I can tell you one thing from my experience in the car business and that is that a lot of the deal breakers come down to trade-ins. I can not tell you how many times I lost a deal because the customer thought their trade was worth more than it really was. In the end being uneducated about your trade can really hurt you and cost you a good deal! So if you shortchange any other part of this site do not let it be this part!

Now let me explain something to you the car you are going to trade has a retail value(what the dealer will be able to sell it near) and a trade-in/wholesale value(the price where a dealer needs to be able to "buy" the car so they can do a little work to it and sell it for a profit).

Most people find the retail value for their trade or worse yet just make one up in their head and wonder why they can not get it. When working figures with a dealer that car has two values to the dealer and those are Trade Allowance(what the dealer is "showing" you for your car) and Actual Cash Value/ACV(what the car is really worth to the dealer/what he would actually pay for the car). Most of the time when a deal is agreed upon the amount your allowed for your trade is more then the acv of it. This is accomplished by the dealer discounting the car he is selling you but showing the amount he is discounting  as trade allowance.

The above reason is why throwing a trade in at the last minute frustrates dealers because if your expectations are high on your trade and they have already discounted the car your buying it could cause the deal to go south and it is not their fault but rather a true misunderstanding on your part. Don't Worry, I am going to tell you how to come up with a fair number for your trade that is realistic!

Consumers are commonly under the misconception that dealers get their values that they give on trades from NADA or Kelly Blue Book. This is wrong dealers normally use a combination of Black Book and what the same(or close to the same) car is bringing /selling for at the auctions. Although you can get a good guide from the other resources out there.

First Step Evaluate
-Walk around your car see how good the paint is. Check the tread on the tires. See how many door dings you have in the car. What is the overall exterior appearance like.
-Take a look inside. Notice if your interior is faded or still looks new. Notice if any buttons are missing and if all the interior lights work.
-Peak under the hood. Do you see any oil leaking? Are your fluid levels ok?
-Take it for a drive! Not like you do everyday this time pay attention to how it drives, how the brakes are, noises that you may hear etc.

Second Step Look Up the Values
-Now go to the guides! Look your car up and the exact mileage and get the values for it. Normally they will have trade-in values for cars in "Excellent" "Good""Fair" and "Poor" shape. Very few cars are in excellent shape so be honest with yourself here so you get a truthful value.
-Use three guides such as NADA, Edmunds.com, and Kelly Blue Book to get your trade-in values. You will more than likely end up with three different numbers. They should be close to the same but if you have one that is extremely higher or lower than it is probably off.
-Get the average of the three if none are way off.

Third See What Others Like Yours are Selling For
-Go to sites like UsedCars.com and Edmunds.com and see what car like the one you plan on trading are selling for. Look at the average of them. That should be some where between $2500 and $5500 above what the trade-in value you found in the step above is.

Now take all this data and make sure it all lines up which it does most of the time. Now you know that the trade-in amount you have from your guides is a good rough figure on what to expect. If you get a few dollars less oh well but if you get a few dollars more than great!

A Few TIPS Before Going To The Dealership With Your Trade!
-You only get one first impression so wash your car, clean the interior good, make sure it smells clean.
-Make sure the little stuff works.(headlights, horn, etc) Finding something little wrong may guide the appraiser to digging a bit deeper.


****TIP OR TRICK YOU DECIDE*****
-Before heading down to the dealer your trading with take a blank sheet of paper fold it in half and write on it "trade allowance from THEIR COMPETITOR(ANOTHER DEALERSHIP"S NAME)" then take the figure you want for your trade as we came up with from above now add $500 to it and write that on the paper. Now lay that paper there on the front seat where it is visible so the other dealer can see it! Believe me the appraiser will notice it. Now you probably just bumped them a bit on your first offer and you have a fallback negotiating tool!

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Your Trade-In! What is it Really Worth?