I have a 2009 Malibu LS with 9,700 miles. Vehicle is in like new condition. (No pets/smoking/spills/crashes.)

GM just sent me an offer to "bump up" my GM card earnings from $180 to $2,000.

It got me thinking... can I get a free Malibu out of this?

Let's say I find a similar 2010 LS at a dealer. Let's say I offered him $2,000 and my Malibu for a brand new 2010. Do you think he'd take it? If he did, I would use the rebate to take care of the $2,000 and have a new car.

I'd even be willing to throw in $1,000 (ie, dealer will get my Malibu plus $3,000 -- $1,000 from me and $2,000 from GM card.)

Am I thinking crazy? Maybe they'd want $5,000 or $6,000 difference in which case I'd never do it. But that would mean my old 'Bu depreciated $.50 per mile which I doubt it has.

Why do this at all? Well, a brand new car has a new warranty, new onstar, new tires, etc etc. So I'd prefer a brand new one if the GM card is going to subsidize it.

Also keep in mind that I live in Washington state where sales tax is calculated only on the difference between purchase price and trade. In a state like CA where you pay tax on the whole thing this deal makes no sense at all.

Please let me know your thoughts!!

You need to look at what you owe/versus what there willing to give on trade.. Really only way to know. I got several trade in quotes from chevy dealers for my LTZ and couldnt get over 17K from any of them. I simply just walked out. They have discounted the malibus and red tagged and employee discounted them to death and now they are not worth anything.

If you could offset ALL of the interest you paid out over the last year on the 09 and you can offset both the taxes you initialy paid and the difference Tax for the new car I would say yes. If you can not do this stick with what you have, all you are doing is dragging your payments out further by trading at this point. Just think you have one less year to pay on the 09... Sorry, I seem to be getting more conservative in this area. Gone are days of me having a new car/truck every year.

Just to clarify -- I do not owe any money on my 2009. Title in hand.

Even so -- dragon and hopper make good points. My money *could be* doing other things rather than sitting in a depreciating asset.

Can't hurt to ask, but it SEEMS to good to be true.

Congrats on having title in hand... Should have mine in a couple months... All the more reason to stick with what you have.

Congrats on having title in hand... Should have mine in a couple months... All the more reason to stick with what you have.

Having a paid off car is great. Mine will be done in 9 months. Then I plan on adding another Vette to the garage to park next to the Camaro.:D

Having a paid off car is great. Mine will be done in 9 months. Then I plan on adding another Vette to the garage to park next to the Camaro.:D

!!!!NICE!!!!

Can't hurt to ask, but it SEEMS to good to be true.

I agree. DOes seem too good to be true. I have a feeling the dealer will say: new Malibu is $22k. your trade is worth $15k. So difference is $7k. Meaning depreciation is almost a dollar a mile on my 2009...

If you have title in hand.. No way I would trade just keep it... :D I wish mine was paid for hehe

IF THEY EXCEPT IT........ Let's say it works and they take your car, and your $1000 then that would mean that your total depreciation expense would be less than ten cents per mile. THAT WOULD BE AWESOME. I say that because since I paid $24K for my LTZ after the GM Card top off I would have to drive my car 240,000 miles with no repair costs to get my depreciation down to that level (figure assume that the car is worth nothing at 240,000 miles, probably the truth). Also I don't know how the sales tax works in your area, but I can tell you that here in NY you would pay sales tax on the final price of the new car less the value of the trade-in. In this case you would pay tax on $3,000.

So if they except it, go for it. Its a good deal.

Dont forget that you get $1k GM loyalty as well. :D:D

IF THEY EXCEPT IT........ Let's say it works and they take your car, and your $1000 then that would mean that your total depreciation expense would be less than ten cents per mile. THAT WOULD BE AWESOME. I say that because since I paid $24K for my LTZ after the GM Card top off I would have to drive my car 240,000 miles with no repair costs to get my depreciation down to that level (figure assume that the car is worth nothing at 240,000 miles, probably the truth). Also I don't know how the sales tax works in your area, but I can tell you that here in NY you would pay sales tax on the final price of the new car less the value of the trade-in. In this case you would pay tax on $3,000.

So if they except it, go for it. Its a good deal.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. If I could get a new 'Bu for $1,000 out of pocket it'd be amazing. I ran the "trade in" report on my 2009, though, and it came back at $13.9k. So the first year depreciation is pretty brutal. So I'd be looking at about $6k to upgrade -- $2k from GM card and $4k from my pocket. No longer a good deal...

... I ran the "trade in" report on my 2009, though, and it came back at $13.9k. So the first year depreciation is pretty brutal.......

Speedster, can you provide a link to the trade in report? I've had mine a year. I don't want to trade in or up at this point, but I'd like to know where I stand. Thanks in advance!

Dont forget your $1k loyalty and $500 for 60 day refusal!

You can get trade in values at edmunds.com, kbb.com or nada.com