Car dealership trade-in tips and secrets.

Professional car salesman will tailor their “fact finding” questions into normal conversation. These questions will be something like, “How do you plan to pay for your new car?” “Are you putting any money down on the vehicle?” And, “Will you be replacing or adding a vehicle with this purchase?”

Do not tell the dealer early in the car buying process you want to trade your car in. If a salesperson asks you if you’re trading in a vehicle, tell them “no” or “not at this time.” The reason you tell them you’re not trading early in the process is to keep the dealer as honest as possible. You still have the right to change your mind later in the process.

If you tell a dealer about your trade-in too soon. They may use this information against you during the negotiation process by giving you a very low purchase price on the car you want to buy and then make up the lost profit by holding on your trade.

Read more about the very common trade-in value scam and how it works.

Most car dealers will come right out and ask you what you want for your trade-in as soon as possible. What the dealer is trying to do is find out if you’ve educated yourself on your vehicle.

I don’t know how many times I would hear, “I think my car is worth $XX,XXX.” My next question to the customer was, “where did you come up with that number?” Most customers would then say, “I just think it’s worth that.”

Making a statement like this to a car salesman puts you at a huge disadvantage. You just let the dealer know you haven’t done your homework and they’ll most likely hit you with a very low value for your trade-in.

As stated above, a dealer will ask early in the sales process if you’re trading a car. As harmless as this question sounds it’s a big part of the salesperson’s agenda. The dealer will use this information against you later during the negotiating stage. They will also ask you how much you want for your trade.

When you decide to bring up your trade. This is exactly what you should say if the salesperson or manager that asks you how much you want for your trade:

“I have no idea, you tell me what it’s worth.”

A dealer does not like the above answer and will most likely keep prying to get a number out of you on what you think your car is worth. Hold your ground and act oblivious on how much your car’s worth. Whatever you do, don’t give them a figure, make them give you a figure first.