Okay,
I made the wrong choice of buying the IS250 after finding out that I needed a bigger car. Right now the car is about 40K miles. How do I switch to an SUV without losing too much money ? Please advise. Thanks

 

There's no secret. Your car is worth what it's worth to a dealer vs. what you owe. You'll likely be upside down a few thousand at least. Just gotta eat it and learn a life lesson from it.

Agree the Lexus IS is already a small car. basically no bigger than a Civic (possibly even smaller inside).

 

Is it better to trade in now or wait until the car is paid off and sell ?

 

Do you have the option of waiting? If so, just wait it out. Sounds like you don't need a bigger car right now.

On the other hand, did you get it from a dealer or a private party? You could try selling it to a private party to recoup a bit more of your money. But, if you took out a loan it'll be hard to pay off right now if you just took the loan out recently.

 

My friend's friend who's a finance manager at Lexus in Norcal somewhere said 2018 RX's are being sold off $6K-$7K below MSRP at the moment.

 

You're better off selling private party than trading in. The dealers take a cut for doing the selling for you (since its easier/quicker).
Also, the longer you wait, the more the car depreciates, so the sooner you sell/trade it in the less money you'll lose.

You can also try to find someone to trade (maybe an SUV forum or Craigslist). This will require some luck, but could work out since it cuts out the middle men.