Gearhead Thread

[mussa]

Nice rides, PPinDC

[PhillyPhanInDC]

I've got a question, and suppose it's as good as place as any to put it here.

Here's the story:

I'm normally pretty good at dealing with car dealers, and getting a price on a new car that I'm happy with, but I'm in unfamiliar territory. Our current every day car is an 05 Honda Civic, but we have a baby on the way, our first, and the wife and I quickly realized that all the crap we have to lug around isn't going to easily fit in the Civic. The Civic is financed, and I look at the blue book, and blue book lists the private party value as more than we owe on the car, but when I did some searches on Autotrader and Cars.com, the car is selling for less than we owe. So now I am thinking about trading the car in on a new Honda CR-V, something that I thought I would never want to do (trade-in).  My assumption is they take the Civic, and pay it off, and we inherit the loan for the purchase price of the new car. I'm guessing the issue of them paying off the entirety of the Civic is the part I have to get them to do. Does anyone have any experience in doing a trade in? Ideas?

[Wingspan]

I've got a question, and suppose it's as good as place as any to put it here.

Here's the story:

I'm normally pretty good at dealing with car dealers, and getting a price on a new car that I'm happy with, but I'm in unfamiliar territory. Our current every day car is an 05 Honda Civic, but we have a baby on the way, our first, and the wife and I quickly realized that all the crap we have to lug around isn't going to easily fit in the Civic. The Civic is financed, and I look at the blue book, and blue book lists the private party value as more than we owe on the car, but when I did some searches on Autotrader and Cars.com, the car is selling for less than we owe. So now I am thinking about trading the car in on a new Honda CR-V, something that I thought I would never want to do (trade-in).  My assumption is they take the Civic, and pay it off, and we inherit the loan for the purchase price of the new car. I'm guessing the issue of them paying off the entirety of the Civic is the part I have to get them to do. Does anyone have any experience in doing a trade in? Ideas?

My Suggestion is a hassle, but its the best bet economically. Sell the Civic privately. As long as you sell it for more than you owe + transfer fees, to pay off the loan. Then use that leftover money to make a downpayment on the CR-V. YOu will save a lot of money in the long run in interest/loan payments. This will also drive down your monthly payment, since you are actually paying towards the car, instead of just transferring a loan to another car.

The hassel part is it may take a while to sell it. And it's best to have 2 cars to begin with to stop piling miles on the Civic. The other hassle part is waiting for the title to come from the back on the Civic.

From my limited experience with it, trading in with money still owed on the vehicle can be a collassal pain in the ass.


Edit: This is assuming you have some cash for a 2nd downpayment.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Wing is right, selling it privately might be easier.

In the past I have traded in as well as some of my friends and if I owed more than what it was worth then I had the sales guy knock down the price of the new car so when the leftover amount from what they gave you for your car is added on its the same payment as it would have been had you not had a trade in.

When my friend bought his Expedition he traded in another car. He owed about $3K more than what they were going to give him for the car. So the sales guy knocked 3K off the Expy and it came out to the same amount. Some places will do that and some won't. Or you can hassle them into giving you more on your Civic...just hardball 'em.

[Sgt PSN]

I've got a question, and suppose it's as good as place as any to put it here.

Here's the story:

I'm normally pretty good at dealing with car dealers, and getting a price on a new car that I'm happy with, but I'm in unfamiliar territory. Our current every day car is an 05 Honda Civic, but we have a baby on the way, our first, and the wife and I quickly realized that all the crap we have to lug around isn't going to easily fit in the Civic. The Civic is financed, and I look at the blue book, and blue book lists the private party value as more than we owe on the car, but when I did some searches on Autotrader and Cars.com, the car is selling for less than we owe. So now I am thinking about trading the car in on a new Honda CR-V, something that I thought I would never want to do (trade-in).  My assumption is they take the Civic, and pay it off, and we inherit the loan for the purchase price of the new car. I'm guessing the issue of them paying off the entirety of the Civic is the part I have to get them to do. Does anyone have any experience in doing a trade in? Ideas?

My Suggestion is a hassle, but its the best bet economically. Sell the Civic privately. As long as you sell it for more than you owe + transfer fees. Then use that money to make a downpayment on the CR-V. YOu will save a lot of money in the long run in interest/loan payments. This will also drive down your monthly payment, since you are actually paying towards the car, instead of just transferring a loan to another car.

The hassel part is it may take a while to sell it. And it's best to have 2 cars to begin with to stop piling miles on the Civic.

That's exactly the same thing I was ready to suggest, and for the same exact reason.  Car dealers rarely give you a fair trade in value on a car and they're even worse when it comes to trading in a car that you still owe on.

