Older cars are in high demand during this pandemic. Car dealerships are searching for older cars. How do you determine the value
of your car? This guide has lots of tips for you!
A 2021 Guide on Figuring Out Your Car’s Worth
By Cheryl Conner
Selling your car can be a tricky process, especially when you’re doing it independently. You are always going to have potential buyers who have been dealing with car sales for a lot longer than you and will try to use that to their advantage.
You do need to learn some negotiation skills if you want to get a fair deal, and in order for you to be able to negotiate effectively, you need to have a very clear and substantiated idea of how much your car is worth.
If you don’t understand what the essential factors are in regards to a car valuation, then a more experienced buyer will use that to their advantage. The worth of your car now in 2021, will be different, for better or worse, to what it was five years ago, or even just one year ago.
And that applies even if it’s a car that you haven’t used that much. You need to know how to clarify worth from the perspective of the current market as well as the individual circumstances of your vehicle.
If you do that, you can be the one with the advantage when negotiating with buyers. Here’s a guide to figuring out your car’s worth in 2021:
Assess the Condition
The biggest factor is going to be what shape the car is in. And the first thing to look at here is the mileage. The more mileage a car has, the lower the worth because there is just going to be more wear-and-tear.
For a car that has gone through five years of ownership, you’re looking at an average of about 40-60k miles and anything beyond that would be considered high mileage. It will be a big difference in the price, usually a few thousand dollars so make sure you check this.
If there are any dents, scratches, or mechanical issues they need to be considered too, and if there is anything you can get fixed before trying to sell I would suggest that you do so. Damage like that is very obvious and will massively deter buyers when they’re looking the car over.
And also do consider the car’s age too. Mileage is more relevant, but even if it’s five to ten years old and doesn’t have that much mileage on it, a buyer will be thinking about age so you should too.
Consider the History
The history of the car is very important too, especially as it pertains to how many different owners it has had. In general, the value will decrease a little bit with every past owner so you need to have an idea of how many there have been.
Even if the car seems in good shape, you just can’t really know how well a past owner took care of it and what negative effects their ownership had on the longevity so your value assessment needs to count for that.
There’s also insurance and service history to think about because if you can display that you prioritized these things it will be proof that you were serious about taking care of the vehicle. Cars should be serviced every 12k miles so have documents indicating these services.
Different drivers necessitate different insurance too, so for example if there was a teenager driving a car while it was under your ownership then be sure to have evidence that you had the relevant insurance for that.
Research the Market
So as was mentioned before, it’s not just the car itself that you need to think about, but also the market. The make and model you have may have been worth a lot more when you bought it than it is now.
If you have an older version of a model that has since been updated, the likelihood is that your car will have decreased significantly in value. The stock and the reputation of car brands tend to fluctuate too and you can research current trends online.
There are also technological advancements to think about, and even if your car was at the peak of technology when it was first released, things could have changed dramatically. The economy always has an effect too and that changes from year to year.
Also, consider the local market. In L.A for example, you are going to find it a lot easier to sell a convertible than you will in a place that doesn’t have warm weather all year round.
Seek More Opinions
Despite the fact that the best assessment of your car is going to be done by you because you know the history and you’re the one who has been driving it so you know how it runs and how it feels to drive, second opinions are always worth it.
There are things that you may have missed, or maybe didn’t even consider, a professional service would have a good eye for your potential blind spots. There are numerous reputable websites that offer car valuations including KBB and Edmunds so check those out.
So there is a lot that you need to research and analyze, but if you put in the time and effort to familiarise yourself with all of these different factors, then you should be able to enter into negotiations with confidence.
Cheryl Connor
Bio for Cheryl Connor:
Cheryl has been working as an auto insurance broker for 5 full years, before deciding to ‘change lanes’ and become a part-time consultant and a full-time mom. When she isn’t enjoying green tea, she usually reads a lot of history, and then some.
LA-Story.com would like to thank Cheryl Connor for her interesting and insightful article about how to determine the value of your car.
Stevie Wilson
LA-Story.com
Want to leave a comment or ask a question? Please send an email to stevie.wilson@LA-Story.com
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