standinfor.me

Email templates · Car dealer

Email template to get trade-in offers for your car by email

You are getting rid of your current car, either as a trade-in on a new one or as a straight sale to a dealer, and you want to know what it is worth to buyers before anyone bundles the number into a bigger deal. A trade-in offer is the amount a dealer will pay for your car, usually deducted from the price of the one you are buying. Dealers who buy cars outright, and the big online buyers, will also make offers. Asking several of them by email, with the same photos and the same facts, gets you written offers you can compare, and a real number to hold against the trade-in figure a dealer slides across the desk later.

Before you send

  • Your car's basics: year, make, model, trim, mileage, VIN, and the color. Note whether the title is in your name and clear, or whether there is a loan on it and roughly how much is owed.
  • Six to ten clear photos taken in daylight: each side, front, back, the odometer, the driver's seat, and any dents or scratches. Honest photos get offers that hold up when the buyer sees the car.
  • A short, honest condition note: what works, what does not, warning lights, tire condition, and whether it has been in an accident.
  • A ballpark value from a free online estimator, so you can tell a low offer from a fair one.
  • A list of who to ask: the dealer you are buying from, two or three other franchised dealers, the online buyers, and any local used-car lot that advertises "we buy cars."
Subject Offer on my [year make model], [mileage] miles 
Hi [dealer or buyer name],

I'm looking to sell my [year make model trim], [mileage] miles, VIN [VIN], and I'd like a written offer from you. I'm getting a few offers this week and will go with the best one.

Quick facts: it's [color], one owner [or number of owners], [clean title in my name / financed with about a certain amount owed]. Condition is [brief honest description: runs and drives fine, normal wear, one small dent on the rear door, tires at about half tread, no warning lights]. It [has / has not] been in an accident. I've attached photos of every side, the odometer and the interior.

Could you reply with the amount you'd pay for it as [a straight purchase / a trade-in toward a car I'm buying from you]? If your offer depends on seeing it in person, please give me the number you expect to pay based on these photos, and note what would change it.

I can bring it in on [day or days] if the offer is competitive.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • Serious buyers send a number, sometimes with a note that it is good for seven days and subject to a quick look at the car. That is normal. "Bring it in and we'll appraise it" with no number means they want you on the lot first.
  • Expect a spread of a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars between offers. Take the highest written offer to the dealer you are buying from and ask them to match it as your trade-in value.
  • Keep the purchase price of the new car and the trade-in value as two separate numbers. A dealer who raises one and lowers the other has changed nothing.
  • If every offer is far below the estimator value, the car may be worth more sold privately. That takes longer but can be worth it on a low-mileage car.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Get me offers on my current car 
Hi StandIn,

I'd like you to get written offers on my car from dealers and car buyers so I know what it's worth before I trade it in or sell it.

My car: [year make model trim, mileage, VIN, color].
Title and loan: [clean title in my name / about a certain amount owed to a lender].
Condition: [honest one- or two-line description, including any damage].
Photos: [attached / link].
Who to ask: [the dealer I'm buying from, other dealers near me, online buyers].
When I could bring it in: [days or dates].

Send the same details to each buyer, collect the offers, follow up with anyone who only says "come in," and bring me the numbers ranked from highest to lowest with any conditions attached.

Thanks,
[Your name]

Related templates