If I still owe 10k on my car and want to trade it in for one that is 15k are my payments going to be based on?

Question

a 25,000.00 car? I am very new to the car buying experience. Can someone please explain this to me?

Answer 1

Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. You need to work the best deal you can. A car depreciates in value the second you drive it off the lot. The car you owe 10K on may have a trade in value of only 5 or 6K which means your new note will be be for 15k minus 6k trade in plus the 4K you owe on the original note or 14K plus interest. Your payment would likely be near 250.00/mo. But dealers are negotiating now.
Here is what you do - go to a dealer you don't want to buy from - pretend you are going to buy a new car from him. Negotiate - tell him you can't afford the payments see if he can work a better deal. Get a good feel for how it's done and what the climate is like in dealing for cars right now. Repeat that until you've learned a few things. Also check on-line at Kelly's blue book for prices on the car you want.
Good Luck