Selling your old car can be tricky. You ask yourself questions on who or where to sell it to. Then there’s that all-important question on how much you’ll sell it for.
This article is your guide to maximizing the value of your used car when selling to dealerships. You may find the tips here initially daunting, but they can definitely help make the sale smooth, quick, and rewarding in a financial sense.
Here are the steps that you should take to get the most money from dealers:
1. Make Your Car Look Better
First impressions do make a significant difference during car sales. That’s why you should clean both your car’s exterior and interior thoroughly. A vehicle that looks poorly maintained gives dealerships, or even private car buyers if you sell your car privately instead, every reason to negotiate a lower price for your used car.
Things to do to make your car look better before the sale include:
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Touching up chips, paint scratches, or any minor surface damage
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Replacing broken lights
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Changing and filtering the oil if needed
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Cleaning out the engine compartment
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Cleaning out the trunk
Basically, you have to fix anything that you can, and clean out every little spot you’ve let collect dirt over time. However, it’s essential to note that most dealerships will think a car has been in an accident if the owner repainted it. Therefore, think twice through any plans of repainting your vehicle.
Of course, don’t forget to gather all the maintenance records of your vehicle in one place. That’s one thing dealers always look for.
2. Set A Price That’s Higher Than The Ballpark Value
Another essential step to take when selling your used car to dealerships is to establish an asking price. To do that, you need a valuation estimate. Fortunately, there are tools online that can help you obtain that information, such as the following:
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Kelly Blue Book (kkb.com)
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Edmunds (edmunds.com)
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Caranddriver.com
These sites will provide your vehicle’s approximate value for trade-in, private-party, and even online car sale transactions after asking for your car’s make and model, mileage, and condition.
Note that the value that Kelly Blue Book and others will provide is usually only a range. Hence, you can use it as a ballpark figure. Don’t ever quickly accept whatever these value estimation tools give you. You can always cross-check through other means.
Instead of listing your car at the price KKB or Edmund suggests, list it for more. Figure something that’s about 20% or, at least, 15% higher than the amount you’re willing to take. For example, if the ballpark value is USD$10,000, then price your vehicle at USD$12,000 or higher. Why is this important? Well, you know that people like to negotiate, and it’s especially true among dealerships. A value for your car that’s 15-20% more than the estimate gives you room to bring the price down if necessary.
3. Offer To More Than One Dealer
If you want to maximize savings, you shouldn’t skip this step when selling your old car. Yes, you must obtain offers from multiple dealerships – at least three of them. It’s especially true if your vehicle is relatively new with a low odometer reading.
This step is important because you should know if other dealers are willing to give you a price that is nearer your target selling value. If you talk only to one dealer, you won’t know if other dealers are willing to negotiate or give you the price you want.
Things to remember when getting offers include:
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Approaching only those dealerships that sell the same brand as your car. This tells you that the dealer is familiar with the brand of your car and can offer a price accordingly.
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Speaking to a dealership representative and telling them the car’s make and model, year, and upgrades while under your ownership. Let the representative also know that the vehicle has been well maintained (that’s why you need a compilation of all your maintenance records).
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Asking if the dealership would be interested in seeing the vehicle before visiting them. You’d not want to go through a time-consuming trip to the dealer’s lot or office for nothing.
Follow and repeat this process until you get three different offers and have three dealerships willing to see your vehicle in person.
4. Employ Negotiating Tricks
Most car dealers know how to handle negotiations when it comes to buying and selling cars. They know how to avoid scams, how to tell the price of the car, and many more important information that’s critical to negotiation. That’s why you should also have a plan of action when negotiating with buyers or car dealers.
How do you negotiate with a dealer? Tell the dealer that the offer seems lower than the quotation you’ve received elsewhere, no matter what amount they say they’re willing to shell out for the car.
Then, come back with something that’s about 15% higher than their first quote.
After giving your counter-offer, ask if the first is the best offer. If the dealer says that your price is too high, counter by asking how high is high enough.
All these negotiation tricks will result in a higher offer.
Conclusion
Getting the most from dealers when selling a car can be challenging but certainly possible. Things that you need to do are putting some effort into cleaning the inside and outside of your vehicle and establishing the right asking price. Of course, you also have to get, at least, three offers and employ a few negotiation tricks.