<prompt> Human: Because of a death in the family, I am being given a recent Cadillac SUV specifically, given sold for 1. Family is on excellent terms and completely trustworthy, so no fraud worries, just a history of generosity. They just dont need the car anymore and are concerned about what I am driving. Goes without saying Id rather have the family member back, but here we are. I am in a 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid. Its in rough shape, easily 130k miles with lots of dings on the exterior and wear-and-tear on the interior. The hybrid battery has died, making it really just a basic Accord this is typical after about 10 years in that model so I have been told its trade-in value is around 1,000. I imagine this may be low for what is still essentially a working Accord, but I didnt pursue the issue at the time, just told them Id keep driving it. I dont intend to keep the Cadillac which is impractical for me on many levels, but my familys intention in the gift is to improve what I am driving, though, so I will likely use it and my current car to acquire a better set of wheels with hopefully a decent bit of cash leftover to pay down some existing credit card debt. Question 1: Is it better to sell the Cadillac for cash, or use as a trade in? Which route is likely to get a better price from the dealership? The original dealership is in a small town with a long relationship with my family and might buy it back at a reasonable price, while I live in a city with more options I could shop around. I do prefer to deal with a dealership as I dont want to get involved in private party sale.Question 2: Should I try to get a small loan on the new car to help build up some credit? My score is 648 from Credit Karma, with no black marks and current on home loan, but too much credit card debt and too few closed accounts overall. I dont want to take on car payments, but if I could get cash from the trade-in or sale, I thought I could agree to the loan on the new vehicle then pay it off immediately to improve credit. I suspect paying down the credit card will help more, however. Edit: Nobody really thinks this part is smart. Ill skip the loan idea, thanks.For the replacement vehicle, Im leaning toward either 2015 or 2018 Honda Accord Hybrid. I loved my current car and didnt intend to replace it until it died, so I will most likely just update it. 2015 generally got better reviews, but the 2018 is significantly redesigned, so Ill probably have to decide that when I test them. Ive never wanted a new car because of depreciation, so Id be more interested in the 2018 if I can find a program car driven by the dealer for a few thousand miles. I assume a recent model Cadillac SUV I wont know which exact one until tomorrow will be worth more than either. I will shop around on the replacement car, but thats not really the crux of my question here. I know the best idea would be to sell the Cadillac and use all the proceeds to pay down credit card debt, but the intent of the gift is to improve my deiving situation and I want to honor that. Seeking any advice on general best practices for this kind of transaction. Thanks in advance. Ps. Hope this is OK to post. I read through the Auto and Windfall sections of the wiki, as well as some recent posts with Auto flairs, and didnt see anything too similar.  <response>: sell the caddliac private party and go buy the honda...dont pay interest to build credit. Get a CC if you want to do that. 