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As I've said on other posts, my wife and I are going to have a baby. We are looking at all options to reduce present monthly bills, in order to help with all the new expenses. Unfortutately, one of the biggest expenses each month is the payments on the 'vic. Right now, I pay $500/month Can., on a bank loan. I know, I know, DAMN!! That's alot of money. So what we are considering is trading in the 'vic on a.......a.........I can't say it, a J-body!! Yes, that's right a Cavalier. The reason is a savings of around $200/month.

Now, what I'd like to know is, the car is almost flawless, interior is perfect. The exterior has a couple door dings (damn ignorant people) and the paint has some swirl marks. What do you think I can get for it on a trade in? I've checked the 'black book' and 'Edmunds' sites, and they give me a difference of around $2000 (13-low to 15-high). At what amount do you all think I should settle on for a trade-in value?

BTW, not just any J-body, but a Cav Z-24 sedan. I know, I know, it's still a J-body.

 
Rep Power: 4647

Who gives a **** if its a cavalier or even a geo metro for ***** sake..

Family Comes First!

congrats on the baby !

 
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i think you shouldnt go upside down on a trade in for no more then 1k U.S.

 
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family comes first!

GET A TSX!!!!

 
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Get a 6th Gen Civic EX sedan.

 
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the Z24 doesent come in a sedan. but if its any relation i had an offer of 10500 (US) for my 01 ex couple with the mods and some dents and 70k miles.

 
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Check out this site and enter the info for trade in value. Take that value and minus about $1,000.00 from it and this is the top dollar usually paid by dealers. MOST dealers WILL NOT pay blue book from Kelly Blue Book values.

The link is below:

Kelly Blue Book Online


BTW: Civics lose a hell of a lot of value every year you own it. They depreciate so quickly it's not even funny. At one point I wanted to trade in my Civic once, and I was shocked how much I was getting offered for it. Sell it privately and take the proceeds and use it for down on the new vehicle. Dealer will rape you.

Mine was a 2001 Civic LX Coupe with a LOT of extras and only 19,500 miles. I was offered $9,200.00 for it. KBB says it was worth $10,800.00 at the time. Go figure.

 
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Family should come first
But IMO take tons of pictures of the car so you never forget about it haha
and if you end up selling anything give me a heads up

 
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civics actually have really high resale value. they depreciate alot at first, but so do all cars. and most times if your car is worth it, or even of its not, the dealer will give you KBB. just tell them no on the offer and leave, i bet they call back. what i did was tell them that i had another offer from another dealer for 10,000. and if they couldnt match it or beat it, i walked.

 
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The KBB is what I consider to be the official guidelines for ripping customers off. Alas, there's nothing you can do about it. If you already know how much you save including rolling over negative equity, then that's proper research. Money saved for the sake of your kid, that's a lot more priority than a lot of people have, unfortunately. Congrats and good luck.

 
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I'd consider a different car for family usage. It's very evident that the Cavalier isn't nearly as good as the Civic at protecting its occupants during a crash. Case in point is the accident I was just in about a month ago where I got rearended. I drove away from the scene with a buckled trunk floor and a messed up bumper cover, the lady in the Cavalier had a broken leg and a car that had to be towed away in pieces.

 
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Thanks for all the comments guys!

HAHA! I'd love too, but the TSX would cost more per month than my civic.

Actually, here in Canada, it does. But I guess in the states, it's called the LS Sport. Kinda like your EX Civic is our Si

Thanks, I couldn't seem to find the KBB site on Google, and I never thought to try KBB.com . Yeah, that's what I figured most dealers would do, I know that I won't settle for about 1k more than what I owe on my loan, to have a little to put on a down payment.

Actually, I did some research on that, and the Cav had the same front end and side impact collision rating as the Civic. There is a good possibility that the lady you talked about didn't have her belt on. That makes a huge difference in a crash. Then again, testing in a lab doesn't always equal what happens in the real world. So I will look more into that.

Thanks again for all the suggestions guys, KEEP 'EM COMING!!

 
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How are you paying 500 /month on a civic? I pay 414 a month Canadian for my CL-Type S. I paid $262 /month on my old protege 5. And $275/month on my Civic DX sedan.... 500/month?!?! that's nuts dude.. for a civic yes, that's nuts.

 
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^^^ I know it's alot of cash. Somehow I got screwed by the bank. The payments on the loan were around 460, and I got insurance on the loan. That brought it up to about 500. The insurance was a good idea for about 16 months though, cause where I work, the union was planning on going on strike (still might), and the insurance would pay the interest if I couldn't make payments, for up to a year. But overall, yes, I am bent over a table and taking it like a man. Hence the reason for looking to reduce my debts.

Oh, and when I bought my civic, the dealer was offering 8.9% financing, and the bank had it for 6.75%. Either way, that much interest can't be healthy either. That's another reason for looking at a Cav. 0% financing!!

 
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you didnt quote my saying...

grrr



and i told you congrats!

biatch!

 
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LOL! Sorry man.

There, feel better now.
And thanks.

 
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if there are swirl marks in the paint it could have been wrecked and repainted. Check Carfax.

 
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I think you misunderstood. My civic has the swirl marks. If I put some elbow grease in it, and use some polish, I can get rid of most of it. And I know that my car has never been wrecked. The car I'm looking at is brand new, so there better not be swirl marks.

But if I was looking into a used car, carfax wouldn't be a bad idea. Thx man.

 
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Good luck with your purchase. The Ecotec is a great and powerful engine with lots of aftermarket support. The body of the Cavalier hasn't change since 1995; the suspensions and other component have. Overall the car is not as bad as people on this site want you to believe. I personally would not choose the Cavalier as a family car, I would have looked into a Malibu. If you get the Z24 then this site will be very helpful. J-Body

 
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Ahh, 500 for car payment + insurance. Ok THAT's not so bad then, right now i'm paying $239 /mos for insurance (that's with 40% discount from ICBC) and $414 for the Cl-s.. so.. arg.g. that's $653/mos to drive it off the lot... hehe.. ooooh i'm bad.

 
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congrats on the baby...but doesn't the z24 have bad side impact crash test results? if it does...maybe u should try to reconsider...remember...family come first...^^;;

 
Rep Power: 316

I was thinking the same thing. Cavaliers have horrible crash test results. It'd be better to get an older, larger vehicle, like an Accord if you're concerned about safety.

I talked my niece out of getting a cavalier for this reason. But then she got a Neon instead.
Here's the proof.

 
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what about something like a Lumina or an Accord LX, you could get a nice deal on an accord LX sedan and get soem good financing and payments.

 
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Get a Used Prizm....instead of a cavilier. Prizm is made by toyota.....I love my Prizm

 
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Dealers will rob you yes. But civics do not depreciate like mad. They have a great resale value. In fact, I bought a new civic, because every used 7th gen I looked at under 30,000 miles cost a $1000 less then, or even more than a new civic would cost. In philadelphia there were 2001's last year with 20,000 on them being sold for $16,000, and I got mine for $15,000 out the door. You shouldn't base what a dealer would give you on how well the resale value of your civic is. There is no comparison. Dealers will always try to leave you empty handed. Always sell privately.