Promotions and special offers for the purchase of cars produced in 2023 at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024 offered Almost all Chinese automobile companies operating in the Russian market. Messages about discounts of several hundred thousand rubles if the buyer takes out a loan or trades in his car to offset the cost of a new car flooded the Internet. But in reality it turns out that not everything is as attractive as companies promise.
Priced below market
A socialbites.ca correspondent offered a real 2022 Volkswagen Polo car with a 1.6 engine with 110 hp, manual transmission and a mileage of 64 thousand km to several Chinese brand dealers for preliminary evaluation. According to classified ads, such cars are offered at a price of 1.5 – 1.9 million rubles. The estimate of 1.6 million rubles is considered fair according to the average price counters of Avto.ru and Avito Auto services; The Cena-auto portal of the Autostat analytical agency set this amount even higher – 1.75 million rubles.
At the same time
Chinese dealer Jaecoo in the Moscow region offered to purchase the specified Volkswagen Polo for a maximum of 1.2 million rubles
and promised a discount of 300 thousand rubles on the purchase of the Jaecoo J7 crossover, regardless of the configuration and type of drive. Moscow dealer Omoda offered a discount of 1.45 million rubles for a used Volkswagen and 230 thousand rubles for Omoda C5 in the maximum configuration; this will cost 3.08 million rubles, taking into account the discount.
The seller stated that the specified amount is a preliminary amount and warned, “However, of course, the car will need to be inspected in person.”
Another Geely dealer in the Moscow region as part of an agreement to purchase a new Tugella crossover with a 238-horsepower engine and all-wheel drive (recommended price – 4.3 million rubles)
He valued the same Polo at 1.25 million rubles and offered a discount of 330 thousand rubles on his new car.
The appraiser explained that the price of a car with a transparent service history and without secondary painted parts will not fall below this level, but after a live inspection they will most likely not give a large amount.
Another Geely car dealer in the Moscow region offered to buy Volkswagen for 1.4 million rubles, promising a discount for “trade-in” when purchasing a Tugella with a 200 hp engine. In the amount of 530 thousand rubles, a direct discount of 200 thousand rubles, as well as additional bonuses when applying for a loan. They also promised to determine the final price of the delivered car after a thorough review.
Volkswagen Tiguan in exchange
To get a discount, a socialbites.ca correspondent offered another car for exchange – a 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan all-wheel drive crossover in good condition and in the maximum configuration; Such a car is considered very liquid on the market and is sold quickly, which is interesting for dealers.
One of the dealers of the Jetour brand reports that there is currently a maximum discount on the Dashing model – it amounts to 300 thousand rubles, it is also available if the old car is exchanged. Experts from the “Second-Hand Cars” department of this car dealership gave an estimated value corridor for a Volkswagen Tiguan sold with offset – it amounted to 1.5 – 1.6 million rubles.
The market price of similar cars in advertisements on advertising sites fluctuates around 1.8 – 2.1 million rubles.
Thus, in the case of both the Volkswagen Polo and the Tiguan, the discount made by the automaker was fully offset by the loss incurred from selling the car through trade-in at a dealer. In other words, it is still more profitable for customers to sell cars themselves on the open market than to use dealer trade-ins.
It has no purpose
The dealer’s desire to negotiate a car with the customer at a minimum price when handing over the car for exchange is an established practice, but has become more pronounced recently, notes the editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine , Maksim Kadakov.
“The only advantage for the consumer is that the transaction is completed in one place. You need to look for a buyer on the free market, play with the money and draw up a purchase-sale agreement.
It is convenient to trade in a car, but you have to pay for the convenience,”
— Kadakov stated the following in his meeting with socialbites.ca.
It doesn’t make sense for the dealer to buy the car at maximum price because he needs to make money on the deal. And if, taking into account the discount on a new car, the consumer manages to “break even” and recoup the discounted price of his car, then we can assume that the old one was sold at market price, he argued.
Anton Shaparin, vice president of the National Automobile Association, warns that it is necessary to understand that any action of the buyer when contacting a car dealer for a new car will be accompanied by the dealers’ desire to make a profit on them.
“If you want to trade in a car, there will be a radical reduction in price and you will trade it in for next to nothing.
You won’t be able to buy a car with cash because all discounts will only be valid when buying on credit. Everything is very simple: the seller receives a 9% commission from banks for registration,” Shaparin told socialbites.ca.
In the insurance segment, the commission in favor of the dealer is as high as 50%, and as a result, the dealer is often not only interested in selling the car; He makes a living by paying insurance and loan commissions and buying a cheap car. “Swap,” he added.
“Now dealers are creating large car buying departments and it is becoming more difficult for the ordinary person to buy a car on the open market; the professionals will get ahead of him. A. second abolition of VAT It makes it possible for a large dealer to buy a car in Moscow and sell it to a smaller dealer in the regions. Both will increase their percentage,” Shaparin concluded.