Many car dealerships claim to offer top dollar for your trade-in when you're ready to upgrade, but the exact terms of a trade-in can be a bit confusing. For instance, when you're ready to buy a new car, you may wonder if you can trade in your older one even though you still have a running loan balance. Trading in a Car When you trade in a car you give the car dealer the vehicle in exchange for a quoted value that the dealership deducts from your new car purchase. The amount that a dealer offers is commonly less than what the car is worth...