[Nai3t]

This isn't ID.4 specific but worth sharing, since the VW ordering process can leave some of us in a bad negotiation stance when it comes to our trade-ins.

The Volvo S60 we were getting rid of had a retail blue book of $17,000.

VW offered $11,000, then upped it to $13,000.

Car Max evaluated it and offered $15,500.

The Volvo dealer we serviced it at offered $13,000. It was 5,000 miles over their CPO threshold.

But the Volvo salesman pulled me aside and said to check out Shift. He even took me into his office and pulled up a quick quote for $16,100.

So I went home, plugged in just the license plate, and some minor details, and they pushed me an offer of $17,100, plus a $200 bonus if I brought it to them and sold it same day. Optionally, I could schedule a home pickup.

I also plugged in to Auto Nation, Carvana, and Vroom. Carvana was a few hundred less, then Vroom. Auto Nation wasn't a player.

I'm on the train back from Shift writing this. They deducted $120 for two rashed wheels, but otherwise true to quote. The process took about 90 minutes in total — could be faster if they hadn't used paper DMV forms.

The only downside is they don't pay right away. They'll take the car in to the maintenance bay and perform a mechanical inspection, then issue a bank transfer in a couple of days. But they tell me the mechanical inspection won't affect the agreed upon amount of the sale, but could void the sale if any damage, major mechanical deficiencies, or modifications are discovered.

So anyway, it's a brave new world, including how we get rid of old cars!

 

[corfam]

This isn't ID.4 specific but worth sharing, since the VW ordering process can leave some of us in a bad negotiation stance when it comes to our trade-ins.

But the Volvo salesman pulled me aside and said to check out Shift. He even took me into his office and pulled up a quick quote for $16,100.

So I went home, plugged in just the license plate, and some minor details, and they pushed me an offer of $17,100, plus a $200 bonus if I brought it to them and sold it same day. Optionally, I could schedule a home pickup.

So anyway, it's a brave new world, including how we get rid of old cars!

Nice. Thanks for sharing. I looked now. Here are the locations where Shift will currently buy cars:

Oregon
Sacramento, CA
Washington
San Francisco, CA
San Jose, CA
Los Angeles, CA
San Diego, CA
Inland Empire
Orange County
San Gabriel Valley
Austin, USA
Dallas
Fresno

Shift | Buy Used Cars Online | Home Delivery

Shift is a used cars website where peer-to-peer car buying meets certified quality, for thousands less. We bring the no-obligation test drive to you. Find cars for sale online. Get started now!

shift.com

 

[Nai3t]

Ah! I asked my rep if they move cars to regions where they can maximize profit and he said they stay local unless purchased by an out-of-area buyer, but also that they are still in the process of expanding their reach eastward. I didn't realize their footprint is so limited (they've been around for 7 years, he told me).

So a couple of weird things:
- the DMV form was all hand-completed despite them having all of my information prior to arrival; it took three tries due to mistakes
- they told me to leave the date blank on the sales form next to my signature
- they took photos of the forms and use Slack to submit them to an approver at another location; I could watch on their iPad as my turn in the queue was processed
- their email instructions are to retain my insurance on the vehicle until the money hits my bank account
- the payment is handled by an outfit called Plaid, who specializes in bank transfer type stuff; rather than providing my ABA and account info, it prompted me to sign in to my bank account from inside their website (Plaid pop-up window inside of Shift's website), which raised my hackles, except that Google auto-fill recognized the sign-on window as my bank, which indicates that the Plaid password box possessed the correct credentials of the bank I was using
- there is an option for payment not requiring a bank account, but I didn't click the link to explore that method
- I left their facility with absolutely nothing from them, other than the 3 emails they sent while completing paperwork (two copies of the sales forms I signed, and the third containing the link to complete the bank transfer)

 

[corfam]

All interesting. Thanks again. It's great to have options. I'll definitely be watching and hoping for them to expand.

 

[nigela]

I had a similar low trade in offer on my Volvo, KBB showed $15k for trade in, VW offered $10.5k. KBB has a service where they will generate a value and a list of dealers who might buy it. KBB said $13.5, all of the dealers on the list contacted me and wanted to see the car. I chose the closest dealer, they looked at the car and cut me a check, in and out in less than an hour.

I assume KBB is nation wide, so perhaps another option for us. There’s a tremendous demand for cars where I live and not much inventory, definitely a seller’s market here.

