How To Trade in a Car That's Not Paid Off

We do our best to ensure our selection of new and pre-owned vehicles is diverse to make it easy for you to find the right vehicle for your Westport lifestyle. After you’ve found the perfect vehicle, you’ll want to work with our team to learn about our trade-in process.

But, is it possible to trade in your vehicle if it’s not paid off? Trade in a car you owe money on is possible but there are some nuances you’ll want to consider before you make your way from Norwalk to our dealership. Learn how to trade in a car that is not paid off today with the finance experts from Mercedes-Benz of Fairfield!

How To Sell a Car With a Loan – Understanding Equity

Before we go over how to sell a car with a loan, it’s important that you understand how equity works. Equity is essentially the difference between your vehicle and the amount of money you owe left on your auto loan. You can often find how much equity you have by utilizing a trade-in tool to determine your vehicle’s worth and get your loan amount.

The difference between those two numbers can let you know how much equity you have. Fortunately, we can assist with trading in a car you owe money on– regardless of how much equity you have. If you’re trading in a car that’s not paid off, here are the two kinds of equity you may have:

• Positive Equity: Your vehicle is worth more than the amount of money you owe on your auto loan.
• Negative Equity: Your vehicle is worth less than the amount of money you owe on your auto loan.

How To Sell a Car With a Loan – The Process

Typically, trading in a car that’s not paid off isn’t much different from trading in a vehicle that is paid off. The only difference that may be confusing is how your equity works. Fortunately, most dealerships like ours can help you with trading in a car you owe money on. Without further ado, here’s how to trade in a car that’s not paid off:

1. Start the trade-in process and provide us with your information and some details about your vehicle.
2. Schedule a time to come into our dealership for a trade-in evaluation. We’ll go over your vehicle’s features and other factors to determine your vehicle’s worth.
3. We’ll provide you with a trade-in value and work with you to get your vehicle’s loan information.
4. Once we know how much you owe, we can determine if you have negative or positive equity.
5. If you have positive equity, we’ll simply roll over that amount into your new vehicle loan, and it can almost act as if you’re putting a down payment on your new vehicle loan. On the other hand, we can also roll over negative equity in most situations. This negative equity will increase the amount of money you’re borrowing on your new auto loan, which could result in a higher monthly payment. You can also opt to pay off your negative equity and simply start over with a new loan on your new vehicle.
6. We’ll assist you with completing the paperwork, and you can be on your way.

Trading in a Car That Is Not Paid Off Is Simple With Mercedes-Benz of Fairfield

No matter your equity situation, our team of professionals is here to assist. We’ve helped vehicle owners from Weston and beyond— and we’re ready to help you, too. Visit us in Fairfield or reach out to us online today to get the trade-in process started!