Tips on Buying Cars: Trade In, brand new car, old cars

Question
I have a question about trading in a car.  We want to trade down to a smaller car.  We have a van that we still owe on, which we want to use to trade in.  What would the dealership offer us as a trade in if they determine that there is not much margin on the van after they pay off the contract?  In other words, would we be better off selling the van on our own with the objective of just getting enough from the sale to break even, and then buying from the dealership without a trade in?  If you would need specifics about our vehicle in order to give us advice, I will find out the blue book, how much we owe, and what kind of vehicle we are looking to buy.  Thanks for any direction you can provide!
-john white.


Answer
Hello John,

 Well, I can almost say for certain that you can always do better selling it yourself than offering it as a trade in. You see, trade ins where originally designed to move year old cars...someone buys a 2001, a year later the trade it in for a 2002. That way, they get a brand new car with a small difference in price. It does not work well for any situation; the dealership wants to the lowest possible price fro your car so they can turn over the profit twofold. It would be much less hassle and probably more lucrative if you decided to sell the van privately.

Take care,
Doug