.. yea, i just started in retail a few years ago and it has been a neat process.

just remember, dealers buy at wholesale and sell for retail. they inflate your trade allowance by adding the "discount" off list to it. they need to, so that the lenders will write it.

i looked up my 06' STi... wholesale is only $24,500 on it. i was OTD at around $34,000 18 months ago. goes to show you how fast you can get below water if you don't pay extra on the payments or put some money down. don't ever trade up-side-down or you will be tanked for a long time.