How to Read a Dealer's Trade-In Offer Sheet

The Actual Cash Value (ACV) is what the dealer believes your car is worth as a used vehicle on their lot — before any adjustments for your deal. It's the most important number on the page and it's often buried or mislabeled.

Look for terms like ACV, Appraised Value, Wholesale Value, or Vehicle Appraisal. Some dealers list this number clearly; others present only the trade allowance (see Step 2) and leave the ACV off the customer-facing version entirely.

If you don't see an explicit ACV line, ask the salesperson point-blank: "What is the appraised cash value of my vehicle before any deal adjustments?" Write that number down separately.

The trade allowance is the number the dealer credits toward your purchase — and it is frequently higher than the ACV. That sounds like good news, but it usually isn't.

Dealers inflate the trade allowance to make the trade look generous while keeping the purchase price of the new vehicle firm or slightly elevated. This is called a value-added trade or informally a bump. You're not actually getting more money — the margin is recovered on the other side of the deal.

The only way to evaluate a trade allowance honestly is to also negotiate the purchase price of the vehicle you're buying to a fair market level independently. If the dealer resists separating the two conversations, that's a red flag. See Signs a Dealer Is Undervaluing Your Trade-In for a full list of tactics like this one.

Below the ACV or trade allowance, most offer sheets include a deductions section. Common line items include:

• Reconditioning / Recon: Estimated cost to bring the vehicle to resalable condition. This is the dealer's most subjective number and the most frequently inflated.
• Mechanical: Cited repairs — brakes, tires, belts, etc. Should be itemized; if it's a single round number, push back.
• Cosmetic: Paint, dents, interior damage. Request the appraiser to walk you through each specific item they documented.
• Market Adjustment: Sometimes used to lower value on slow-selling vehicle segments or oversupplied models. Legitimate but negotiable if you have competing offers.
• Mileage Penalty: Deductions for mileage above average (typically 12,000–15,000 miles/year). Verify their calculation against your actual mileage.

For each deduction, ask: "Can you show me the specific items driving this cost?" Vague or lump-sum deductions are the most negotiable lines on the entire sheet.

If your vehicle is financed, the offer sheet will include a payoff line — the amount owed to your lender. The difference between your trade value and the payoff is your net equity (positive) or negative equity (the amount you're underwater).

Dealers typically call the lender or use a third-party service to estimate payoff, but these figures can be several days old and may not account for recent payments or interest accrual. If the dealer's payoff figure is lower than your actual balance, you'll be short — and that difference doesn't disappear; it gets rolled into your next loan.

Always bring a written 10-day payoff quote directly from your lender and compare it line-for-line against what's on the offer sheet. If there's a discrepancy of more than $50–$100, ask the dealer to call for an updated figure before you proceed.

For a broader look at how payoff and equity figures appear in the final purchase contract, see Trade-In Documentation: What the Dealership Puts in Writing.

Most dealer offer sheets include an expiration clause — typically 24–72 hours. Some also contain conditional language such as:

• "Subject to title verification"
• "Contingent on odometer confirmation"
• "Valid only with purchase of a vehicle from [dealership name]"

The expiration is almost always a pressure mechanism rather than a genuine business constraint. Wholesale vehicle values don't move materially in 48 hours. If a dealer tells you the offer expires and won't be renewed, that's negotiating theater — a competing appraisal from CarMax or Carvana that you can redeem within 7 days is a direct counter to that tactic.

The conditional language is more consequential. An offer tied exclusively to purchasing from that same dealer gives you no leverage to shop the trade elsewhere. An offer sheet that reads as a standalone cash purchase eliminates that dependency — ask whether the dealer will honor the value as a straight purchase with no new-car transaction attached.

Once you've worked through every line, do the final math:

Trade Allowance (or ACV)
− Reconditioning Deductions
− Other Deductions
− Payoff Balance (if applicable)
= Net Trade Position

This net figure is what the trade is actually worth to you in this deal. Compare it against your best online offer (CarMax, Carvana, KBB ICO) using the same formula — those offers have zero deductions and no payoff assumptions built in, so compare apples to apples by subtracting your payoff from those figures as well.

If the dealer's net position is within $200–$500 of your best competing offer and the new-car price is independently negotiated to market, you're likely in a fair deal. If the gap is $1,000 or more, you have clear grounds to either counter or walk.

For a deeper look at the full negotiation strategy surrounding this process, see The Trade-In Playbook.

Most sellers make the mistake of countering a trade offer with a single number: "I want $2,000 more." That framing puts you in a weak position because the dealer can simply say no without justification.

A more effective approach is to challenge individual lines:

• "Your recon estimate is $1,800. I have a receipt showing new brakes and tires from three months ago — that should reduce that number substantially."
• "Your mileage calculation shows 14,000 miles/year average, but my actual mileage is 11,200/year. The penalty doesn't apply."
• "CarMax gave me $18,500 yesterday with no deductions. Your ACV of $16,900 needs to be explained line by line before I'll consider it."

Specific, documented challenges are much harder for an appraiser to dismiss than a round-number counter. Each line you win back directly adds to your net position. For additional context on how to present your car to support these arguments, see Before You Drive to the Dealership.