ALT-1 Should you Trade your Car in or Sell it yourself
The value of your vehicle if you are considering selling it on your own, or trading it in depends on you and your efforts to obtain the maximum dollar possible.
Regardless if you are selling your vehicle on your own, or you are planning to sell it yourself, a little bit of extra time and dollar investment will go a long way to giving you an opportunity to maximize what a dealer will offer you, or an interested private party.
The myth of this process if you are going to the dealership, is that they use tricks and tactics when it comes time to offer you a figure for your car. Again it is a complete falsehood. In todays market conditions dealerships are stretching as far as they can on any customers trade in just to make a deal. With new vehicle sales in the tank, dealerships are not in a position to lose a deal because of the trade. Another point in todays market that trade ins are few and far between. People are keeping their cars, or passing them down to a sibling or family member. Quick sales can be to neighbors or fellow workmates at their place of employment, or selling their vehicles themselves in the open market.
But not all vehicles have value, despite what the Kelly Blue Book value is. Any publication weather it is Kelly, NADA, or Black Book are guides, simply guides to values. These publications are and always have been tools for the financial institutions to determine loan to value. Also the used car market changes daily and seasonal. For example a convertible in the dead of winter may have a 20 to 25 percent downside, in spring and early summer the same vehicle could have a 25 to 30 percent upside because the demand exceeds the supply.
Older vehicles that have seen their day are junk. No matter what a published value may say, junk is junk. Any car or truck that has over 125,000 miles is not worth anything, You can expect $500 to $1000 for vehicles like this. The dealer takes these pieces to the auction and in most cases loses money because of transportation and auction fees. In some cases the people who buy these cars at auction generally ship them to Mexico or other poor nations in the western world.
I have appraised cars for forty years, and very seldom do you get trade ins that we call diamonds. 90 percent of all of the cars that I have looked at are not prepared to give a customer the maximum amount possible, because the dealer has to invest their money to make the car ready for resale. The consumer does not take in to account the cost of vehicle reconditioning, which in most cases averages about $700.00 to $1000.00, if the the vehicle is sound mechanically, does not need paint work, tires, and interior reconditioning.
When you resell a car it cannot have stained seats, stained carpets, bald tires, and not be as near new as possible. Most dealerships offer certified preowned vehicles which go through a lengthy inspection and recondition process and comes with warranty and financing incentives. Prior to trading your car in visit a dealerships used vehicle center, or if there is a CarMax in your town, look at what the professionals do to prepare their cars for resale. You can do the same thing with a little time and money.
When selling or trading in a vehicle the most important items are the tires. First impression upon looking at a vehicle is the condition of the tires. I always suggest replacing the tires with off brands or lesser quality if you need tires, but make sure that you do not change the size of the factory recommended tire size. Have the car professionally detailed. Pay to have the car buffed out and waxed, and the interior steam cleaned. Spending $200.00 here will more then get your return on investment. Replace the cigarette lighter element and the ash tray insert if the vehicle was ever smoked in. The number one turn off to a prospective buyer is cigarette smoke, or knowing that a person smoked in the car. These are nickel and dime replacement items, but will bring you big dollars in return.
Service records are very important. Have a neat file in order so that the prospective buyer can easily see that the car has been properly maintained. If you have a newer car make sure that all of the factory recalls have been done. Any dealership of the brand that they sell can pull the vehicles history by running the vehicle identification number. Remember that recall work does not cost you anything, it is no charge from the manufacturer.
Following my guide when selling your car, CarMax is the best opportunity for top dollar and spot cash. CarMax has a prove in system that is user friendly. They have a demand for vehicles nationwide, so they will pay according to where the demand for a particular vehicle is, and ship it to that location. Also is does not cost you a dime to sell a car to CarMax, unlike Ebay or running an ad in your local newspaper and going through the aggravation of having strangers come to your home or business, plus the time it takes to get your vehicle cleared and transfered through the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Take from an expert who does this everyday, when it came time for me to sell my wife's Lexus RX330, even I could not get the value that CarMax offered me.
Treat you vehicle the same way you would prepare your house for sale. Everything in working order and white glove clean, you will be glad that the extra effort will pay a large return.
