Know How Much That Used Car is Really Worth
How to work out the value of a used car sometimes appears to be a mystical art that only a chosen few have been told how to do. Armed with their book of knowledge that they will not let anyone see, a dealer will somehow come up with a figure that is normally much lower than you expected when you asked for a trade-in price. The art of working out the value of a car is not that much of a mystery if you know where to look and finding out the true value could save you from paying too much when you are looking for your next vehicle to buy.
Factors to consider
There are a number of key factors to consider which all can have an influence and be a factor in what your car is really worth. It is too easy to just say that you have a car of a particular make, model and year and expect to come up with an accurate valuation. The condition of the car is important and a vehicle that has very few scratches or dents for its age will probably fetch a little bit more money that a car of the same age that is not as well kept.
Mileage
How many miles are on the clock is important too, as the number of miles that a car has covered can have a strong influence on the residual value. A car with low mileage is a good selling point and it should mean that there has been less wear and tear as a result, so it is reasonable to expect to pay slightly more for a low mileage example.
Number of owners
The other regular factor that has an influence on price is the number of owners a car has had. It stands to reason that a car with one owner from new that has been regularly serviced will be worth more than a similar one that has had three owners and little or no service history.
Do your own research
You can very quickly get quite a good idea what you should be paying for a car by searching for similar cars on a number of the more popular car websites such as Autotrader and Google Motors. These sites allow you to narrow down your search even to specify a colour, so you could very quickly find other examples of your car for sale that were made in the same year, have a similar amount of mileage and are even the same colour if you want to make as direct a comparison as possible.
Average value
Using the search criteria for the make model and mileage that you are looking for you will enable you to quickly produce a list of cars for sale and be able to review the prices so that you might be able to come up with an average figure, giving you a good guide as to the least and most amount of money you can probably expect to pay for the car.
Auction values
If you go to a car auction looking for a bargain then you may well find one, but prices vary on a daily basis and a certain car could be sold very cheaply on one day if there is little demand and then for a higher price on another day if there are more people around to bid.
Trade guides
Used car dealers often use either Parkers or Glass’s Guide to get a number of valuations for each car they are looking to bid for or offer a price for part exchange on. You can gain access to these trade directories for a subscription fee or by paying for a valuation if you want to. There is some useful information in these guides such as what the difference should be between the trade-in price, the price they offer to buy the car for, and the retail price, which is the price they are selling it on the forecourt for. Knowing those figures helps you to work out how much a trader is looking to make on the sale and could help you negotiate a lower price when armed with this data.
With a little bit of research and some common sense applied to comparing like for like, you should be able to work out exactly how much that used car is really worth.
Neil Stelling has purchased his share of cars in his lifetime. Now retired, he enjoys blogging about a variety of topics on the Internet. To find out more on buying a used car, just go to Car Finance 247.
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Category: Car Purchase
