Buying a car...help please!!!!

Ok guys I'm a pretty young guy so I've only had a couple of cars. I've always paid straight cash for them. Now I've got a car with a payoff of $4300 US on, and I want to trade it in for a newer one. Now my question is..if I trade it in will the $4300 payoff be added on to the price of the new car I get? Sorry but I'm car buying dumb...hence I bow to the worldly wisdom the demigods of WBW. Anybody please?? Oh and some cheerleaders for your trouble.

it might be subtracted from the value you get for your trade in or alternatively they take the car but you will still be responsible for the amount owed to the bank

Love the cheerleaders.


Anyways, yes. The payoff of your other car will be added to the purchase price of your new car. Buying a new car is not the way to go here. Most of the time, ok all of the time, the car loosing value dramatically once you drive it off the lot. Atleast $2000 USD in some cases.

Plus, the whole tax-tag-and title bullshit is crazy. Oh yeah, dealer costs, shipping costs and the whole wad of paper work they make you file.

SO, let's say for instant that the car you are admiring is $15,000. Tax-tag-title and dealer costs can run that up to $20,000. Then, you've got to pay something down. Maybe $1500 USD.

So, we are back to square one. $20,000 - $1500 downpayment + trade in value.

They will give you some for your trade in, but whatever they can't make up, we'll assume $1000 in this case, is tacted onto your bill. Of course they're not gonna loose money.

SO, all in all, you'll probably be giving way more for the car that what it's actually worth....But hey, you'll be happy, right? You can't price happiness so go ahead and get it.

It all depends on what your car is worth if they will add it to the loan of the new car. Go to KBB.com (Kelly blue book) and give them the info on your car and it will tell you what it is worth to a private buyer(always more) or as a trade-in. A few other tips!! Know what car you want and with what options, look around car lots on sundays when they are closed to see what they have or go to their website and search inventory (most have this). When you have one picked out go to dealership at night, the prosess takes forever and most times they want to leave and will jerk you around less. Also very important know how much you can afford to spend!!!!! DO NOT TELL THEM THOUGH!!!!! Just tell them how much you want to pay for the car (try a grand or so less so you have some room to move). always settle on the price of the new car first before discussing your trade in. Do not be intimidated by them, you can always let me repeat ALWAYS WALK AWAY AND GO SOME WHERE ELSE!!! Look over the final contract and ask them about any fees that look funny to you like desert protection package, accident avoidence package, these are all bogus add ons to jack up price!! Good Luck
Just FYI I'm 31 and have brought 8 used or new cars so been through all the shit they try to throw at you.

Working in the car business myself I will tell you that you will get fucked on your trade in no matter what.

Granted, dealerships are barely making ANY money right now on most cars because of the sales and deals going on with most of the brands - they make all their money on used cars (your trade). Go on kbb.com and find out the trade in value of your car.

Then look up the same car as if you were not going to trade it in, but sell it privately. If you dont go strong with information into the negotiations, you will get fucked. I promise you that. What you really want to do is tell them two things..

1) I wont take less than kbb on my trade if I were to sell it privately.
2) I wont pay you more than 500 bucks over invoice for the car I am about to buy.

It may piss the salesperson off, but if you tell them you'll go somewhere that will deal with you, they will bend over backwards to get that first sale from you, hoping you'll tell your friends and help them establish their customer base.

Also something you need to realize is that the woman (or man) in the F&I (finance) office isnt a manager - they are another salesperson. Hence on of the biggest secrets in the car business. They also work on commision. That extended warranty and rustproofing you just bought? Bullshit - they just made about 1500 bucks from you. (20 percent of that being their commission).

Trust me - they will do what they need to do to make a sale. Its all about the number of units they move, thats where the bonus money is. Sure, they'd like to gross the pants off you (make a high gross number on the sale) but with the way the business is now, the money is re-selling your trade and extras like the extended warranty and rustproofing.

Take no less than private selling value for your trade (even if you have to sell it privately) and dont listen to their excuses about why you should just trade it in. Trust me, they have a comeback for anything you could come at them with. I know I did.

If the payoff value of your car is more than what you could sell it for privately, that will be rolled into your loan if you wont want to put any down.

Also, if you plan on financing it - check with your local credit union and make some phone calls to the banks yourself for the best rate. Tell them what the best rate was that you found when you get into the F&I office, or you will end up paying thousands more over time.

Please, take my advice. I watched this shit happen every day. Its a kill or be killed business. Any other questions you have i'd be glad to answer.

Edit: The Saint is exactly right - dont tell them how much you want to spend, just make sure you have a number in your head and DONT go over that per month. As soon as they say "if you wont pay this, what is it going to take to earn your business" - You've been lied to about the price the whole time. For every 20 bucks a month they bump you, you just spent a thousand more dollars. I've sold them and been in advertising for them, trust me.

I couldn't agree with Saintx any more. Great words of wisdom. Do your homework first!!

And remember - Whatever they give you for your trade in - they will make at least three times that when they re-sell it.

True Story: At the dealership I worked at we took in a dodge ram truck that was fully tricked out on trade - it was paid off and we only gave the guy eight thousand dollars for it (telling him it was because of gas prices and low demand for larger trucks)

We turned around and sold it two weeks later to a well-off family for around 22 grand. Do the math on that.

Thats right.. the dealership made 14 THOUSAND dollars on ONE used car. The salesperson made 2800 bucks on that one sale that day - and that doesnt include rust proofing and a warranty.

Thanks guys...Jack your info was very helpful. I've been thinking about selling it privately anyway. I'll PM you if I have anymore questions. Once again the bros at WBW come through

*moved to car section*

Good job latino.

Wow my first Car section post. Anyway I'm still talking to Jack..and I appreicate the advice from the rest of you guys. Here is what I asked Jack. If anybody else can clarify let me know.

Ok so here's the deal. I have a 2000 Ford Focus (POS) that I've used as a secondary car for a couple of years. My pay-off on it is around $4300..KBB trade-in is $3935..private party is $5325. So if I gathered correctly from what you guys were saying I'd be better off selling privately? So say I'm looking at a car that is listed as $12000 will the $4300 remaining on m Focus be tacked on to the price of the new car I get? So $16k vs $12 if I wasn't trading in?

kelly blue book is bullshit!!! you will never get as much as kbb says.. kbb has nothing to do with the car industry. it's ok for getting an idea of it's value... but it's always much higher than actual value. Galves books are the industry standard.. car dealerships get them monthly.

When you trade in your car... you are agreeing to sell to the dealer at a wholesale price. You can't expect the dealer to take much of a loss on a trade in. You can't buy a car at retail price and then sell it at retail price... it just doesn't work that way.