I'm looking to sell my 2008 Fit and when I was looking it up on KBB I saw their "Instant Cash Offer" feature. I figured why not give it a try? My Fit runs great and has low miles, but the body has its share of scratches and dings. No major damage or rust, but lots of little flaws. With that in mind, I was as forward as I could be in describing the vehicle. I included pictures and marked all scratches and dents with their tool. It came back with a price that's definitely less than what I'd get in a private sale but enough that it would be worth it if I didn't have to list and show it. I was then bombarded with dealers from all over my area asking me to come in, some of them not at all close. I contacted the closest one and spoke to someone on the phone. I asked if he had looked over all the info including the pictures to be sure we'd be close to the initial offer after a physical inspection. He told me he had and it wasn't a concern and that I should bring the car in. So I did. Of course someone different from the guy I'd spoken to on the phone helped me. He moved the car and came back and asked for the title. I thought we were good to go! He'd seen and driven it and was now asking for the title! Not so fast. He walked away again and when he came back and said "Well you missed a lot of things in your report so we had to rerun it." He cut the initial offer nearly in HALF. I had expected they might come down a little, but I was pissed they'd have the nerve to go down that far. I told him I had tried to communicate everything to avoid this exact situation. I also asked him what could possibly lower the offer by so much and he said I missed a scuff on one fender and there was minor damage reported in the CarFax. That was really all he could point to. It really felt like a bait and switch to get me there in the hopes I'd just give them the car for peanuts, which I did not do.

Has anyone else had this kind of experience (with a Fit or otherwise) with one of these online offer systems? I was pretty sure going in this would be the outcome but tried my damnedest to avoid it and still wasted an afternoon. Maybe it's only worthwhile for newer, higher-value cars? Regardless, it was a bad experience and don't recommend bothering unless you want to be jerked around.

 

No, but this is why Yelp, as flawed as it is, is your friend.

 

I did that once and received a ton on contacts (for my Tucson). It sounded too good to be true and apparently it was from your story.

 

Yes, that's how they make money. They do this with cars of all price ranges, and yes, they are successful at it or else they wouldn't be doing it.
The whole tactic was in practice long before covid and supply shortages.

First time I encountered this was in the early 90s with my dad at a dealership that basically had an ad claiming they had "several buyers interested in our Volvo wagon".
Sure enough, after the salesman thoroughly thrashed our wagon on a "test drive", we found that it was simply a ploy to get us to trade our car in on a new Suzuki sedan.

 

I sold cars at a Honda dealer in 1986-87 and the first time I heard that ploy was another salesman talking to someone on the phone. "No kidding, you have a Rabbit pick up? It wouldn't happen to be a diesel would it?, Oh yeah really it is a diesel? I know someone right now looking to buy one! Bring it in and we will see about it"

At the time a VW Rabbit Diesel wasn't worth a bucket of warm spit and undoubtedly a Rabbit diesel owner knew that if they were in the market for a car. However the phone exchange possibly did build value and hope in the owner's mind and he didn't have to know the "person" looking to buy the VW was the used car manager.