First things first. You want to get rid of that old clunker, and certainly the easiest way to do so is to trade it in on a different vehicle at a dealership. You avoid the hassle of placing ads in the newspaper and allowing complete strangers to possibly damage your car beyond driveability. What you need to know; however, is that trade-in value is completely subjective. Sure, there are guides out there that will tell you what a specific year and model of vehicle is worth, and of course, this depends on its condition. Does it look like it just rolled out of a showroom? Does it have a few war bruises, i.e., scratches, nicks,dings etc.? Is it a complete piece of junk with more rust than visible sheetmetal and/or belch smoke every time it runs? These are all factors that will determine how much cash will be allowed for your trade. But…..guides such as the Kelley Blue Book or Edmund’s Used car Prices can be meaningless. Allow me to elaborate: Let’s suppose that a dealership has a “blowout sale” on everything in stock. You’ve seen and heard the commercials. “Everything must go!” The prices have been reduced, but guess where it will be made up? If Car A has a window sticker of $20,000, but has a price of $18,500 painted on the windshield, that $1500 or an amount close to that figure will likely be knocked off your trade value, depending on how much profit is built into the replacement car. This is especially true of the infamous “Push, Pull, or Drag Sales” that dealerships sometimes employ. Sure, they may give you $3000 for that beater you had to have towed in, but they will simply inflate the price of the car you’re interested in to compensate.For example, in the worst case scenario, your junker may fetch $100 at a salvage yard, so the dealership will make sure that the car on their lot will sell for at least $2900 over their cost. In other words, you really got $100 for your trade, not $3000. The importance of being aware of such number-crunching cannot be over-stressed. However, with that said, there are dealerships who will give customers a true value for their trade-ins, more or less. Again, it all depends on the profit margin of the car being sold. The first thing that you need to do is research. Learn which dealerships go by true values. They will usually be a “No-Haggle Pricing” seller. Saturn started this practice back in the early 1990’s, and many others have followed suit. To put it simply, what the sticker says is what you pay, and what your trade-in is worth is what you’ll receive.In such cases, make sure your car is clean. Wash it and shine it up with some wax. Clean the wheels or plastic hubcaps. Give it a thorough vacuuming. Make sure there’s no garbage left in the vehicle; things like receipts, paper straw covers, empty soda cans, candy stuck or melted to the carpeting or upholstery, old hamburger wrappers. Well, you get the idea. Shoot the dashboard with a protectant such as Armor-All. Wipe the windows down with Windex. (Windshield washer works, too; and costs a lot less.) If you smoked in the car, invest in one of those bottled air fresheners that connect right to the vents a few days before you take it to the dealership. Shampoo the carpeting, and if you have seat covers, run them through a wash cycle. As I said, trade value is subjective, but if you have a nice-looking car, this can make a difference of a few hundred dollars when the time comes to make a deal. This can hold true even if your car is in poor mechanical condition. Contrary to popular belief, a book CAN be judged by its cover. And you know what? So can a car. Category:Home › Autos • Will the trend toward economy-size car models lead Americans back to buying smaller-sized cars? — part 2 • You should never use after-market auto parts when maintaining or fixing your car • Should a new car be rust-proofed? • Will the trend toward economy-size car models lead Americans back to buying smaller-sized cars? — part 1 • Five safest cars in North America • How to ensure your teen drives safely after getting a license • Pros and cons of using an hydrogen generator for your car • DIY automotive maintenance: How to change the oil