Can I trade in my car at a different dealership?

You can trade in your car anywhere

Using your current car as partial payment on a different vehicle is one of the most-common practices in the motoring trade. You simply present your car to a dealership, where they’ll make a market-related offer to purchase your car. The proceeds from this transaction (minus any outstanding financing settlement) then goes towards partly paying for your next car, or towards providing a deposit for your next finance agreement.

This process is simple enough, and presents a viable way to move up (or down) the price ladder as your needs change. It’s not bound to any specific manufacturer or dealership chain, meaning that you could trade (as a hypothetical example) a VW Polo at a BMW dealership, and drive away with whatever car they have on the floor that takes your fancy (and that falls within your budget, obviously).

​Related: Get a free value estimate for your car with our Car Valuation Tool.

 

There’s a difference between trading in and selling

Such an agreement depends on you buying something else from the dealership where you’re trading it in: the trade-in offer is calculated by the dealership, based on the value of your new purchase and influenced by market demand for your old car. 

If, for instance, you have an old car that’s worth very little, a dealership may be generous and offer you more than that car’s actual trade value, just to get you to sign for your next car from them. So, while you’re effectively selling your old car to the dealership in exchange for buying a different car from them, it forms part of a single transaction. 

Matters change when you want to buy a different car from a different dealership to the one who’s taking your old car, however, especially if those two dealerships aren’t part of the same retail group. In this case, you won’t be trading in your car, but simply sell it to the dealership, before taking the proceeds and spending it elsewhere.

 

Cross-dealership shopping

While it’s easy enough to have a different branch from the same dealership group transfer the car you want to the one where you’re trading your car, this likely won’t be possible if you the two dealerships can’t work together on an internal exchange (because they’re in no way connected). In this case, you’ll either need to trade in your car at the dealership that has your next steed in stock, or sell it to the one dealer and then buy your car at another. 

While the basic principles remain the same, this kind of transaction doesn’t count as a trade-in, and will generally result in a lower offer for your old car (or even a higher price on your new one). So, while this kind of transaction is possible, it is not a trade-in, and it will likely get you less money to put down on your next car.