Assigning a trade-in car

Sometimes faults or deficiencies are appeared in trade-in car after assigning, and the car dealership may exceptionally claim compensation for them from you. You may be liable to compensate if the information you have presented on the trade-in car is incorrect or it is in essentially worse condition than expected.

Assigning a trade-in car to the dealership

If you have a trade-in when purchasing a car, the value of the trade-in car is part of the purchase price. The price of the trade-in car is written down in the contract of sale.

If the value of the trade-in car is reduced because of known faults, these faults should also be designated detailed in the contract of sale.

  • The dealership cannot afterwards appeal to a fault or deficiency that it could have noticed in a normal inspection.

  • Prior to you assign the trade-in car, the dealership may ask you for written explanation or a covenant related for example to the condition and maintenance of your car. If you are uncertain about the answers to their questions, tell the vendor. Do not endorse information if you are not sure that those are correct.

  • Provisos related to the condition of your car may affect the car’s trade-in value, but to ensure that there will be no demands subsequently, present adequate information to the dealership. Explanations asked for the customer will not exonerate the car dealership to inspect the cars it receives properly.

  • Even if the vendor does not require for specific information about the trade-in car, you should let them know about any faults you are aware that the vendor cannot notice in the advance inspection. The faults informed to the vendor is worth to write down in the contract of sale. They may include fault indicator lights that are ignited occasionally or an intermittent extra sound. The dealership cannot claim about the faults subsequently if you have informed them before you assigned the trade-in car.

Know your rights and liability for a trade-in car