Can i afford a Nice New SUV From a Dealership?

Ok I'm currently in an '03 Ford explorer that I obtained threw a small town dealership the February before last. My question here is can I take it to a nice Chevy or Ford dealership and actually leave with a good deal being that I only owe 3,000 on it? I'm 26 yrs old my credit should be moderately higher since I've been paying my truck note early & on time never late, along with my bank loan, hospital bills ect. The explorer has quite a bit of miles on it 137k to be exact. This would be my 1st time going to a big dealership so I dnt wanna get conned. I want either a 2012-13-14 Chevy trailblazer SS, traverse, Tahoe, Dodge Durango, or another Ford explorer not sure what yr. Give me the steps like your talking to a kindergartner i'm new at this!

They might take your trade-in plus some cash as a down payment and finance the rest

I recommend you add the Ford Escape to your list. It's a pretty good vehicle, and it gets decent mileage for something that size. We're getting about 25 mpg with our current one. It's 2WD, though, so if you want AWD, you'll get something a bit less than that. This is our 2nd Escape, so we're pretty sold on them.

As to your current Explorer - it depends on what condition it's in. Go to the Kelly Blue Book site - kbb.com - and plug in the year, make, model, options, condition, etc. You'll get a decent estimate of what it's worth, both for tradein and for selling privately.

If you're nervous about buying a car from a dealership, consider using a buying agency. These are businesses that will negotiate with a dealership for you to arrange a better deal than what you might get for yourself - for a fee, of course. Do a search for them, and you'll find plenty of them around, I'm sure.

You OWE $3,000 on an 11, almost 12 year old vehicle? Smh

You have no business looking at new vehicles. Pay off the one you have and keep driving it. Once you pay it off keep making the payments, to yourself. Put them in savings. Once you've saved $4,000 go out and buy a $4,000 car. Continue putting money back. You will be able to sell your cars for at least what you paid if you take good care of them, keep them clean and waxed.

There's no reason to be in debt for a car.

Ask you credit union for a loan. Never get financing at a dealership.