Used Cars: SELLING USED CAR/OR TRADE IN., window regulators, backup car


Question
HELLO, YOU MAY HAVE HELPED ME A MONTH OR TWO AGO WITH SOME USEFUL CAR BUYING INFO...AND IF SO, THANK YOU! I AM SORRY I DON'T HAVE THE EMAIL HANDY AND CANNOT REMEMBER EACH PERSON'S NAME THAT I TALKED TO. BUT SINCE THERE ARE ONLY A FEW OF YOU AVAILABLE UNDER THIS TOPIC I THOUGHT YOU WERE ONE? ANYWAY, THANKS. WELL HERE IS MY ISSUE. EVERYONE HAD TOLD ME THAT WHEN I DO GO IN TO BUY MY NEW CAR (OR NEW USED CAR) TO TRY AND NOT USE MY OLD ONE AS A TRADE IN. BUT HERE IS MY ISSUE. IT'S A GREAT CAR AND I LOVE IT! BUT IT IS A 98 AFTERALL...AND NOW IT'S FALLING APART. I AM DRIVING IT BUT HERE IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH IT: RADIATOR IS LEAKING WATER AND ANTIFREEZE AND I HAVE TO FILL IT EVERY FEW DAYS AND CANNOT DRIVE VERY FAR. IT IS IN NEED OF AN OIL CHANGE(I HAVE NOT DONE SINCE I AM GETTING A NEW ONE) BUT NOT TOO FAR OVERDUE, IT NEEDS TWO TIRES, ALL OF THE WINDOW REGULATORS ARE BROKEN AND SO ALL OF THE WINDOWS HAVE TO BE STUCK CLOSED, THE A/C COMPRESSOR DIED SO NO A/C AND I AM IN ARIZONA! IT'S ALMOST AT 100,000 MILES NOW TOO. THOSE ARE THE MAJOR THINGS WRONG...OFCOURSE THERE ARE SOME MINOR THINGS LIKE DIRTY FLUIDS AND BRAKES SOON ETC. SO MY QUESTION IS THIS? IF I WERE TO TRY AND SELL IT TO AN INDIVIDUAL WHAT WOULD I SAY ABOUT THE CAR? I WOULD WANT TO TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT ALL IT'S FLAWS AND MAYBE EVEN ADVERTISE IT TO A MECHANIC WHO WANTS A "FIXER-UPPER" NOT EXPECTING TO GET TOO MUCH FOR IT OFCOURSE...BUT DO I SAY AS BEST AS POSSIBLE WHAT IS WRONG OR? HOW DO I WORD IT? WOULD I GET MORE FROM THE DEALER AS A TRADE IN EVEN THOUGH IT'S GOT ALL THESE PROBLEMS? PERSONALLY I CAN'T SEE ANYONE WANTING THE CAR UNLESS THEY ARE A MECHANIC AND KNOW HOW TO FIX IT. IT STILL IS A GOOD CAR OTHERWISE AND WOULD BE A GOOD BACKUP CAR FOR SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO REPAIR IT. OTHERWISE I HAVE GOTTEN ALL THE OIL CHANGES, BELTS AND SUCH THAT THE CAR HAS NEEDED PRIOR. SO I WAS THINKING DO I JUST WASH IT AND PREP THE CAR AS BEST I CAN AND LIST IT'S ISSUES OR JUST TRADE IT IN? ANY THOUGHTS ON THIS WOULD BE GREAT! IT'S A 98 HYUNDAI SONATA 99,875.00 AUTOMATIC. THANK YOU AND HAVE A GREAT DAY!  

Answer

mag cover
I am not sure if it was me or not, but I am more than happy to answer your question. Whenever you are buying a car; whether it's new or used, always be cognisant of  the three ways a dealer can exploit the process to make money on your deal. Here they are:
1) He can sell you his car for more than he paid for IT
2) He can give you less for your trade than it's actually worth
3) He can make money the finance insurance process at the end of the deal.

With that in mind will you should never trade in a car if at all possible. Yes ...even if it's a hoopty!
I understand your car is in bad shape and has lots of problems... what I would do in your situation is this:

I would fix as many of the small cheap cosmetic items as you can... wash it and give it a quick at home wax and detail and then sell your car yourself on craigslist. You should answer any questions the buyer hasd about the car truthfullyu and honestly because it will save you from wasting alot of everyone's time including your own. Simply and without getting to descriptive disclose to the prospective buyer that the car has a couple of issues he will need to address at some point in the future and what they are. Ther reason you ned to sell it yourself are two fold...  
1) You are going To get more for your car by selling yourself,  even after disclosing the problems honestly than you will trading it in a dealership where they will know all of the cars problems without being told.

2) In doing so you are taking away one of the 3 ways you can get beat everytime.

The trade in you described in your question would hit my books regardless of what I showed you for it on paper at somewhere between one dollar and $100. I may show you a trade-in allowance of thousands... But anything over the $1-$100 would only represent a discount to my price ....not value for your car. You might see a trade in allowance for your car of $#3,000 and think "man is this guy dumb! ..,.Ok I will take it" and not even realize the price he was quoting for his car is retail book or more ...meaning you just handed the dealer 2-3k of your hard earned money...Does that make sense? Buying a car without a trade-in takes away the dealer's ability to fool you. That cleans up the math on the deal because all you woill have left to do is negotitate the price of the new car (never get sidetracked on payments no matter what! Always stay on price!)

The other thing you should do before you buy your new car is to arrange the financing with your credit union or bank on the new car. Dealers are allowed by law to make money by marking up the interest rate from the bank and in most states are not required to tell you. By arranging your financing in advance you will have a better understanding of what a reasonable interest rate for your credit profile is and provide you with an alternate way to purchase the car should the dealer's rate come in above the rate you've received from your bank.

Yields three times to go to the dealer ship to test drive the vehicle but never ever sit down with anyone to work the numbers until you are sitting comfortably in the luxury of your own home...Period!

Another idea that's becoming more popular if you don't feel like selling it and still want to get something out of it is donating your car to Goodwill or some charitable organization. Make sure you get a receipt because this allows you to take a write off for most of the vehicles retail book value. Make sure you check with your accountant before you rely on this advioce as I am not an accounting expert nor do I know what your financial situation currently is. I hope that answers your question ...if not please feel free to ask me any follow up questions you want

Roger

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