[Maxmil]

I have believed for a long time that one is nearly always better off to sell one's old cars privately. Find a good corner and get permission to park the car there with a sign on it; Try local newspapers with classified ads; Put the word out where you work and play, there are a million ways to advertise cheaply.

The only time I ever traded was when a dealer practically wouldn't let go of me after he saw me drive my seven months old, very low mileage Pontiac 6000 station wagon into his Pontiac/Jeep dealership. We had just bought a place on a hill in the country at the top of a quarter mile drive, and I wanted a 4WD vehicle for the New England Winters. I had taken the wagon as my "company car" when I worked for a major parts supplier in Detroit, and then bought it at a more than fair price from the leasing company when I quit my job. The dealer kept raising his tradein offer until he was about 10% over Blue Book Retail, and he showed me his invoice for the new Cherokee. After checking independantly, I found he was selling it for $150 over his real cost and had no alternative but to accept.

He told me after the closing that a twenty year customer of his had come in and wanted, for delivery yesterday, exactly the vehicle I had - including the color - and that there was not another in inventory - new or used - anywhere in the northeast at that moment.