My wife and I finally anted up and negotiated a deal on a 99.5 1.8TQMS, but they didn't offer much for our trade in, a '94 Honda Civic EX. I took the car by AutoNation and they won't buy it cause its a '94 and they only buy '95 and newer. I took it buy CarMax and they basically tried to rape me, offered a little more than half of what the car is worth. We are supposed to pick up the Audi Monday so putting an ad in the paper, if I can still get one in, probably won't work. I am out of ideas, other than driving around every car lot in Atlanta, seeing what people will give me for it. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

It's a '94 Honda Civic EX coupe, 5 spd., black, sunroof, a/c, pw, pl, etc., 62K miles, in very good condition, never wrecked. The trade in gives a range of 6,200 to 9,200 (pretty big range huh?) but CarMax offered me 5,500 the slugs. Anyway, Audi will give me just over 7,000 but they are going in the paper for 8,000 to 9,500 so I would like to get 8,500 for it.

I actually thought of that right after I put up my original post. I know I can get a loan without any early payoff penalities, but how much I am going to lose in processing, application, etc. fees? Between those and the money I save on sales tax, it might be better to just trade it in. Also, there is no guarantee I'll get what I want for my car on the open market ($8,500). Thanks for the suggestion though.

I'm not trying to be a jerk here, but I think your hopes on pricing may
not be realizeable. The car is a 94, and the 2000s are just beginning to
roll into showrooms--so what is the residual on a six-year old car?
Certainly not more than 40%. These cars go new for around 15k,
which at 40/50% is $6.0k/$7.5. While the newspaper adds *list* at
$8k-$9.5k, that is the asking price, not the sale price. So my guess
is that they are selling for $7k-$8.5k. If you sell it yourself over time
you may indeed get what you want, but if you want the convenience
of quick disposal you're probably going to have to accept the low
end of that range (audi's offer). I'd go for the audi offer and try to haggle
them to $7500--try bringing in the paper to indicate the pricing. They
have to make a profit in the middle, so they will not be able to
offer you a price for what you'd get it selling yourself.

If you want $8500 for it then my advice is to sell it privately and forget trading it in. This will also require some patience as it can take several weeks.

I just recently purchased my 99.5 A4 Avant. I had my '94 Civic EX listed in Yahoo and AutoTrader Online (42,500 miles, with AC, ABS, etc). Retail on the car ranged from 11.5k to 12k, trade-in was in the 8.5k to 9.5k range. I wanted 10k for the car and knew I would never get it from a dealer.

I purchased my A4 Avant with savings and a 10k loan from Peoplefirst bank so I didn't need to sell the Honda before my purchase. The Honda did sell a few weeks after I bought my A4 though, and I did get $9900 for it. Turns out a family member bought the car from me.

I know it can be difficult, but try not to be pressured into buying the 99.5 based on the "good deal". You can always find a good deal if you look around. Your Honda is definitely worth the 8.5k you are asking for it. If you really can't wait and must have the A4 *now* then the 7k the dealer offered you isn't terrible, I've seen worse offers. It all depends on what's more important to you:

1. The A4 now minus the 1.5k on the Honda
2. The A4 later with the 1.5k

One other thing to consider, if you sell it privately you have to contend with test drives, appts., etc. Trading it in to the dealer at 7k is really convenient and they know this too. ;-)

Good luck, whatever your decision may be!

-Adam

'

Coz your Civic is worth for at least 8.5K. Never sell it to dealer, they are sharks!

I got some indication of how very very little money the dealer was going to give for trade, I borrowed the full amount from my friendly bank. Bought the car outright, and put the old car in the paper with an aggressive sales price. After initial worries and 2 days, I sold my old Audi for a reasonable offer (more than what I really expected). I paid down the loan on the new Audi and my life looks good.

Whatever you end up doing, Good Luck.