For some people donating a car to a charitable foundation for a tax right off is just not worth the trouble, if this sounds like your situation, you might want to consider using it as a partial down payment instead. This makes a great deal of sense when you figure your charitable donation is only tax deductible up to $500 and the trade in value is $2,000.

When you use your car, as a trade in you and the car dealership are the only beneficiaries; however, you might feel so good about the deal that you decide to make a cash gift to your charity instead. Something about an extra grand or so, that makes people, feel generous.

Trade in Tips

1. A clean car sells much better, double check that yours is in spotless condition. This step is so important that you might want to hire the cleaning done!

2. Car Value- Before you ever step on the lot you should do your homework. Check both the N. A. D. A. and the blue book value. Then move to local classifieds and see how similar vehicles are being priced. Take the time to print out any information you find about pricing and go to the dealership armed. Print newspaper ads, online quotes and anything else pertaining to vehicles like yours. If you are interested in top-notch research, you can call some of the ads yourself and see what their cars have sold for.

3. Compare- Do not sticks with just one dealership when it comes to offers on your trade in. Dealerships will vary on what they offer you for your car. The only problem you may have is if only one dealership is holding a new car you want. Even in this situation, you want to check with other dealerships to find out what they would offer you for your old clunker. You are setting up your negotiation tactics by the above acts and these are powerful tools to use on the salesman you are dealing with. Hey, if you are not giving the thing to charity you should at least get every penny that is coming to you.

4) Be savvy. If you think it will help you stay objective while your talking to the car dealership people, bring your most street-smart friend. Don't fall for this classic car dealer line: "We have a buyer for your car". This is almost as bad as offering free undercoating. Don't buy it.

5. Repairs- Car dealerships are prone to overestimating the cost of repairs that your trade in might require. It is probably a good idea to spend a little money having a mechanic thoroughly inspect your vehicle. They can tell you what if anything should be repaired and give you an estimate. You do not want to be in the middle of negotiations and have to guesstimate the potential repairs. Moreover, if you are going to do anything to the car before you trade it be sure they are visible changes. These repairs and upgrades will get you more cash than hidden ones.

6. Code- Sales people are taught to write in code so they can see information you are not privy to. This allows them to show you the facts and figures while keeping their profit margin visible to only them. For instance, they may have the profit for your trade in, repair cost and a little notation of ACV. This is the actual cash value of your vehicle.

Here's how to crack the code. Numbers are replaced with the first ten letters of the alphabet. A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4... all the way up to J=0. So if you see 'BJJJ' written on the appraisal sheet, you're getting a $2,000 actual cash value for your car.

Dealers do not hide this shorthand, in fact, they usually keep it in plain sight and once you know how to read it, you have the upper hand.

7.Odometer Reading- If you are thinking about trading your car you should do it before the odometer rolls over the next 10,000 mile increment. For example, 139,000 is better mileage than 140,000.