Used Cars: Trade-in a 2007 car, suzuki forenza, finance calculator

Question
I have a Suzuki Forenza Sedan 2007 that I would like to trade in for a new vehicle; I owe $11,878.00 and I'm a military member. Since there are so many good offers, when would be a good time frame to trade in my car, now or later? Could be possible to cover what I owe with the rebates and incentives?

Answer
Hello, Go to autotrader.com and edmunds.com and do some research for the value of your car and use edmunds finance calculator. Im in the same boat with a Cadillac, I can get out of it with rebates and incentives but my payment is going to go up and I would have to settle for less or a model I don't want? I do not recommend anybody adding negative to a loan, you WILL get into a situation were you can't trade out till the loan is almost over. Yes it is a good time to trade but only if your within $500-1000 of what your trade is worth. Read this previous answer so you know what the best price is. Never buy a car showing your trade up front, always work on the price of the car your buying first then once you agree its the best price, then tell them about your trade in. Be reasonable about what you want for your trade but make sure you know your numbers and stick to it within a $500 +/- window. Right now there are not enough new cars being sold, which means there are not enough trade ins, which is driving up the used car values, "Supply and Demand". Hope this helps, let me know.
Joey,
Lots of history with Ford. Right now you can find better deals than the X/Z plans, you need to have A plan to make some difference. Basically X/Z is dealer invoice less holdback and sometimes on a slow moving model Ford will give an additional $500 rebate. Here is my suggestion, get on the computer and go to cars.com and autotrader.com those sights will pre-load you dealers that are aggressive about selling cars and trucks (Volume Dealers), put in your information of what you are looking for and start the price war. Dealers are happy with volume right now, not as much for high profits, they need to just move iron. When you start getting quotes, tell the lowest 3-5 your story about your Dad being with Ford and maybe they can come up with something more than their first deal they offered. Most dealers will show you their invoice and show you the holdback, which if I remember correctly, holdback is 3% of the retail price or close. You can go to edmunds.com and research and find those numbers. To me A/X/Z plans are just a mind set, you can beat the dealer and buy a car lower than those figures. Right now the best time to buy is the last day of the month, you can start working the dealers a couple of days before but your commitment should not be until the last day/evening. When their jobs are on the line for not hitting quotas, the dealers will do extraordinary things to buy your business, like free oil changes for a year or more or free car detailing for a year etc... Good Luck, Do a little homework, You will be able to find a better deal or you can call a dealer and ask for the phone # for Ford Employee Incentives/Headquarters. Let me know.