 

[Nai3t]

What shocked me is KBB listed $17.5k as retail value, not trade. I was prepared to accept Car Max's $15.5 offer. KBB trade-in range was showing 13.6 to 15.6.

Did your Volvo ownership come about from their Dieselgate outreach?

 

[onie]

Sold my leased X2 to shift back in February. They offered more than Carvana and Vroom. Saved me quite a bit of $$$ by selling it. Avoided paying the disposition fee, detailing and new tires
There’s a shortage of used cars since a lot of car auctions are not operating due to COVID. Carvana offered $25K+ for my 2019 GLI 35th Anniversary Edition (1630 miles) two weeks ago. More than what I paid for back in November 2019. Probably best to sell now before prices go back down.

 

[Nai3t]

Here's the scenario that confuses me:

I'm Joe Buyer shopping for a used S60.

I see a lovely Inscription with brown leather on Shift for $18,500.

I find the exact same model on a local Volvo dealer's site, a dealer who performed all maintenance on this car, all recalls, it's not CPO but they're selling it, so they're vouching for it.

If I'm Joe Buyer, I'm going to assume Volvo didn't want the one Shift is selling , something might be wrong with it, I'd rather pay Volvo an extra $500 or $1,000 to buy theirs.

How could Volvo at least not given me a competive offer, especially for a car priced in the sweet spot of a supposedly hot used vehicle market? Similarly, how could Shift have paid me what they did?

 

[NBCGLX]

Sold my leased X2 to shift back in February. They offered more than Carvana and Vroom. Saved me quite a bit of $$$ by selling it. Avoided paying the disposition fee, detailing and new tires
There’s a shortage of used cars since a lot of car auctions are not operating due to COVID. Carvana offered $25K+ for my 2019 GLI 35th Anniversary Edition (1630 miles) two weeks ago. More than what I paid for back in November 2019. Probably best to sell now before prices go back down.

Funny, we’re in the process of selling our leased X2 right now, to Carvana. They’re offering more than the lease buyout, so not only do we avoid the disposition fees, but also the next service and new tires, all of which would be due before the lease is up, AND we’re also getting paid a few hundred in our pocket from the deal. Crazy! It’s our 3rd car, and the one our Pro S AWD will replace, but I’m working from home full-time for a few more months and my husband will be working from home full-time by the time I’m back in the office, so it’ll be like nothing happened hah!

 

[gorj]

Since this thread is about selling our vehicle to purchase an ID4, I can verify that the used car market is hot right now. I listed my two year old Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid on Marketplace. The next day I received an offer from a car dealer in Oklahoma, we agreed on a price and after sending them a VIN and photos they bought it. A few days later they came and picked it up and gave me a check!

 

[Nai3t]

Since this thread is about selling our vehicle to purchase an ID4...

Well, more to point, not feeling stuck trading-in to the VW dealer!

 

[djohan100]

This isn't ID.4 specific but worth sharing, since the VW ordering process can leave some of us in a bad negotiation stance when it comes to our trade-ins.

The Volvo S60 we were getting rid of had a retail blue book of $17,000.

VW offered $11,000, then upped it to $13,000.

Car Max evaluated it and offered $15,500.

The Volvo dealer we serviced it at offered $13,000. It was 5,000 miles over their CPO threshold.

But the Volvo salesman pulled me aside and said to check out Shift. He even took me into his office and pulled up a quick quote for $16,100.

So I went home, plugged in just the license plate, and some minor details, and they pushed me an offer of $17,100, plus a $200 bonus if I brought it to them and sold it same day. Optionally, I could schedule a home pickup.

I also plugged in to Auto Nation, Carvana, and Vroom. Carvana was a few hundred less, then Vroom. Auto Nation wasn't a player.

I'm on the train back from Shift writing this. They deducted $120 for two rashed wheels, but otherwise true to quote. The process took about 90 minutes in total — could be faster if they hadn't used paper DMV forms.

The only downside is they don't pay right away. They'll take the car in to the maintenance bay and perform a mechanical inspection, then issue a bank transfer in a couple of days. But they tell me the mechanical inspection won't affect the agreed upon amount of the sale, but could void the sale if any damage, major mechanical deficiencies, or modifications are discovered.

So anyway, it's a brave new world, including how we get rid of old cars!

