Value Your Trade

Why Should You Trade-In Your Vehicle?

You might be tempted to sell your vehicle on your own, and while that can be the right decision for many Pharr car owners, it could be incorrect for others. There are plenty of benefits to trading your vehicle at our car dealership, and we’ll go over some of them below:

  • Selling your vehicle on your own could become more of a hassle than many might anticipate. Instead of posting your vehicle on a listing site, going through and examining prospective buyers, then dealing with the complicated paperwork, you can just take it to our team at Burns Motors, Ltd. We’ll take care of everything for you from start to finish.
  • Our trade-in value tool is as easy as filling in some required pieces of information and hitting “submit.” We’ll handle everything else from there and provide you with a fair market value of your vehicle.
  • What if you still owe money on your current vehicle? Don’t fret! If you owe more than your vehicle is worth, our team can help provide you with your options. We’ll walk you through the next steps you can take to help you better plan your automotive future.

How Do You Trade in a Car?

After you’ve received your trade-in estimate, it’s time for an appraisal of your vehicle! Our Rancho Santa Margarita dealership can take care of this step for you. We’ll examine the condition of your car and make sure it’s a good fit for our used car inventory. When you visit for your car’s appraisal, be sure to bring your trade-in estimate!

Once we’ve examined your car, you can negotiate or accept our offer and finalize the sale. We pride ourselves on offering the fairest possible offer on trade-in vehicles, aiming to make the trade-in process transparent and simple. In fact, there are a couple of major advantages to selling your car to a dealership, including:

  • You can haggle at a dealership. We encourage our customers to always do their own research to make sure they’re getting the most reasonable trade-in offers.
  • Can you trade in a car you still owe on? You can with a dealership. If you’re upside down on your car loan, you can consolidate what’s owed on your current car with the price of your new ride.

Value Your Trade-In: FAQs

Q: Can you trade in a financed car?

A: Yes, you can. If you have positive equity on the car (as in it’s worth more than what you currently owe), you can trade it in easily. The dealer will purchase the car and pay off the loan, then they’ll put what’s left toward the new vehicle price, giving you a major advantage. If you have negative equity on the car (as in it’s worth less than what you currently owe), the dealer may still buy the car and pay off the loan, but the difference will be rolled into your new car loan — meaning you’ll still need to pay it off eventually.

Q: How soon can you trade in a financed car? 

A: There’s no time limit that’s set in stone, but it’s a good idea to wait until you have positive equity.

Q: What does it mean to be “upside down” on a car loan?

A: Being “upside down” on a car loan is the same thing as having negative equity. If, for example, you owe $30,000 on a car that’s worth $25,000, you have negative equity.

Q: Can I trade in my car for a cheaper car? 

A: If you still owe money on the car, you can trade it in for a cheaper one. If, for example, you owe $15,000 and the car is worth $20,000, the dealer can purchase the car as a trade-in, pay off the loan, and put the $5,000 toward your new auto loan as equity. If you don’t owe money on the car and own it outright, there’s nothing stopping you from trading it in for a cheaper car; you can do what you’d like with it.