What should be your top concerns when planning to sell your car?
Whether you are selling your vehicle privately or trading it in to a dealership, you should treat it the same way. Think of what you are looking for in a vehicle and what would be important to you if you were buying your vehicle and make sure your vehicle is set up that way.
First it should look good. I have appraised thousands of cars in my career and I will tell you that overall, the cars that were clean and pleasant to be in were worth more than the ones that smelled funny, had stained seats and stale French fries stuck to the seat. A vehicle that is clean inside and out, as well as under the hood will many times fetch $500 or more than the same vehicle that is not clean. Remember, if you want all the money for your vehicle, your vehicle should look like it is worth all the money. Wash and vacuum the inside, clean the glass inside and out, wash and wax the exterior, clean the brake dust from your wheels, dress the tires and steam clean the engine compartment. The $20 worth of materials and the 3 hours of elbow grease will pay dividends every time. (One note: be careful when you clean the engine. If you use too much water, you can fowl the spark plugs and cause the car to run rough as well as have the check engine light come on and this will be more costly to make right.)
Second, make sure the vehicle is current with state inspection and emissions and if you are within the three-month window I would get new badges. When I look at a vehicle that does not have current inspection, or is up for inspection within a month or two, I figure there is a reason for it and I am going to appraise it accordingly. A fresh set of emission and inspection badges are worth several hundred more dollars than a vehicle that is out of inspection or close to it. Plus, if there are other potential issues with how the vehicle runs and the badges are not current it concerns me more and I will be even more conservative with the value of the vehicle.
Third, make sure your vehicle is in as good a running condition as possible. Change the oil and transmission fluid if needed. If the oil or transmission fluid is dark and dirty looking when the appraiser checks it, a red flag goes up as to how well the vehicle has been maintained, regardless of how it runs. If your vehicle engine is running a little noisy, you will want to either use an additive or a slightly thicker oil, 10w 30 over 5w 30, to make it run as quietly as possible. Cleaned and treated transmissions will normally shift better than a dirty one and that is important to who is evaluating the vehicle. Oil and transmission fluid are the two big things that need to be as good as they can, because they are easily checked. Anything that is easy to look at; transmission fluid, oil, serpentine belt and the top of the engine, you want to have standing tall. It will be worth $100s of dollars to you.
The most important thing to do is think of what you would look for when buying a used car and make sure your car is as close to that as possible. You will probably invest $100 to $200 dollars and 3 to 6 hours into making your vehicle stand tall, but is should make your vehicle worth $500 to $800 more as a trade in and $1000 to $1500 more if you are selling it yourself. Well worth your investment. Have a great one.
First it should look good. I have appraised thousands of cars in my career and I will tell you that overall, the cars that were clean and pleasant to be in were worth more than the ones that smelled funny, had stained seats and stale French fries stuck to the seat. A vehicle that is clean inside and out, as well as under the hood will many times fetch $500 or more than the same vehicle that is not clean. Remember, if you want all the money for your vehicle, your vehicle should look like it is worth all the money. Wash and vacuum the inside, clean the glass inside and out, wash and wax the exterior, clean the brake dust from your wheels, dress the tires and steam clean the engine compartment. The $20 worth of materials and the 3 hours of elbow grease will pay dividends every time. (One note: be careful when you clean the engine. If you use too much water, you can fowl the spark plugs and cause the car to run rough as well as have the check engine light come on and this will be more costly to make right.)
Second, make sure the vehicle is current with state inspection and emissions and if you are within the three-month window I would get new badges. When I look at a vehicle that does not have current inspection, or is up for inspection within a month or two, I figure there is a reason for it and I am going to appraise it accordingly. A fresh set of emission and inspection badges are worth several hundred more dollars than a vehicle that is out of inspection or close to it. Plus, if there are other potential issues with how the vehicle runs and the badges are not current it concerns me more and I will be even more conservative with the value of the vehicle.
Third, make sure your vehicle is in as good a running condition as possible. Change the oil and transmission fluid if needed. If the oil or transmission fluid is dark and dirty looking when the appraiser checks it, a red flag goes up as to how well the vehicle has been maintained, regardless of how it runs. If your vehicle engine is running a little noisy, you will want to either use an additive or a slightly thicker oil, 10w 30 over 5w 30, to make it run as quietly as possible. Cleaned and treated transmissions will normally shift better than a dirty one and that is important to who is evaluating the vehicle. Oil and transmission fluid are the two big things that need to be as good as they can, because they are easily checked. Anything that is easy to look at; transmission fluid, oil, serpentine belt and the top of the engine, you want to have standing tall. It will be worth $100s of dollars to you.
The most important thing to do is think of what you would look for when buying a used car and make sure your car is as close to that as possible. You will probably invest $100 to $200 dollars and 3 to 6 hours into making your vehicle stand tall, but is should make your vehicle worth $500 to $800 more as a trade in and $1000 to $1500 more if you are selling it yourself. Well worth your investment. Have a great one.
Labels: selling your car getting great price Quakertown Boyertown
posted by Cory Fosbenner at
1:46 PM
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