Trading in/negotiating for a new car

[jason_t]

I'm buying a new 2006 Honda Civic possibly as early as tomorrow morning. I'll be trading in a 2004 Honda Civic that is in excellent condition and paying the difference in cash. I know absolutely nothing about how to negotiate to maximize the value on my trade-in and minimize the price of the new car.

I haven't even learned the art of negotiation through experience. When I bought my current car I walked into the dealership, pointed at a car, said I wanted it, looked at the sticker price of $16360, offered $14500, he countered with $14800 and I accepted. I know that car negotiations are not supposed to be this easy and I don't know why it was for me; the only thing I can think is that I bought it on the evening of April 15, 2004 and maybe the dealerships don't get much traffic that day.

I don't expect to get much below MSRP here being that the car was just released last Friday. But I have been told that dealers have something called a "holdback" and that can be used to get a lower price on the car. What is that, how do I find how much it is and how do you bring that up with the dealer?

I'm looking for any other tips/suggestions/etc. that you might have.

Thanks.