Can you trade in a car, if your not finished paying on it?

Answer 1

If the value of your car is more than the payoff on your loan, you can trade it in without a problem. If you owe more on the car than the value, you will have to pay the difference, or roll that amount into your new car loan.

If you owe more than the value, you would most likely be better off to wait and continue to pay down the loan!

Answer 2

Yes this is called a trade in.

A dealership will look over the car and then look up its value by a few methods and offer you a price to buy it from you. 98% of the time this is below what you owe on the car unless you put down a very very large down payment when originally purchased.

At this time you either pay the difference you owe on the car to the bank to what the dealership is going to give you for it. Or what most do is "roll it over" into the new car loan.

So say you have a car that you owe $10,000 on. You go to trade it in and the dealership says they will give you $8,000 for it. You sell it to them and you are going to buy a brand new car for $20,000. But you are going to "roll over" $2000 from the old into the new. So now the new car is actually $22,000.

Trading out of a car too soon or too often can result in being majorly upside in a car. Upside down means you owe more than the car is worth.

When you buy a car you should be prepared to keep it for at least 3 years. This allows for depreciation, interest on loan, etc to all get paid down some with monthly payments. So when you do go to trade it in you are very close to the real value of the car.

But you have to watch which cars you buy as some depreciate faster than others. A brand new Hyundai depreciates faster than a brand new Toyota Camry.

Answer 3

sure, but you're still going to have to make payments. So if you can sell it for the sum of your outstanding debt on it, then you can pay off the car with that money. As for trading it, you're gonna get screwed hard and left with a lot of leftover debt. Especially if it was a new car... so much of the debt includes financing fees, document fees, taxes, and of course the massive amount of value a new car loses the second you drive it off the lot.

Be sure to review your contract... you may be required to make payments according to a schedule, in which case you'd sell the car and put the money into a separate account strictly to be used for car payments. Some Smart Buy programs allow you to trade in the car at a set time (say after 4 years) assuming you met all of their requirements (timely payments, timely preventive maintenance, car in good condition, etc).

So, be sure to review your contract, consider how much you still owe on the car, and see how much of that you could recoup by selling it or possibly trading it in. If you purchased new, you will not recoup all of your money and you'll most likely continue paying for your old car well into your ownership of the replacement car (or paying a large lump sum in the event of a trade-in). You just need to 1) read your contract, 2) talk to a representative from your financing agency to be sure you understand your terms, 3) do the math, and 4) decide if it would be financially worth it to trade in or sell with outstanding debts on the vehicle.

If you really want to drop your current car, maybe it's worth it to you to pay a little extra per month in making 2 car payments at once just to have another car. But be sure you know what you're getting into before you find yourself owing a lot more than you're willing or able to spend!@

Answer 4

Unfortunately, yes. Stop and think about what you are doing. You are taking out a loan to pay off another loan. It is best to buy a car that you can afford without taking out a loan. That way, you don't have to pay interest. You can look at Consumer Reports at your public library. In every April issue, they list the best make and model of used car.

Answer 5

Yes, but you still have to pay off the loan. The dealer will add the old loan value to the new one, but then you are paying for more than one car, aren't you?

Answer 6

Yes you can. The dealer essentially buys your car from you and would pay off the amount of the loan of your car (assuming it is worth more than your loan, otherwise you're what people call, "upside down" on it).

Answer 7

yes, u could trade in the car in any detail even ur car wasnt paid off yet coz they can have the up or down toward your new car loan

Answer 8

You can as long as you owe less then what the car is worth. But if you watch for dears at your local dealership for can find good deals on trade ins.

Answer 9

yes, but the amount of money you owe on the car you are trading in, will go on the amount of your new loan.

Answer 10

yes as long as you don't owe more on the vehicle than it is worth most places wil allow trade-in they just add in the remaining balance to your new loan