I hope this isn't a really stupid question, but do you get more for your car when you trade it in to the dealership it was purchased under than if you try another-for example, you got a Chevrolet from Sir Walter Chevrolet but you might go for a Dodge from somewhere else? A while ago we discussed trading ours in somewhere else and the car was worth more than we owed, and not b/c we trashed it. Thanks in advance.
yep... just bend over, it'll only hurt for a little while. do your own research first though, check the value of the vehicle you'd like to trade-in on the Kelly Blue Book website http://www.kbb.com . There you can get a wholesale, retail & dealer trade-in value. That way atleast you can be prepared for what would be a fair dollar amount from the dealer, or maybe you might make a little more trying to sell it outright.
I think you should not trade your car into a dealership but sell it to an individual, you will get more for it that way!
You are 99x better off to sell the car (If you own it outright) yourself... a trade-in always is a DEAL for them NOT YOU Ever. say it again, repeat....
Thanks everybody, this was our first brand new car. I am beginning to think the best thing is to just pay a couple grand out of pocket for a used Honda or something.
We always trade our older ones in, but it is definitely better to sell out-right. We're just too impatient for that, we want to buy one when we want to buy one, not wait 2 months for the car to sell. In answer to your question, ours was a toyota, and we bought a new ford. ford gave us $1000 more for the used one than the toyota dealer where we originally bought it from.
I just noticed something that makes a big difference. The car was worth LESS than we owed. I guess I typed faster than I thought.
usually they are if you get caught up in the vicious cycle of always buying a new car before the old one is paid off.... and that hole just gets deeper and deeper with each cycle. A friend of my sisters (who is a real idiot) just paid about $30K for a $20K mini-van. She traded one vehicle she was upside down in, for another that she was even further upside down in, and then this one. I told my sister, next thing we know she is going to be paying $40K for a Nissan Sentra!
Either selling out right or trading it in you're going to owe additional money on that vehicle. If you are able to, try to sell it because you'll get more for it and pay the rest of it off.
i'm no expert, but clark howard says to do the opposite....go to the dealer and negotiate the new car, but don't ever mention you have a trade. once you get a price for the car, THEN get the value for the trade, and you'll know better where you stand. sure, the ford dealer might give you more for a ford trade in than a toyota dealer, but you'll pay the difference to the ford dealer on the new one anyway.... http://clarkhoward.com/clarkmedia/tv/car_spotting.html separate the process of buying a car into three parts: 1. Get pre-qualified for financing at a bank, credit union or online lender. Only use the dealer if they will give you the lowest rate. 2. Shop for the car. 3. Sell your old car first. Or if you're going to trade it in, make sure you cut the deal on the new car first, before making the trade-in.
When I worked at both a Chrysler and Nissan Dealerships, that never would have happened. Everything is written up to reference the car the purchaser is intending to buy. A P & S was not considered legal or complete if it was not filled out in full, and signed by the GM or Sales Manager. The 2nd section, after the customer information being first, regarded all the info on the car to be purchased from the dealer (stock#, Vin, model, color, etc), third section referenced the trade-in information. Below that was all the area for add-ons, etc. I'd love to see someone actually pull that one off, as Ken has laid out. But I wouldn't hold my breath for it, sure dealerships pull their fair share of sneaky and underhanded shenanigans, but its tough to pull one on them.
What I do is get all of my facts strait... (payoff, rough value of trade-in, etc.)...Then i shop around. I find the vehicle I am going to buy, look at what the "private" seller is getting for it, and then come up with a # that I am dead set on. Prime example: Last year, I was looking into a 2005+ Mustang GT. I saw that they were going for roughly $22,500-$27,500 (depending on year.). I saw an 05 at a dealership and decided I wasn't going to spend a penny over $23K out the door w/ extended warranty. After some negotiations, I got the car for $23,030 out the door w/ the extended warranty. Blue book value for the particular options, etc from a dealership was $24,9xx. I got a deal IMO and spent a total of 2hrs at the dealership before I drove off. They sold a car, and I paid $30 more than my "goal" price. Not a bad way of dealing with dealerships IMO :cheers:
