Consignment Fees

Typical consignment fees are 6% iirc. Although theres a possibility you can negotiate it lower.

 

I would trade in the 458 and be done with it. If you still own the 458 then potential buyers or tire kickers will want to test drive your car. If your car is damaged, or worse yet someone is injured or killed by your car, then you will have subjected yourself to a legal and financial mess. It's not worth the risk.

Also if you live in one of the 42 states that allow sales tax credit for the trade in value against the new car then you are likely better off doing a trade in.

 

Advertise a decently low price to attract a buyer. Do the “courtesy trade” to sell the car to your buyer through your Ferrari dealer and reap the tax benefit on your new car. In the end, you’ll make back the money you forewent by selling low.

 

+1 This...Especially since you can now no longer write off sales tax on your federal return.......

 

Dealers get a little mad if you don't sell your car through them.

for the other posters; not all dealers will do a trade in for you. They will want you to consign the car.

 

This is how I did it and it worked out well.

 

I believe some dealers charge 7%.

 

Some places charge a % others do a flat fee. All depends on location since having the car transported to another state may not be preferable.

In the end do what is good for yourself.

 

Up to max 10% here in Europe at the F dealers ...

 

+1
I did the same when I traded my 360 for my 458. Besides the advantages you mention (Michigan by the way is one of the 8 holdouts, but we have a bill in the House to resolve that!), the dealer will protect you from any recursions from the person buying your car. Also, you get "credits" for each car you buy and sell, which raises your status on the allotment totem pole. Not sure if you get these "credits" on consignment.

 

Dealers do not have a structured "Credit" system as some rumors say. For non limited edition cars, dealers are allowed to pick and choose how they give allocations. The sales manager pretty much just uses his own judgement based on the relationship they have with the buyer in question.

There's no hard rule barring a complete stranger from being first in line for a new car. Of course, they are highly unlikely to do that since it makes more business sense to give earlier allocations to better customers. But if the best man of the dealership's owner or an A-list celebrity comes in wanting his first Ferrari with no buying history, you can be certain he'll be near the top of the list.

 

Great advice thus far. Please consider other factors beyond the consignment percentage charged by the dealer.

For instance, a low 5% agreement is not always as favorable as a 7% consignment agreement.

Does their sale rate exceed or beat the market day supply of the Ferrari you are selling? Are their reconditioning and marketing practices favorable to a higher transactional price? When the car is sold, is the dealership able to fund you in a timely manner?

 

Lastly, will the dealer tell you the honest price they sold the car for. I knew one exotic dealer who bragged about expanding his consignment fee by lying to the seller. Of course, your dealer would never do that to you. After all, Its only money and these guys are all boy scouts!

 

Why not trade it in against the sale and save the sales tax?