Well, at the same time you got tax savings on the new car. Not too sure if that is how it works in Cali. But, you pay taxes on the amount after the trade. So, if the car was $20,000 and your trade was $10,000 you only paid taxes on $10,000. So, you actually got more than $18,500 on your trade. That was one reason I traded in my car instead to selling it on my own. I would have gotten the same amount and it wans't worth the hassel.