So maybe your new loan gave them the 100th car sold, which meant a $50,000 check and a bonus for the car salesman.

How To Navigate The Dealership With A Trade-In Offer

There are a few things you can do to improve your position. According to Get 400 More, doing a car trade-in is the most common way to lose money at the dealership.

So if you’re not interested in doing a trade-in, it’s best to avoid it entirely. All you need to do is laugh at the letter, email, or the person on the phone, with the greatest of vigor.

But let’s say you’re bored one Saturday, and you make it to the car lot, and you run through the offer. Immediately, when the salesperson tries to give you the okey-doke, going from appraising your car to showing you new inventory or asking about your budget, you’re gonna wanna have them slow down.

They will say, “While we run the numbers on your car, what kind of monthly payment are you looking for on a new one?”

What you are going to say is something like: “I’d like to keep these transactions separate. I am here to sell this car based on your offer letter. Let’s get this situated first. Once we settle out, then I’ll decide if I want to look at new inventory.”

“Separating trade transactions allows you to negotiate from a position of strength to get the best deal for your trade-in offer,” per Get 400 More. 

By doing this, you upend their leverage, and you’re going to force them to give you a real number for your car.

MotorBiscuit reached out to Kathie (@kathiethecarmama) for more information via a TikTok comment.

@kathiethecarmama Don’t take the bait from the dealership! #cargirl #carbuying #carbuyingsecrets #carbuyingtips #carbuyinghacks ♬ original sound – kathiethecarmama