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5.2

Overall Score

Author: Kaitlyn Short

LAST UPDATED: April 10th, 2022

TRED is a used car marketplace for customers to buy and sell cars. It was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Tred often offers lower prices than other peer-to-peer seeling sites. Tred also helps with authentication and paperwork like title transfer, registration, taxes and fees. It also helps to facilitate any payments between buyer and seller and, in some cases, handles delivery.

Dealers can’t sell through TRED. They can buy wholesale cars in the partner instant offer program, but you will not see dealer-listed vehicles on TRED. Tred acts as the middleman by taking the broker's place and not charging the typical brokerage fee. 

There are three simple steps to buying cars through TRED:

  1. Shop: search for cars online and ask sellers specific questions about the cars
  2. Buy online: once you decide on a car, you can pay for it directly through TRED
  3. Get the keys: you can pick up the keys directly from the seller or you can have them mailed to you directly

Keep reading our TRED reviews for pros and cons of working with this service. 

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The Good

  • Added Assurances
  • Savings
  • Sell Your Car
  • Protects Users from Fraud
  • Facilitates Payment and Paperwork
  • Monthly Vehicle Value Report

Added Assurances

What really sets TRED apart is its offer to let you independently sell your car and control the selling price, while giving you assurances that are normally only available through a dealership program.

TRED Assurances:

  • Facilitating loan repayment, if you still owe on your car when it sells
  • CARFAX vehicle history report
  • Vehicle inspection
  • Buyer financing
  • Extended warranties and service contracts
  • GAP insurance

Did we mention that this marketplace does an inspection? This combines the professional assurances of Carvana with the personal independence of Craigslist.

Savings

The TRED business model uses a thinner transaction margin because it facilitates car sales without having to pay for local real estate or salespeople.

The whole point is that when you sell through TRED, you get the highest price possible. At the same time, your buyer will be getting the lowest price possible. TRED even keeps a real-time tally updated with the last 60 days of information. On average, sellers make over 40 percent more than the Kelley Blue Book Trade-In value, and buyers pay an average of 28 percent less than the typical dealer list price.

So, whether you use the product to buy or sell a car, you will save money.

Sell Your Car

When you sell through TRED, what do you have to do?

  • List your car
  • Get an inspection
  • Coordinate test drives
  • Accept an offer

When you sell a car through TRED, your email address is privacy protected, but your listing still goes to over twenty car sites. After it’s live, TRED will help you get your car inspected. Once inspected, you get an instant offer price from a TRED wholesale partner. If you accept, your listing will be closed and they will come to pick up your car. If not accepted, the listing goes on as usual.

The service makes it easy to schedule and conduct any test drive requests at a FedEx location. Sellers will get a TRED packet in the mail to help with test drives and paperwork.

When you sell through TRED, what does the company do for you?

  • Helps with pricing information
  • Advertises on over 20 websites
  • Verifies potential buyer information
  • Handles fees and paperwork for your state
  • Helps with buyer financing
  • Coordinates the whole process
  • White glove service — they will do DMV title transfers so you don’t have to, saving you time.

Protects Users Against Fraud

TRED helps to ensure trust by doing an identity check of both the buyer and seller, as well as a  vehicle history check, and vehicle condition check.

To be TRED-Verified:

  • Download the app on a mobile device
  • Take a photo of your driver’s license (front and back)
  • Take a selfie

Once uploaded, this information is encrypted for privacy.

Facilitates Payment and Paperwork

TRED facilitates payments. This isn’t the case with several other marketplaces. This is super helpful because it adds another level of trust to the peer-to-peer sales process that isn’t always available.

You can buy your new car with an ACH or with a credit or debit card, or via financing through TRED or a third-party. When a seller accepts an offer, payment is collected by TRED. Funds are wired to the seller’s account.

Each payment is guaranteed, and TRED insures the transaction amount.

Then, TRED even does the paperwork for both the buyer and seller.

Monthly Vehicle Value Report

Consumers can sign up for a monthly report to track your car’s value and see how it changes, plus see what similar models are being actively sold for. It will include the dealer trade-in value, private party sales data, and the TRED suggested list price.

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The Bad

  • Selling States

Selling States

Currently, the TRED marketplace platform only facilitates sellers from the following areas:

  • Portland, Oregon
  • San Francisco Bay Area
  • Seattle-Tacoma, Washington
  • Southern California
  • San Antonio, TX
  • Austin, TX
  • Dallas, TX

Despite this, users can buy a car through TRED from anywhere in the United States and have it shipped to their home or office.

Hopefully, this platform will be more widely available for sellers soon within the next few years.

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The Bottom Line

TRED combines the peace of mind of buying a car from a dealership with the ease, convenience, and price of buying from a human. You are guaranteed to get a CARFAX report, a physical vehicle inspection, and assurance that each customer has passed the identity verification.

The downside is that users aren’t yet able to sell a car through the platform if they don’t live in the following service areas: Southern California, San Francisco, Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; San Antionia, TX; Autin, TX; or Dallas, TX.

We definitely recommend trying out this car shopping and selling app. Let us know how your experience went with our TRED reviews below.

