It’s probable that if you’re a car owner, at some point you will decide to sell your vehicle. You might use the money to purchase a newer model. Maybe you’ll go with a brand-new car if you can afford it. You can always lease one if you don’t feel like buying it.
At Axio Automotive, you can find new vehicles that should be ideal, regardless of your lifestyle. Before contacting them, though, you will probably want to determine how much your current car is worth.
Figuring out a car’s value isn’t as challenging as you might imagine. Here’s how to do it.
Understand the Terms Commonly Used in Car Valuation
First, you’ll need to understand the terms commonly used when it comes to the major car-selling websites that dominate this space. If you don’t understand what is meant by some of these terms, you’ll likely feel lost as you do your research.
You might be able to refer to your car as certified pre-owned. In order for that to happen, though, it must meet specific conditions. You must not have owned it for too long, and it must still be in excellent condition.
If you’re able to get the car’s manufacturer to identify it as certified pre-owned, then it will be worth more than it would be if it was used. In order to do that, you will likely need to contact the dealership where you got it so that they can look it over and declare whether it meets all of the stringent qualifications.
The term “manufacturer’s suggested retail price” might also come into play. This refers to a car’s starting point for negotiating with a potential buyer. This is the price point that the maker of the car suggests to the dealer.
It’s great if you can get the manufacturer’s suggested retail price from a buyer. However, that’s not usually going to happen because of depreciation. This is the term for normal wear and tear on a car if you have owned it for a while.
The invoice price is another term you should know about. This means the price that a dealer paid for a new car. If you can get as close to the invoice price as possible when you’re selling it, then you know you’re getting close to maximum value.
There’s one additional term you should know about when selling a car, and that’s the fair purchase price. This means a price that is based on what similar cars to yours have sold for in the current market in your area.
You might not like to hear this as someone who’s selling a car, but sometimes, you might not be able to get as much money for a particular vehicle because there is an overabundance of vehicles like yours flooding the local market at the moment. Disadvantageous market conditions can sometimes get in the way of you getting top dollar for your vehicle, through no fault of your own.
Gather Information About Your Vehicle
The next step after familiarizing yourself with these terms will be to gather as much information about your make and model of car as you can get. The VIN, or vehicle identification number, is your ticket to getting this information. It doesn’t just identify the make and model. It also pinpoints the precise manufacturer of the car down to the factory from which it came.
You can find the car’s VIN on the dashboard on the driver’s side. It is also on the driver’s side door. Once you have it, you can enter it into a site like Kelley Blue Book or Edmunds. These are trusted car sources that have been in existence for a long time.
The trim level, make, model, and year are the main points you need to know when you’re attempting to determine your car’s approximate value. You will also want to look at any additional features and even the color. Some car colors are more in demand than others.
The condition and mileage will also be relevant. You will need to take all of that into account as you get closer to putting the car up for sale.
Get Estimates from Multiple Sources
Just like you want to get several quotes from contractors before you get any work done on your house, you also want to get quotes from several of the more prominent car valuation sites. We mentioned KBB and Edmunds. You will certainly want to start with those and write them down.
Edmunds is particularly useful because they can give you a number that they call a car’s True Market Value. Remember that this is an estimate that is geared toward a trade-in price, though. If you are selling to a private individual rather than to a used car lot, you may be able to get more if you play your cards right.
After that, you can move on to JD Power. This is an entity with one of the more comprehensive car valuation systems in the business today.
Once you have estimates from these three entities, you can compare them to see how close they are to each other. They should all be in the same ballpark. Now, you have a general idea of what your used car is worth.
What’s the Next Move?
While these steps will be relatively simple for most car owners, what you should do next might be a little trickier. Maybe you only wanted the valuation, and you’re not quite ready to sell.
If so, you now have an idea of what your car is worth at the moment. You will need to recalculate when the time comes that you’re ready to get rid of it, though, since a vehicle’s value is always in flux.
If you’re ready to sell, you must decide whether you want to utilize a used car lot or find an alternative. While used car lots are virtually guaranteed to take your vehicle, they probably won’t offer as much as a private buyer will.