I still owe $6k on my car. It has 94k miles on it though. It's a 2007 Mazda 3, I've had it for 5 years. I'm just approaching a point with this car that I know I'm going to have to start fixing things soon, and I can't afford constant repairs.

I'm seriously considering trying to trade it in somewhere or sell it to a dealership and get another car and have them pay off the rest of my loan on this car. I looked it up on kelly blue book, it's currently worth like exactly what I owe on it and I've even done a "instant offer" thing in which I received an offer from a dealership to buy my car for like $5800.

Is that a bad idea? I'm working through some credit issues from me being reckless in college, so my score is like 600. Which is know isn't great. My credit was shittier (it was like 400) when I bought the car, which is why I still owe $6k after 5 fucking years.

that doesn't sound like a bad deal to me.

attn: user skot667

I was going to text him and then I realized I lost his number when my phone crapped out on me last month.

Does anyone know of any dealerships that would do this and not fuck me over?

Also, is it better to do the instant offer and then start from scratch with a new car, or just try to get them to pay it off for me?

i'd be cautious of what a dealer quotes initially for trade in value vs. what they might actually end up giving you.

what do you think will need to be repaired in the not too distant future? i've mostly heard positive things about mazda3's reliability. maybe i overestimate japanese cars lifespans but i'd assume you could get a lot more miles out of it.

and what kind of car are you trying to replace this one with?

Originally posted by: Yodel Toast

Does anyone know of any dealerships that would do this and not fuck me over?

Also, is it better to do the instant offer and then start from scratch with a new car, or just try to get them to pay it off for me?

What kind of car are you looking for? If VW, I could put you in contact with a friend of mine.

I did this with my VW Jetta years ago because they're the worst cars ever and I was constantly having to get it fixed, but it was still worth more than I owed.

I've never owned a car. Someday I hope to, though.

If it's not time sensitive, I would sell it privately. Generally, you will make more money.

If you are set on a dealership, keep in mind that trade in values are ALWAYS negotiable. If you don't like to negotiate, take someone who does.

Originally posted by: Ron Shark

I did this with my VW Jetta years ago because they're the worst cars ever and I was constantly having to get it fixed, but it was still worth more than I owed.

terrible cars.

I'm not sure what type of car I'd want, just something practical that will have good gas mileage, a good warranty and payments that are the same as I pay now ($380 a month) or cheaper.

I was thinking maybe a Hyundai or another Mazda. I absolutely looove my car now, but I'm just kind of sick of it. I smoked in it for 5 years and now that I quit I kind of hate driving around in it.
I put that the car was smoked in when I put the info into the blue book value thingy because I wanted the price to be it's realistic worth. I wouldn't take a penny less than the KBB value for it. And the buy it coupon from the dealership guaranteed me that price of $5800 so I would take that to where I'd go and kind of put my foot down on the value of it if they tried to tell me any different.

A girlfriend of mine told me I should try to go to Conicelli because they helped her do what I'm trying to do. (But, she owed like $20k on her car loan). Has anyone ever been there?