I'm waiting on the 09 fit to be built on 9/10. I'm debating: Should I try to sell my 98 accord independently, or trade it in?

The car has some issues... Namely, needing new tires, suspension, and brakes. It has 160k miles on it, but the motor is in good running condition.

Whats your opinions as to what I can expect for a trade in, and or what I should ask if I sell it independently.

Oh, the body... It's not mint, but its you're average 11 yr old car. a ding here n there, very very minor rust beginning in the passenger side rear wheel well.

 

you wont get top dollar on a trade in. in that condition, you probably wont get top dollar as it stands, but you will get more in a private party sale.

 

more money privately but way less hassle trade in, so there is no right way.

 

this is true as well.

 

if the car needs a bit of work, it will be hard to sell privately, but you would get more money for it. do some research on kbb.com and see what the value for trade-in vs. private party is.
a lot of dealers will hardly give you anything. my brother had a 1998 nissan frontier with 60k miles, they offered him $500.

 

Sell: sell it privately and get more money
Trade-in: trade it in but get less money for it. HOWEVER, after subtracting the trade-in value from the Fit's cost, you'll have to pay tax ONLY on the remaining balance.
If your trade in is $2,000 and the Fit costs $20,000, then you'll only have to pay tax on the $18,000 remaining after the trade-in.

It almost doesn't matter either way.

 

private selling you will have to pay tax. if you trade it in you wont have to pay tax but you get less.

and i dont think the new fit will be 20,000.

we have one coming in already!

 

If the dealer gives you a offer that is close to what you think it's worth than go for it.

If you trade it in, you pay the taxes once the trade-in is subtracted from the new car's price. This can save you quite a bit of tax.

Another thing you can do:

Once you find a buyer, take him in and tell the dealer how much he is paying for your old car. Use the buyer's offer as your trade-in towards your new car. The buyer's offer still gets subtracted before they add the tax. You get the amount you want for your car and you still save on the tax.

 

See what you can get with the dealer trade. It won't be much, but if it's anywhere near $2k I'd say take it. Or keep it as a beater car. Beaters are awesome, don't have to worry about anything.

 

i honestly think that the dealer is only going to offer you like $1k tops
for a 11yr old car with that many miles on it. it's going on auction
anyway. dealer wont even try to sell it on their lot.

you might be able to do better at carmax, try that first. appraisal is
free.

 

yea id say they give u 500 tops if that...if that dude... ppl nowadays will pay a better dollar for it due to gas even if it needs the 1000 dollars of work into it