Trailer Trading

[DoubleDown]

Has anyone ever done a trailer trade between private parties? Looking for tips/advice on how it went. I’ve been in the market for a LQ, and own a trailer that is paid off. I was approached by a friend with a LQ that expressed interest in trading me, and me taking over her payments.

LQ trailer is a 2017 LQ original owner, mine is a 2015 GN also original owner. Hers is obviously more valuable than mine. I was quoted $16K on mine by a dealer, the LQ is probably valued in the $40K ballpark. How would that work? I have the cash to pay it off, its not quite the exact trailer I’m looking for, but pretty close. Owner has been making regular payments, and I feel like I may be getting a deal if I use it eventually as a trade on the exact one I want.

What am I missing?

[wsmoak]

I would write up a bill of sale for each trailer, showing the other trailer as payment, with the amount due/owed as positive or negative, and matching.

Then I would call the tag office where ever you are going to try to register it. You’ll probably have to request a supervisor. And get very clear instructions for exactly what should happen with the titles.

In some places the lien holder still has the title, in others the owner has it but there is a lien recorded. Getting that cleared and getting the title into your name will be the interesting part.

[SusanO]

I would find out who her loan officer is and make sure you know the actual payoff amount. I ran into some of this when I bought my second truck. Owner acted like a big shot and wanted me to meet him at the mall on a Sunday with a check for his selling price. There was no way I could finance it like that since I would not have gotten the title and I was not a bigshot. Turns out he was past due on payments and his payoff was more than what he was selling the truck for. Loan officer wasn’t his best friend - she was pretty annoyed at him.

We did the handoff the next day at his bank and he had to pay the difference before they released the title and I gave him my check…

[trubandloki]

If your state has sales tax on vehicle purchases, you are going to have to pay sales tax on even the traded value. Just be prepared for that and figure that into your math of taking this extra step in your final purchase.

I do like SusanO’s plan about making sure you know exactly what the buy out on the trailer is.

[DoubleDown]

Good tip on knowing real payoff amount.

Am I getting a deal? I guess that’s the biggest question I have, especially since this trailer isn’t 100% what I want. Also, when writing everything up, would I use the agreed upon value of the LQ, or just the amount owed?

[wsmoak]

The bill of sale would show the amount you are actually paying, the amount both of you agree the two trailers are “worth”. (Willing seller/willing buyer and all that.)

(Where that money goes, whether you give all of it to your friend or send some directly to the lien holder, is a separate issue.)

I don’t know how much is involved here but it might be worth having a lawyer do a simple contract. They may also be able to handle the funds in an escrow account and handle the payoff (like a real estate attorney can do during a house sale (depending on what state you live in.))