Re: Trade in or sell privately?

Mekon wrote:
>
>We have 3 cars a 99 318i BMW a 98 RAV4 5 door and a beat up old XF ute. 
>All running well.
>
>We plan on buying a Mazda 6 to replace the BMW and a cab chassis Ford 
>ute to replace the RAV and the XF.
>
>We will be paying cash for the new cars.
>
>Should we sell privately of trade them in? What are thre pitfalls?

Depends on whether you're buying the new ones exclusively for private
use or not -- and since only something like 30% of new vehicles are,
the chances of someone buying three must be pretty remote! 

If they really are private purchases, and the trade-ins haven't been
the subject of any tax claims, such as depreciation and GST, you'll do
much better to sell privately... both on resale values and the
purchase price of the new ones.  You might even do well enough to make
the inevitable hastles worthwhile!

However, if there are taxation liability issues your situation is
likely to change dramatically (you'll be up for GST on the selling
price just for starters).  It's also what the system is geared for,
since the majority of new vehicle purchases are wholly or partly for
business use (and is what helps keep trade-in and secondhand values
low).

-- 
John H