OP, you are approaching this correctly. Some of the other posts are plain dumb. It is always better to finance the least amount you can.

Everything is negotiable with the dealer, so having alternatives is always a good thing. Once you have an agreed upon price for the new car, see if the dealer can match your trade-in value. If they can't, you tell the dealer that you will be back in a few hours to go sale your car to the other option. You may need a ride (friend or Uber). Dealers know that people may not always agree to do a trade-in with them (and they often undercut what you can get elsewhere). Your agreement with the dealership is still valid until you have the rest of the funds from your trade-in.

So how did this work - did CarMax give you a cashiers check or wire the funds to the dealership?

Anonymous wrote:Go to carmax, get a quote, ask dealer if they can beat it. If they can't then sell to Carmax. Take the proceeds from the Carmax sale and apply it to your loan.

This. We had a situation where we took an uber from the carmax to the dealer to finalize the sale using the Carmax proceeds for part of the downpayment. I would also be positive that the dealer can't beat the credit union. The credit union has to make money on the loan, manufacturers can take a loss on loans to juice sales. Here's a sample of current 0% apr offerings https://www.carfax.com/blog/0-apr-car-deals

Go to carmax, get a quote, ask dealer if they can beat it. If they can't then sell to Carmax. Take the proceeds from the Carmax sale and apply it to your loan.

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean? Take a loan for the full amount and then pay it down with my cash and the money I get from selling my current car? Does that lower the monthly payment or just reduce the length of the? Can one recast a car loan like a mortgage? Or refi?

No, you cannot recast a car loan. What do you think you should do?

What do you mean? Take a loan for the full amount and then pay it down with my cash and the money I get from selling my current car? Does that lower the monthly payment or just reduce the length of the? Can one recast a car loan like a mortgage? Or refi?

Just pay a lump sum for the loan once you get the money.

if you want to buy first get a bridge loan or something like a 401k loan and then pay it back when you sell the car.

I’m buying a new vehicle and for the first time will need to finance part of it, so I’m new to the car financing game. I’d like to finance 50% and pay for the remainder with cash and proceeds from selling my current car. I’ve been been pre-approved by my credit union for an amount well above the price of the vehicle, and the APR is much better than what the specials that the manufacturer is offering, so I don’t think that I’ll do dealer financing.

What I don’t know is the logistics of how to pay the dealer once I’m done negotiating a price. When do I do what? I know that I’ll need to finalize my loan for the amount that needs to be paid to the dealer, and I’ll need to write a check or wire the cash that I will put down. But how do I handle selling my current car when I’m not sure if I’ll sell it to the dealer or elsewhere? I’m getting quotes for it and plan to see if the dealer will beat those, but if they can’t then I’ll need to sell it first - and then wait for that payment before closing? Tell me the best way to handle this!