Honda Car Forum

on kellybluebook.com it says i would get $10,850 for it as a trade in. how does a trade in really work? where does the money that i get offered go in to? does it all got to the new car or aprt of it? i know that they pay off the rest on the loan on my car. please help!!!

All money, except for the un-paid balance should go toward the purchase price of your new vehicle.

dont do it..dont do it dont do it!!!!! you looooose soo much money ....the money they offer, pays off the rest of that loan you have for the accord, and if there is any money left over..it will be applied to your new car..or pocketed. Dont let them put it towards the new car..because they will just adjust the apr again to trick you, and basically it is like you didnt give them the money. get the cash, then pay the cash into your loan after a month or so...so yo uknow it all went into the loan..and it didnt affect anything. I traded in my f150 and i lost 5 grand..then i traded in my ram and i lost about 8-10...private sell if you have time...i know sooooo much about this and can tell you in detail if you emai me...danleela137@yahoo.com basically they have to buy the car from you for less than it will sell on the street.....plus they deduct more because they say they have to make it ":up to standards" fix all problems they find, and clean it ...touch up paint..etc... you can sell it for wayyy more on the street... people just do it because of time...or they just want that brand new car sitting on the lot..right now!! hehe

Typically you are going to lose money on a trade. Car dealerships have to make money....... It is also going to depend on what you are looking to purchase. All Honda's have the same mark up. Honda's of course retain there value but you need to make sure you have enough equity in your car. If trading it in at a Honda dealership you will get the most money for your trade. It will typically look like it is going towards the new car you are buying but REALLY look at the finance papers before buying and the breakdown. This is often so deceiving and you can often be financing as much as $4000.00 more than you realize by the way it is drawn up on the paperwork. The best things to do ...make sure you "trust" the dealer, make sure you really want to trade in your car, look at the numbers yourself online before you go into the dealer as to what your car is worth (which you have already done) but then the car that you plan on buying look up the MSRP and crunch numbers and then go to the dealer and then YOU are making the deal as best you can not just them. When they want to change this or that just explain that this is what you want, you know its worth this and this is what your willing to pay with them getting a profit (marginal), of course. You say your car is perfect. NO car is ever perfect to a dealership with 75,000 miles on it. It will be considered good more than likely. I know this is a lot of info but I have learned that when buying a new car one can never have too much information. Good luck on whatever you decide~

Tradein works like this, you bend over and get screwed. Here's what you do to make the screw job less painful you find out how much you owe on your car. Check a couple of sites for your tradein value you have already checked one KBB another good one is Edmunds.com . Now that you know what your trade in is worth and how much you owe you do the subtraction and that's approximately what you will have for a down payment on your next car. But a word of advice is if possible sell your car yourself. You will not get much discount from the car you are buying if you trade. Without the trade you can get close to $1000 off the car you are buying and get more for your car if you sell it yourself which means you will have more to put down. So by doing that you have 3 ways to save where as when you tradein you lose on all 3 ways.

First of all...your car is not in perfect condition. No used car is. There is some wear on it regardless of what it looks like. So, dismiss that idea right now. Realistily, it is in "good" condition according to kbb. How a trade in works is......First an appraisal is done on your car to check the mileage, how it is equipped, if there is any damage, what kind of shape the tires are in and how much wear there is on the interior.Second, your car is compared to other cars that are similar to yours (same make, model and year and trim level) only the mileage may vary. The price you will get for your car from the dealership will be the price they can expect to get for your car at auction. This is done because there is no guarntee that the dealership will sell your car. It may sit on their lot for months!Third, the price the dealership is willing to pay for your car is then deducted from the MSRP of the new car or if you negotiate, the Sale Price. For example:MSRP $25,000Sale Price $ 23,500Trade Allowance $ 10,000Taxable Total $ 13,500If you still owe on your '04 Accord say, $8000, tack that onto the taxable total bringing the total to $21,500If this is the case your are still getting more than you owe on the car and is a very good deal!!Add in tax and any documentation fees the dealership might charge to get your final financed amount.There is no bending you over and screwing you...it's all math.It amazes me people who think that car salesman are out to get them when they are uneducated on how things work. Don't listen to any of these other answers. I have been doing this for a LONG TIME!!!! I know what I'm talking about. There is room for negotiation in your trade as well. If the dealership offers you $10,000 and you want $11,000 they may meet you in the middle or give you the full $11, 000. As a customer, you have to ASK! Dealerships are not going to give their money away if you don't ask.

I'll give you $10K for the car, and you can then just buy the new one straight out. How about it??

Ok i just did this with honda.I traded in my 04 Matrix which was on a leaseKBB said it was worth about $11,000 give or take (I only had 17,000 Miles)Its buy off value from Toyota was 8550. I took it to Honda and they appraised my Matrix for $10,000So the bank gave them $10,000 for my matrix - they paid off the $8550 to Toyota = $1450 was used as my down payment towards my new car. 2007 CRV!!!Funny thing is i was just gonna take it back to the toyota dealership until someone told me to check the blue book of it. and I earned 1450 because i took care of it and it had low milegae.Good Luck!