i have a 2000 honda prelude and want a 2003 or a 2004 honda s2000.

i have about 7,000 worth of payments left on my lude, i was wondering what kind of deal i could strike with honda to excahge the lude for a s?

would it be better to pay the lude off then get the s? or would it be better to change it now?

cause as i look at it, either way is equal.


and also my lude has about 23,000 miles on it and full oem bodkit with spolier and leather and is it pristine condition. since the s is about 32,000 i was thinking of getting the s for really cheap for my exchange.

maybe about 400 bucks a month for 3 years?

thanks.......

 

I think you need to get a reply from two different kinds of people on this question. First, you need info from a loan arranger and second, you need info from a used car manager. Failing that, you should go see these people.
Your banker will be able to tell you whether or not you can easily transfer your current loan to a new one where you'll have to tack on some extra principle to finance this deal (unless you're prepared to kick in some cash). Typically, this is what needs to happen. You must retire the existing loan once the car is sold (either privately or traded to a dealer) and when the new car purchased. The new loan then gets placed on the new car.
Then you need to find out what your car is worth on a trade. It doesn't really matter what they give you on your old car or what they'll sell you the new one for. You only need to worry about the difference. The other route to go is to do the best deal possible on the new car and THEN get an appraisal on the old one. You can be sure that you'll get wholesale on the old one. You'll get wholesale in either case but when you talk "difference", they can "doctor" the numbers to make you feel like you got more money for your old car. If you want to "feel" better about it, then do it that way. It really doesn't matter. They won't give you more money for your old car than what it's worth to them and they won't sell you the new car for less than what their accounting will allow.
The best case scenario is to sell the car privately and retire the loan at that time; shop around for the best loan interest deal and get that "pre-approved"; do the best deal you can on the new car.
Based on what you've already said, you have 7 grand left on the old car. You want to keep the payments down to about 400/month for 36 months. This will be a loan for about $13,000.00 (give or take), which leaves you about 6 grand + your Prelude to buy a $32K S2000. So, do you think your Prelude is worth $26K. (black book)? If yes, you're good to go + whatever tax difference there may be. If no, then keep saving. Typically, the first 3 years of a new car is its worst depreciation so if you wait, can you save more than what the next year's depreciation will be?
I'm in Canada so I don't have any idea what your 'lude is worth.