What information do I need to have before trading in my used car?

Answer 1

#1: you need to know that, by trading in your car instead of selling it privately, you're accepting a significantly lower price in return for a lot of convenience.

Dealers need to sell your car to someone else, and they have overhead costs that you don't have when you sell directly to the next owner. So you'll end up getting a lot less for your car as a trade-in -- but you won't have to put ads in the paper or online, deal with flaky buyers and paperwork, and pay insurance on the car while it sits around waiting to be sold. So make sure you're comfortable with that.

#2: you need to know that if you set a price for your trade-in before or during negotiations for the new car, you won't really know how much you're getting for your trade-in.

You don't want to be negotiating two separate variables; you want to keep your new car negotiations separate from your trade-in. Otherwise the dealer might offer you a great price for your trade, and simply mark up the price of the new car to make up for it -- and you'll be paying taxes on, and financing, that marked-up amount!

Instead, tell them you're selling your car privately rather than trading it in. Then, negotiate the purchase price of your new car for the lowest possible amount, arrange financing, and so on.

Then, after all the costs are finalized and you're about to sign, ask them to appraise your trade-in "just in case". The number they bring back will be low, but that's typical for trade-ins. Do your research (see below) and accept their offer if it's fair -- and if it's not fair based on your research, don't trade it in. You can always bring it to places like CarMax and sell it (if it's not too old or in bad shape) and they pay equivalent to a fair dealer trade-in.

#3: you need to know what your car is worth.

Go online, to kbb.com, edmunds.com and any other site you trust. Get the trade-in price based on the average numbers given by these sites and a reasonable assessment of your car (hint: a dealer will NEVER pay the "Good" price, so start at "Fair") and determine how much less/more you're willing to accept before you go to the dealer.

By the way, this is a good time to see what the private party retail price might be, to see if it's worth your time and effort to sell privately.

Answer 2

For paperwork, you'll need your title and possibly registration.

For information, you should know what your car is worth, both retail and whoolesale. See if you can sell it yourself either to a friend or an enemy, if the car is shot. Put an ad in the paper or post an ad at work. You'll save yourself some money that way.

Answer 3

Go to KBB.com to see what the fair market value is of your car, once you know how much it's worth then you will know how to deal with a prospective buyer or dealership.

Answer 4

payoff if you have a loan and the registration/title

Answer 5

how much it is worth