[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by milt

Private sellers have gotten to be such a PITA that it's becoming more easy to just go to a dealer and know that the paperwork is going to be a breeze whether you are financing at your source or need a smog, ect.

I have gone through 2 sellers of Jags that won't even show me the car. This is CL stuff. They lie about everything and when I ask about a few things, they clam up.

Wow, your dealers in SoCal must be much better than those in the midwest. I'll do anything I can to avoid the lying scumbags that sell overpriced used cars at a dealership. I've very rarely been disappointed buying cars from individuals, and I have a chance to talk to the actual owner about maintenance, repairs, etc. I also have a good shot at getting some sort of service records, which is damn near impossible with a dealer. If you apply a little common sense when dealing with individuals you can nearly always rule out the crap before wasting time to look at it, they're not professional liars like a used car salesman.

Originally Posted by Laneco

If at all humanly possible, sell your trade yourself. Bringing cash to the deal, no trade-in, generally will get you the lowest REAL price on the newer vehicle. When a trade is involved, the idea for the dealer, as you've already surmised, is to buy the trade cheap and sell the other car high.

Bringing no trade to the deal eliminates that bargaining chip for them. If you must do a trade, as advised above, concentrate on just the difference between the two vehicles.

angela

This. You'll always lose money when you trade in your car, that's the nature of the beast.