Question: how do you trade a car you owe money on?
Answer: When the amount you owe on the car is less than the trade-in value, the process is pretty straightforward. Say you still owe $5,000 on a car, and a dealer offers you $6,000 for it as a trade-in. The dealer pays off the $5,000 loan for you, which releases the lien. Then, you transfer ownership of the car to the dealer.