If you have a nice chunk of change set aside that you can use to make a down payment on a new car, then you may want to do that and put your Civic up for sale.  And then once you sell it you can take that money and put it towards your car as well or replenish the savings that you spent on the down payment.    

[Susquehanna Birder]

Check edmunds.com and do a value check on your car. They'll give you both the retail value and the trade-in value. It'll give you a good idea about the difference between the two.

[Wingspan]

That's exactly the same thing I was ready to suggest, and for the same exact reason.  Car dealers rarely give you a fair trade in value on a car and they're even worse when it comes to trading in a car that you still owe on.

If you have a nice chunk of change set aside that you can use to make a down payment on a new car, then you may want to do that and put your Civic up for sale.  And then once you sell it you can take that money and put it towards your car as well or replenish the savings that you spent on the down payment.    

The risk you take in selling privately is how long it may take you to sell the car. Without knowing, and assuming the car is worth $7000...you will be potentially waiting for someone with that kind of cash. Buying the CR-V before sale of the Civic could leave you with 2 payments for a few months.

The reason that dealerships even exist are bacuase, something like 90% of car buyers finance, because having that chunk of change laying around is rare.

*My father-in-law swares by his system for car buying. He's only financed 1 time. He a) never buys new b) never buys with over 35,000 miles and 2 years on it. What he does is from the day he drives a car home, he sets up a savings account, and puts $0.10 per mile in the account every week. By the time the car starts to give troubles...usually around 120,000-150,000 miles or so, that savings account has $12,000, more than enough to purchase a new car again.

[PhillyPhanInDC]

Thanks for all the input.

I checked the Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com) on the car for trade-in value, private party value (what I could get selling it), and retail (what a dealer would sell it for after I traded it in). I am thinking about doing a modified version PSN's idea. What I will do in the interim is go to a dealer and work on a deal for the new car, not mentioning I may be interested in doing a trade in, once we have a deal on the new car, I'll have them appraise the Civic. If they aren't going to give me what I want, then I walk, and sell it privately.

*My father-in-law swares by his system for car buying. He's only financed 1 time. He a) never buys new b) never buys with over 35,000 miles and 2 years on it. What he does is from the day he drives a car home, he sets up a savings account, and puts $0.10 per mile in the account every week. By the time the car starts to give troubles...usually around 120,000-150,000 miles or so, that savings account has $12,000, more than enough to purchase a new car again.

That's a smart dude.

Now for the really important part:

I'm for the Dodge Nitro:


I can tow 4,000 pounds, and it has some balls.

The wife is for the CR-V:


Better gas mileage and track record than the Dodge, a bit more luxurious, but looks a bit like a mini-van.


Should I kill my wife and buy the Dodge?

[Sgt PSN]

I am thinking about doing a modified version PSN's idea. What I will do in the interim is go to a dealer and work on a deal for the new car, not mentioning I may be interested in doing a trade in, once we have a deal on the new car, I'll have them appraise the Civic. If they aren't going to give me what I want, then I walk, and sell it privately.

I got called away from my desk while typing my last post otherwise I would have offered that as a suggestion as well.  Never tell a dealer you have a trade in.  Negotiate the best possible price on the car you want and get it in writing.  Then go back later and speak to a new salesman and find out what the best deal is they can give you on a trade. 

[Susquehanna Birder]

Good point, sarge. Knowing the trade-in is there lets the salesperson fudge in lots of extra money/profit. Get a rock-bottom price first, then negotiate the trade.

[mussa]

Do the world a favor and buy the CR-V. Dodge is garbage. If you don't have anything to haul, then whats the point? Plus think of all the gas your going to consume in the Nitro. Honda builds vehicles that last.

[PhillyPhanInDC]

Do the world a favor and buy the CR-V. Dodge is garbage. If you don't have anything to haul, then whats the point? Plus think of all the gas your going to consume in the Nitro. Honda builds vehicles that last.

On occasion I have to haul around a 3500lb boat. I can buy a beater truck to do it with, but the CR-V doesn't really get that much better mileage than the Dodge. Also, since Daimler took over Chrysler the quality has been going up.

All that said the wife will probably "convince" me to get the Honda.

[mussa]

You could always keep the boat at a marina. Buying separate truck for boat/gas could equal out to be just as mch as marina space. 

[Susquehanna Birder]

You can't get a 6 in the CR-V, so it'll suck for towing.

But I don't like the boxy looks of the Nitro. And my past experience with Dodge makes me want to run the other way.

[Diomedes]

Dodge would have to improve impossibly to even merit consideration compared to Honda.  that is incredibly accurate.

Then there's this little bonus:  you can totally hot up the CRV with a kick ass exhaust tip and Phreak will want to hump you.