Tips on Buying Cars: Trade in, buying a new car, car tomorrow

Question
We are buying a new car tomorrow - we still owe money on a car we are trading in ($9700.00) - the dealer does not know we are looking to trade the car in - we already have a quote from carmax and know how much we are looking for for the trad in - my question: what do we need so that the transaction tomorrow will be as seamless as possible?  What do we need to watch out for tomorrow?  Since the transaction is happening tomorrow night, will the dealership have a problem finding out about the lien and stall the overall purchase of the vehicle?

Answer
You kept your trade-in a secret till the last minute, and now you want to know how to make the process as "seamless" as possible?  At this point you'll need the title to your trade and your account number for the loan.  If you show up to take delivery of your new car with the expectations of trading your current car, and it's past the closing time of your bank or credit union, then the dealer is certainly going to "stall the over all purchase" because they have no way of confirming what you owe on your trade.  I'm not sure what you expected to gain by taking this route (the secret, last-minute trade-in), but I certainly wouldn't expect things to go too "seamlessly."  I mean, what if you were selling your house, and at the last minute your buyer decided to change the terms of their purchase offer, in the hopes of getting you to lower your selling price?  Is that a tactic that you as a seller would welcome and appreciate?  You need to look at this from the dealer's point of view.