Car question, some advice needed.

[AlCzervik]

I'm going to be trading in my car in the next few months and it's been in 2 accidents, both times my husband has been the driver (no he doesn't drive my car anymore), the first time he smashed up the front end but the pick up truck he hit sustained no damage that we could see and the driver didn't want to exchange papers so we ended paying out of pocket to fix my car because after figuring out the rate increase and the point on his license we were better off paying for it ourselves. Ok accident #2, once again he smashed into the back of another car, no one hurt but the car he hit did sustain some damage but the lady was very nice, got 2 estimates and we sent her a check, again avoiding the insurance company and i'm going to get my car repaired again next month paying for that out of pocket as well. The question, if the dealer doesn't ask me am i obligated to tell him about these 2 accidents, does it show up somewhere like on a carfax report? Please and thank you.

[AllegroRondo]

1. If it was never reported through insurance,

Carfax wont know about it.

Legally, if the dealer ASKS about it, you are required to tell him. If he doesnt ask, you are under no obligation to say anything. Not exactly ethical, but if you are going through a dealer and not selling to an individual, I wouldnt worry about it.

how old is the car? If its more than 7-10 years or very high miles, they wont bother re-selling it anyway and will just sell it to a parts dealer. So the accidents wont make much difference.

[AlCzervik]

2. it's 2004 and i agree if i were selling to a person i would disclose that

whether they asked or not.

[liberal hypnotist]

5. I agree.

Be honest. Tell the dealer it was in an accident. You'll be the only one telling the truth. Unless it is a rare dealer and salesperson, you won't get anything for your trade-in. They just manipulate the numbers an confuse you. Big dealers don't want trade-ins. They have so many, they don't know what to do with em. Many times you get a better deal without a trade-in.

Spend more time researching and playing dealer against dealer and you'll save some money.

[AllegroRondo]

6. What I do

I live near a large city with many different dealers, so I can play them against each other.

First, find out exactly what car you want, down to color and all the options. A lot of dearers (Toyota for sure) will even list their stock on their web site, so you can get an idea of what option packages are most common and MSRP. You can then look up the invoice price on Edmunds.com.

Then, email all the dealers in your area. Tell them exactly what you want, and that whoever gives you the best deal by 5PM (or whenever) will get your business. Email only, no phone calls, so you have it in writing. DO NOT tell them you have a trade in. If they ask, tell them you just want their price for the new car.

Once you have the price set for the new car, THEN you can start haggling over the value of your trade in. You can look that up on kelleybluebook.com or Edmunds. A lot of new car dealers will fudge their numbers to make it look like you're getting a great price on the new car, then screw you on trade in value.

[AlCzervik]

7. i did that with the car i have now, easiest car deal i ever made.

[LuLu550]

3. The bigger issue

is getting hubby to stop tailgating. He will always be at fault in a rear-end accindent.

[AlCzervik]

4. agreed, he went to the eye doctors and ended up glasses, his depth perception

sucks and yes he's a tailgater, he doesn't drive unless it's his own car now which is good because when he did drive my car i was always assuming the crash position.

[uncle ray]

8. first, i don't think the dealer will really care

second, how did you figure out the insurance rate increase?

my girlfriend totaled my truck rearending someone, severely damaging 3 other cars in the process, my insurance co nicely told me i had to have her listed on my policy, but rates never changed a bit. you can't really predict the insurance company's reaction.

[AlCzervik]

9. the rate would have gone up because of the point on his license

it would have taken awhile but the rate would increase.