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Star Rating

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4.2

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46 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

78%

4 grade

0%

3 grade

0%

2 grade

2%

1 grade

20%

Sentiment Criteria

Value

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Quality

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Service

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Chris Curry Louisville, CO

Cost me a $110,000 buyer giving WRONG wiring instructions.. The buyer would have LOST $110,000.. A Doctor in Texas was buying my Ford Raptor from me, and YES trucks are that expense right now.. We had a deal, he headed to his bank (Wells Fargo), and since $110K is a lot of cash, his banker called Tred customer support to get confirmation of wiring instructions (every smart person does this), and after waiting 20 mins on the phone, the TRED support gave the wrong number, and the banker at Wells confirmed it was going to different account the Tred, and Tred banks at Wells Fargo.. The buyer was so SCARED that he almost lost $110K (would of if his banker had not called) he decided not to buy the truck.. So I lost, the buyer lost, and TRED is making the seller experience EVER riskier than selling a car just by yourself..

4 years ago

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Josephine Wydrinski San Ramon, CA

Where are the 5 star reviews coming from???? Tred can't follow-through on anything and they gave us misinformation multiple times. Not going to sell any other vehicles with them! Although we sold our vehicle on Tred, it was such a pain afterwards. We were told that they do all the paperwork and take care of DMV transfer, etc. Well, nope. We asked them where we send the title to and they told us "DO NOT SEND US THE ACTUAL TITLE, WE JUST NEED A COPY",...we thought it was strange to not want the actual title, but we did what they asked and sent them a copy of the title. Then 2 months after the sale, in a huff, they wanted the actual title, stating that they originally gave us the wrong information,...so we sent it to them. Then, about a month after that (so 3 months after then sale), the DMV sent us a letter "YOUR VEHICLE WILL BE SUSPENDED",...what????, we didn't even own it anymore! When we called Tred they said they don't take care of that and it should have been on our checklist from them. When they looked into it, they realized they didn't put it on our checklist. Then after speaking to DMV they said that Tred can do that paperwork, they just didn't want to. Honestly, we could have sold it ourselves quicker and we wouldn't have to deal with Tred giving us incorrect information.

5 years ago

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JM M Huntington Beach, CA

This is the worst experience I've ever had to sell a vehicle. It all started when they asked for a vehicle description which I provided, TRED then created their own short description for my vehicle omitting important information I provided. Then TRED wanted a SMOG certificate (didn't see that coming) even though I had no potential buyers, cost me $50 but did it. Then TRED wants me to take my vehicle to get a full vehicle inspection at Pep Boys, takes 60-90 minutes. None of these TRED demands appear on their portal when you go through their process to sell a vehicle, those hoops only appear after you've paid them the listing fee. Oh..and theres also an additional fee payable to TRED based on the selling price of the vehicle when it sells, which isn't prevalent upfront. Give these crooks the miss, a lot of fake positive reviews.

5 years ago

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ChristyA Dallas, TX

Please don’t use this company. Buy directly from a buyer. Customer service is the worst.. I’ve been waiting for a title for the last 8 months- 8 months find out today, something was incorrect with the funds. I’ve spent $4,000 in repairs for a car they want to come and get.. It takes 3 days for any question to be answered. If they say someone will call you back- they won’t.. I thought I had been dealing with a head person- John. I found out today anyone can email you or text you - using John’s name.. PLEASE AVIOD THIS COMPANY, it’s not worth the headaches and delays.. Since June 19, 2020 I’be been waiting on a title to come.. 7 months!!

5 years ago

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Cristian Dobre Austin, TX

In my price bracket the charge was $9 to list the car and $99 when they get the car sold. They list in a lot of places so that sounds like great value BUT: I got very very little interest through their listings, I am still not sure why, all the interest (over 90%) came from my own listings on FB marketplace and CraigsList. I was still fine with this, since it only cost $9. After I sold the car, completely outside of TRED I was charged the full $99. I was given absolutely ZERO notification of this, no message, email, invoice, nothing. I just noticed it on my CC charges. When I complained I was referred to a section at the bottom of the terms of use smallprint which says that if you get any contact with a potential buyer at all this fee applies. It is hugely different from their main advertising upfront. So be aware that what you are buying is not getting your car sold, not anywhere near that, you are just buying one message... They then fought me on it and told me i was getting great value.

6 years ago

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Steve Combs Englewood, FL

Have been trying to get in touch with someone, anyone, with information on a car for almost a week. Finally talked to receptionist who told me would check to see if car was still for sale. My response was that it must be because price was raised 16k over weekend ! I cannot imagine seriously trying to sell a car with these people. Most disgusting experience I have ever had trying to purchase a car. Not to mention the fake picture used to advertise the car. Buyers beware!

5 years ago

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Umakaran Nemallan Mississauga, ON

This is the biggest scam of a business. You have to pay 19 to list the car, and if your car does not sell and you remove it it will cost you another 99. They do not generate any extra exposure or increase your chances of selling. They simply send you weekly emails to lower your listing price. Your best bet is facebook marketplace. beware your minimum payment to them is $118, no matter the outcome.

5 years ago

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Angela ferguson Plano, TX

This company is a huge waste of time and will scam you out of money that you didn’t expect to be charged. I was not able to sell my car. I got one response in 3 weeks and that person never replied to me. I tried to get a refund of a surprise $99 fee after I removed my listing since I sold it elsewhere. Save your money. You will get much better response selling on Facebook marketplace or NextDoor that this company!!!

6 years ago

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Abhishek Stanford, CA

I booked a test drive on Tred and went to see the car. I finalised the deal with the seller only to get to know that Tred has decided to offer that car to someone else. After me spending so much time and hassle on the process, it seems like Tred is just a sellers platform. Buyers should avoid it.

7 years ago