My fiance has started her own wedding decorating company and the dreadful day of getting rid of the Protege5 is fast approaching. We have to upgrade to something that will pull a car trailer (one of those fully enclosed ones) and the P5 just won't cut it.

My question is... how bad am I going to get burnt on trading this car in? It's an '02 with about 22,000 kms on it.... mint stock car with A/C, moonroof, tint.

Would I be better off trying to sell it privately, or do you think that if I went with either a Tribute or MPV, that Mazda would give me a good break on it??

Any advise or comments??

 

Dealers are in the business of making money. Chances are, if they're willing to give you good trade-in value for your P5, they won't deal much on the new car. Likewise, if they give you some good discounts on the new car, they'll shaft you on trade-in. As a general rule, you will almost always make more money selling your car out-right, but there's the added hassle of advertising, cost or time of detailing for sale, arranging for viewing and test-drive appointments, etc., and of course it will probably take longer to sell. If you have a little time to handle it yourself, definitely sell your car yourself.

 

Another thing I forgot to mention was that I'm currently purchase financing the car for 5 years with 1 year paid... so I'd have to clear that up as well.

 

This changes the situation somewhat, depending on your down payment and loan terms. If you owe more than blue book on the car (which may be the case if you had a low or zero down payment) it may be better to trade it in so you don't have to pay cash to get rid of the car. Of course, you'll still have to eat the money, but it's a bit easier to take if it's rolled into a new car loan rather than having to come up with cash up front.

 

This is exactly the case... I paid 0 money down... financed roughly $26,000 (includes the interest built in) over 5 years, so I've paid off roughly $5,200... now I fully understand that I'd never get anything near $20,800 for a trade... but how much do you think I could get??

 

Honestly if I were you , I would try and get my hands on a truck , a pick up truck per say ... Get something fast ,...
Look for a F150 or a lightning ... that way you can have some fun with it ... You can drop a nice system in it , you will have your cool apeal , and you can put some nice 20" or whatever rims on it, really it comes with nice rims already ....

I would not really bother with a tribute or mpv ,,, I would rather a pick up ... the F150 is nice , or the Chevy Avalanche , wich easily can seat 5 to 6 people and can hold a nice system in the back ... My friend has 3 12" solobarics in his

just my 150 cents
Bruce

 

That sounds great in theory, but he lives in Canada, and his fuel costs will shoot through the roof in a Lightning. I know several people who own or have owned Lightnings, and they bitch about their fuel bills at TEXAS prices. In Canada, 8-10 mpg just ain't cool because you're paying $2.00+ a gallon. Canada is remarkably truck-free for this reason.

Minivans supposedly make pretty good tow vehicles (or so I've heard). However, I'm not sure what he means by an "enclosed car trailer"- if that means that a trailer that HOLDS a car, an MPV may not cut it because they're only rated to tow ~3000 lbs if I remember right. However, if it's one of those little ~5'x8' trailers, an MPV or Tribute should be able to handle it easily.

 

Yeah, the trailer I'm looking at hauling is 5' x 10'... lightweight, and will only contain lightweight wedding decorations....

The reason I mentioned a minivan or SUV is for the enclosed cargo room... If I went with a truck, I'd have to get a cap... and I'm not into that look!! But there's definitely no shortage of trucks in Canada!! That's for sure!

So any ideas how much I'll get raped on the trade-in??

 

you'll get *maybe* 16000-17000 on a trade.