Trade in values??

Screwed

Funny, and true, at the same time.

most dealers use NADA for trade in value, but looking at NADA and KBB can give you a ballpark.  As always it's a negotiation and they can make it look good on trade and screw you on the purchase price or financing.

I agree that the online strategy is awesome and it's worked pretty well for us the last two new purchases we've made.  With ours I emailed all the regional dealers with the exact specs of what I was looking for and told them straight up that whoever gave me the best two prices over the internet would get an in person visit.  Then whomever gave me the best offer on trade in from those two visits would get the deal.  i already had my financing in place so no haggling was necessary.

On the last one when I went to the first dealer they tried to high ball the trade in and I simply said thank you and I'd compare it to the other dealer.  They did everything they could to keep me from leaving the showroom but I told them very clearly I explained the process in my email and they could modify their trade in price if they chose too but I was still going to the other dealer and compare.  They modified it and ultimately we ended up purchasing from them.  It was a brand new Honda Odyssey touring and we got the car at $5k off the sticker and ended up getting $1k over the KBB trade in value on our trade.  I was very happy with that.

So similar to haggling on the purchase price via email I recommend doing the same thing on the trade.  If you get a couple dealers going against each other you'll usually come out better versus getting sucked in on a good vehicle price but being hosed on your trade.

this was me as well, got a below invoice car, so much easier to let them take the old one.  My car was on its way out, had a winshield crack and needed new tires.  I figure that was worth at least $500.  And it had 180K on it.  I figure I got my money's worth.  I *may* have been able to get another $500 or so out of a private party

One time, we got the Carmax purchase price as a lower bound for selling a car.   I then sold the car privately to a friend for just a little over the Carmax price.

TW

Remember that used cars have been in much higher demand the last few years, with a poor economy and financing being harder to get.  Also, I read an article that Sandy slightly raises the value of use cars becasue so many were trashed, although I think the value was negotiable.

When I bought (4 years ago, so...) the dealer accepted the KBB value on my pretty nice, well cared for, young trade-in.  Of course you have to be realistic about the condition of your car, but I wouldn't allow them to try to make up for a good price with a crappy trade-in.

Good luck!

X2...I did this with my trade in a few months ago.  Carmax will give you a quote for free to buy your used car.  I think the quote is good for 7 days.  You can trade it in at Carmax for that price or sell it to them outright for that price or do nothing (with Carmax). 

When I went to the new car dealer to trade in my car, their quote was within a few hundred dollars of the Carmax quote.  So, I figured I was in the right ballpark.  I then was able to negotiate a slightly higher trade in for the car due to its condition.

- From a Used Car salesman

I try to give a little over trade in value if the person is actually trading it in on one of my vehicles. I (most car lots) don't do much in the way of "add ons" (other than unusually low mileage or Nav)  for YOUR car, although we certainly add it in on ours.

But NADA is a fine guideline... in the end it all comes down to what you can get.

I have had really good luck selling vehicles on craigslist, I have always made more than I would trading it in. I think the only reason I would trade a car in is if I knew it needed serious work or would in the very near future. 

One thing to keep in mind. In most states when you trade your car in you will only have to pay sales tax on the difference between the two cars.

If you sell it outright you will probably be able to get a $1,000 or so more than the dealership will offer you for it. If you sales tax is as high as it is here it makes the trade in price more appealing imo.

I've always looked at what my model of car with similar miles is being sold for in the car yards.  I look at the condition and work back on what would need to be spent on my car to get it to that condition, take off a few grand to give the car yard some profit and that's the price I look to get for a trade in.

My last car I got offered $6K for, needed very little work other than new tyres to get it to the same condition that the same model was being sold locally for $16K.  I flatly turned it down, paid cash for the new car (after 3 hours of haggling over price and one very peeved wife and 2 bored kids) and sold the trade in car privately for $12K around a month later.

All the above is well and good, but you have a SAAB which went bankrupt and has no dealership support. Ie, good luck flashing a new key or programming anything to do with the ECU. The 9-3 shared a lot with GM Cobalt so it's not as bad as a 9-5 but some parts are months to get. This puts the value of your car in the toilet compared to other used 2007 cars. Just be aware, and you might find it worth keeping till it dies. If you get an even remotely decent offer you take it and run.

Every time I have traded I first found out what I can buy the new vehicle for with cash.....and then introduce the trade-in....then you really know what you are getting for your trade.  Many times most of the trade would have already been covered in a cash deal.  

Doesn't anyone do this anymore?  (it's been about 5 years since I bought new with a trade)

people like you make me want to bash my head into the wall

that isn't the *cash* price... we gotta feed our kids too.

well... not me... i don't have any kids... but if i did... they'd go hungry because of that stuff.