According to KBB I should expect $13.5k for my car. That is in good condition, which my car falls into. Although it migt be a little naive of me to think I will get that from the dealer, that will allow me to put $3.5k down on the new car, which is more than 20% of the total cost of the car (which is a good thing).

Things are looking promising, even if I am being a bit naive. My boyfriend and I talked to the rep and voiced our concerns. I feel confident we may get what we are both looking for on reasonable terms...but we will have to see.

 

Good luck, at least you're doing your research and number crunching ahead of time. Check with your local credit unions and banks, a lot of time they'll give you breaks for having direct deposit with them and for doing 10% LTV or 20% LTV.
For example, my credit union has 6.99% but I got .5% off for having direct deposit with them, I would have gotten an additional 1/4% off for 10% down and an additional 1/4% off that if 20% down. As it stands I'm doing 6.49% which isn't bad at all. I also checked on bankrate.com to get a good idea of rates.
Hope this helps.