questions about trading my honda (d)

hello,

i want to trade in my honda to a dealer. however, my honda's
exterior is in bad bad condition. it still drives though, and has
its oil changed regularly and starter replaced. BUT:
exterior is bad:

the windshield is cracked, but not too severely, it's a horizontal
line that only the driver can see.
the driver windshield wiper's paint has oxidized.
the front bumper paint is scratched due to a collision with another
vehicle.
the car color has turned dull from lack of waxing, but i don't see any
oxidation.

interior is good condition, though. there are some scratches near the
driver panels.

Question: should I fix those problem spots first before the trade-in?
What is your advice please?

 

dont.

or rather, get an estimate on trade in, then sell it yourself. even if
it was in perfect shape, they still dont want to give you shit for it.

another option is whatever kbb.com and edmunds.com say for a "poor"
condition civic. thatll give you an idea.

sell it for a little over that, and get that out of the equation.

equation, meaning the "4 square" chart the salespeople use. IIRC, its
tradein/purchase price/financing/money down.

thats what they play with to get you to pay what they want you to pay.

as an outrageous example: they could sell you a civic for $30,000 by
making the payments $100/mo for 300 months. 0% interest, even!

or sell it to you for $40,000, but give you a $10,000 trade in on your
beater, and $100/mo for 300 months.

its all a numbers game.

a) know what you are willing to pay for the car you want
b) get the invoice price from KBB or edmunds
c) go through costco, AAA, or autobytel
d) bring a friend
e) bring a calculator, pencil, and paper. doublecheck their work!
f) dont use a tradein. might as well just give them the car, since thats
what youd be doing.

they dont care. if the car is that bad, theyll auction it off. theyll
tell you how crappy it is, and give you $500 for it. then theyll tack on
$500 as a "doc prep fee", "floor mats", "paint protectant", etc.

so basically, youll give them the old car. dont do it... sell it
yourself for $1000 or whatever.

 

I saw a funny episode of "American Chopper" where they towed a non-running,
rusted out crap with no windshield that looked like it was in a roll-over and
the dealer gave them $50 for it.

Basically, I'd fix it up only if the car's worth more than $2000 and sell it
privately.




____________________________________
Do not write below this line. Reserved for me.

 

(He Hate Retard and Moron) floridly penned
in

I wrote something! Whaddya gonna do, huh?

 

Do a cheap and quick fix. A new windshield can usually be had for $150, or
less, installed. Pull the wiper off and then get a can of black paing at
or local discount auto parts place and paint the wiper. Cost, about $4.
While at the parts store, get some touch paint and touch up the scratches
on the bumper. Lastly, take your car to a car detailer and have them
rub out the paint. That should cost about $100, maybe less. You will spend
about $300, but it will increase the trade in value of your car by at least
$500, if not more. If you don't have $300, get the paint rubbed out. That
will make the biggest difference in the appearance, and the trade in value.

 

HHR&M - I just saw that episode! That show is funny as hell. The vehicle
they towed in was Mikeys old Nissan Sentra that they took a hammer to,
rolled it over (and back) and drove it into a dumpster and down into the
woods. Without Mikey, that show would be nowhere near as good. The "OCC"
marketing is tremendous, they have merchandise everywhere! I just got back
from Key West, FL and there was a ton of OCC shirts/hats/stickers for sale
down there as well. You gotta believe that they are making more coin on
shirts then they are on bikes.

From watching them build bikes, I know that I will have a bike as my next
fun vehicle.

-keith