Volkswagen Trade-In Value at Bud Clary Auburn Volkswagen

We are a Volkswagen dealer with a Volkswagen service department, so the paperwork that comes with a VW is familiar territory: Carefree Maintenance visits, DSG transmission services, oil changes and tire work. Here is what every trade at Bud Clary Auburn Volkswagen comes with:

• Any make is welcome: we will purchase it whether or not you shop with us, the appraisal costs nothing, and you can say no.
• Still paying on it? Bud Clary settles the loan or lease payoff straight with your lender or leasing company.
• The DMV paperwork is handled here, and a missing title or key doesn't end the conversation.
• Put the car toward one of ours and Washington taxes the new purchase on a smaller number, which trims the sales tax.

Nobody buying a used car can see inside the engine, so they look for proof. The FTC's guide to buying a used car notes that a vehicle history report may list accidents and flood damage but typically will not list mechanical problems, which is why it recommends having an independent mechanic inspect the car. A folder of your receipts covers part of that gap, because it shows when the maintenance was actually done.

Records don't add a set amount to an appraisal. What they do is swap guesswork for dates and mileage. On a DSG-equipped Golf GTI, Golf R or Jetta GLI that includes the DSG transmission service; on any Volkswagen it means oil changes done on time and the early scheduled visits Volkswagen covers on newer models under Carefree Maintenance, or later ones under a VW Care plan.

Worth digging out before you come in:

• Oil change receipts showing the date and mileage
• Carefree Maintenance or VW Care visit records
• DSG service invoices, if your VW has a DSG
• Receipts for tires, brakes and alignments
• Recall and repair paperwork, from any shop

If your next Volkswagen is the all-electric ID.4, your trade counts toward it the same way it would toward any car on our lot. The same goes for stepping up from a Jetta or Tiguan to the three-row Atlas or to the Atlas Cross Sport.

Trading, rather than selling first and buying later, is what earns Washington's tax treatment. Under WAC 458-20-247, the agreed value of a vehicle traded as part of the purchase stays out of the taxable selling price. The rule calls that property of like kind, and it treats motor vehicles as one class, so a gas Jetta traded toward an electric ID.4 qualifies.

Compare new vehicle specials and VW lease deals, or browse Certified Pre-Owned Volkswagens and the rest of our used inventory. The credit application gets financing started, and buyers can read our bad credit auto financing page before applying.

The online tool can't check these, so we do when the car is here:

• Miles: weekday drives from Bonney Lake or Maple Valley to a job in Seattle pile up, and the odometer is part of every appraisal.
• Drivetrain and trim: 4MOTION all-wheel drive, the trim level and any factory packages.
• Condition: paint, glass, wheels, tires, interior wear and any warning lights.
• History: accident reports, title brands and the number of previous owners.
• What's selling here: demand for a car like yours among shoppers in South King and north Pierce County, and how many similar cars are listed nearby.

If the loan payoff is higher than the value of the car, the FTC calls the difference negative equity. A trade-in doesn't erase it. According to the FTC, that balance can land in the next loan or come out of the cash you put down, sometimes both, and any part that gets financed carries interest.

Get the three numbers on paper before you commit: what you owe, what the car is confirmed to be worth, and the gap between them. If you are upside down, the FTC's ideas are worth weighing: make extra principal payments until you have equity, keep the next loan as short as your budget allows, and find the amount financed in the contract so you can see where the old balance went.

Washington makes a few things the seller's job even when a dealer takes the car. Trading to a dealer is one of the transfers the Department of Licensing says needs a Report of Sale, due 5 days after the sale. A registered dealer may submit it on your behalf, yet DOL still holds the owner responsible for checking that it went through.

Your plates stay with you rather than the car. A car plate can go on another car you own and a truck plate on another truck, or you can surrender them. If the title still names a lender as legal owner, the DOL lienholder page explains that the lender usually clears its name from the record once the loan is paid off.

Pack these for the visit:

• The title, or if a bank holds it, the loan account number and who it's with
• Your driver's license or other photo ID, plus a heads-up to us if a co-owner is also on the title
• Both keys or fobs
• Your folder of service records
• Your leasing company's details, if the car is leased

Bud Clary Auburn Volkswagen sits on Auburn Way North, close to both SR 18 and SR 167, which keeps us within reach of VW owners in Kent, Federal Way, Renton, Puyallup, Tacoma, Bonney Lake and Maple Valley.

Get an offer on your VW from home, then make it one trip: you can test-drive your next Volkswagen from our new inventory on the same visit.