‘I paid $36K for this’: Woman tries to sell RAV4 to Toyota dealership. Then she takes it to Lexus
A woman decides to sell her Toyota RAV4 before moving from Hawaii to Los Angeles, sparking discussion about how much car owners can expect to get when reselling to a dealership.
In a video with over 782,000 views, TikToker Bethany Simko (@bethanyysimko) says she went to multiple dealerships to get a quote for her Toyota RAV4 XLE, which she paid $36,000 for originally.
"I listed my car on Facebook Marketplace as well, but I feel like a dealership is going to be so much easier," she says. "If they don't give me a good deal, I'm not taking it."
First, she goes to the Toyota dealership, which tells her the car is worth $24,000. The dealership offers $19,000. She tells them that other potential buyers are offering more, and the dealership raises their offer to $20,500.
"I said we're going to be looking other places," she says. "I feel like we can do better than that."
Simko says she decided to get a second quote at the Lexus dealership next to the Toyota dealership.
"They got back to me with a $19,000 offer. Hmm, no baby. I'll be willing to settle for $23,000," she says. "So far, our best offer is $20,500. I might just sell it independently at this point."
How much can you get selling your car to a dealership?
While dealerships calculate the vehicle's value before making an offer, the selling price will be lower so the dealership can make a profit, according to Car and Driver. Several viewers point out that this is likely why the dealerships aren't willing to match the car's value.
"As someone who works at a dealership, if you’re car is worth $24k be grateful for the $20.5k you are not getting $23k anywhere," one writes. Simko responds, "Looks like I'm selling privately."
"Of course the offers are a lot lower. They have to make money off it too," another says.
"If your car is only worth 24k, they’re not buying it for 23k and then only making 1,000 off of it lol," a third adds.
Can you get more by selling privately?
Several viewers say they sold their car for more via an independent marketplace like Facebook.
"They offered my 1.5k for my 2014 ford focus hatch, I ended up selling it privately for 4.2k lolll dealerships are a rippp because they have to make money off of it," a commenter says.
"Dealers offered $2k for my car and i sold it on market place for $6500, i would sell privately if that becomes a pattern," another shares.
"Dealership offered me $300 for my 2018 Chevy Cruze with 80k miles sold it privately for $4000," a third adds.
However, others say there's a middle ground between independent sales and dealerships.
"My bfs a salesman and if ur cars worth that no dealership will get up to that same price. They want to make profit. USE CARMAX! Carmax gave me 10k for my old car that a dealership offered 7k for," one suggests.
"Sell it to CarMax instead," another writes.
@bethanyysimko it’s time to sell my baby girl ???? #rav4 #rav4xle ♬ original sound - BETHANY SIMKO
The Daily Dot reached out to Simko and Toyota for further comment.
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