I recently sold my leased Honda Clarity to Shift.com. Very good experience, they did it fast and came to my house to pick up the car.
they contacted the lease company / Honda Finance find my paid off amount + dispose fee and split the amount accordingly.
It took 3 businesss days for the deposit to my bank account and 10 business days to paid the Honda Finance.
they will send you referral code to get $100 each for you and your referral if they sell car to shift.com

 

[wbatten]

This isn't ID.4 specific but worth sharing, since the VW ordering process can leave some of us in a bad negotiation stance when it comes to our trade-ins.

The Volvo S60 we were getting rid of had a retail blue book of $17,000.

VW offered $11,000, then upped it to $13,000.

Car Max evaluated it and offered $15,500.

The Volvo dealer we serviced it at offered $13,000. It was 5,000 miles over their CPO threshold.

But the Volvo salesman pulled me aside and said to check out Shift. He even took me into his office and pulled up a quick quote for $16,100.

So I went home, plugged in just the license plate, and some minor details, and they pushed me an offer of $17,100, plus a $200 bonus if I brought it to them and sold it same day. Optionally, I could schedule a home pickup.

I also plugged in to Auto Nation, Carvana, and Vroom. Carvana was a few hundred less, then Vroom. Auto Nation wasn't a player.

I'm on the train back from Shift writing this. They deducted $120 for two rashed wheels, but otherwise true to quote. The process took about 90 minutes in total — could be faster if they hadn't used paper DMV forms.

The only downside is they don't pay right away. They'll take the car in to the maintenance bay and perform a mechanical inspection, then issue a bank transfer in a couple of days. But they tell me the mechanical inspection won't affect the agreed upon amount of the sale, but could void the sale if any damage, major mechanical deficiencies, or modifications are discovered.

So anyway, it's a brave new world, including how we get rid of old cars!

We had a similar experience with Carvana, sold them my wife's 2016 Mercedes GLA for $19,350 with 50k miles, which was better by almost $1800 compared to Vroom and CarMax. Dealers offered They picked the car up at our house, handed us a check and paid off the loan balance within four days. We've sold to CarMax in the past but Carvana was way easier. I checked their web site and they sold the GLA within a week locally.

 

[Nai3t]

Shift listed my trade today for only $780 more than they paid me. I clearly don't understand the margins game of this online used car business. Unless...

Shift is pre-IPO (est. Q3) and filed a bunch of paperwork last week, which I think means they're entering their "quiet period" (except that my browser is plastered in Shift ads as I type this). Seeing as how a unaffiliated Volvo salesman clued me in, and I in turn wrote this post here and told a dozen friends and co-workers, could it be a strategic word-of-mouth hype campaign fueled by paying slightly inflated prices for sweet-spot late-model $20k inventory to build brand awareness and spike interest in the stock?

...or should I just accept that I do not understand the margins of this business? :/

 

[onie]

They charge a service fee to the buyer. I doubt they would spend anything on repairs on cars they buy from private sellers. They sell them as-is.

 

[djohan100]

Shift listed my trade today for only $780 more than they paid me. I clearly don't understand the margins game of this online used car business. Unless...

Shift is pre-IPO (est. Q3) and filed a bunch of paperwork last week, which I think means they're entering their "quiet period" (except that my browser is plastered in Shift ads as I type this). Seeing as how a unaffiliated Volvo salesman clued me in, and I in turn wrote this post here and told a dozen friends and co-workers, could it be a strategic word-of-mouth hype campaign fueled by paying slightly inflated prices for sweet-spot late-model $20k inventory to build brand awareness and spike interest in the stock?

...or should I just accept that I do not understand the margins of this business? :/

Mine is listed on Shift.com for $1,000 more than their purchase price.
Just happy they paid me couple thousand more than dealers or carmax, and can cover my DP for ID4

 

[Nai3t]

They charge a service fee to the buyer...

I had to look this up. Initially Shift sold on the consignment model and charged a fee to both the seller and the buyer. But they have since changed to owning their inventory and I see references to "Shift Service Fee," but I can't find how much this amounts to, even in reviews complaining about it. Any idea? Fixed or percentage?

 

[onie]

$1250 if I’m not mistaken.

 

[TT97]

$1250 if I’m not mistaken.

The fees range from $475-1,250 (or at least in SoCal). Not sure why they don't include the fee as part of the price.

 

[Nai3t]

...why they don't include the fee as part of the price.

Right? Sounds SHIFTy!