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You mentioned the colour of the car, Valve Bounce. Frighteningly enough, it really can make a difference to the value of the car whether it's in a popular colour or not.
Beige has to be the worst, followed by bright yellow and for some reason navy blue. Red cars will always sell well.
I agree with Panorama's analysis. Move the car privately, so that you can march into your chosen dealer's premises with a wad of cash - especially on a Friday afternoon when he's desperate to pay the staff. If he has to take in your car as a part-ex, not only is he going to have to take a cut of it, he's also got the added workload of trying to sell it on through the trade, or if it's really one he wants for his own used stock, he'll still have to pay the kid who does the valeting to get the car ready for the forecourt.
(I've never been a salesman, but I have worked in dealerships!)
Just occasionally, something comes along to buck the trend. I once saw a dealer virtually snatch the keys out of someone's hand in his eagerness to do a deal. The punter was keen on a new Rover 820i, and was offering a 1984 Saab 900 16S in part-ex. What the customer didn't know was that Rover were about to change the shape for the next model-year and the dealer was desperate to shift his old stock any way he could and that the dealer had a favourite customer who had set his heart on that rarest of cars, a Saab 900 16S !
The Saab had been quoted at various prices by all the other dealers in town, all befitting a 7-year old turbo car (the trade really don't like 'em), and the customer had low expectations of what his cherished, immaculate car might achieve. Forty minutes later, punter walked out of the door with the keys to a lovely new Rover at a price he couldn't believe, and my salesman friend was already on the phone to his other client offering an immaculate, rare and warranted Saab at more than twice what he'd just allowed on trade-in.
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