Should I Fix My Car Before Trading In
If youre thinking about trading in your current vehicle for money or as a down payment for a or model from Midway Auto Dealerships, youre probably already wondering, Should I fix my car before trading into a dealership? This is a nuanced question, as cosmetic or mechanical damage to your vehicle can affect the trade-in value. Luckily, the and at our Kearney dealership are here to help!
If youre planning on trading in your vehicle, you should fix your cars minor scratches, dents, and blemishes before stopping by Midway Auto Dealerships. Its also recommended that you clean the interior cabin and remove any personal items. However, you should avoid any maintenance that exceeds the aforementioned issues, as you might end up paying more in repairs than your trade-in value would cover. Learn more about how to trade in your car with the experts below!
Pros And Cons Of Trading Your Old Car In
When it comes to deciding whether to trade your old car in to your dealership or sell it, it can be a rather difficult choice. Many folks prefer the simplicity of trading-in their old ride because it avoids the hassle of trying to sell it on your own. Here are some pros and cons of trading-in a vehicle with problems:
Pros:
- Its a simple way to get rid of your current car. You can just hand it over to the dealership.
- You can use the trade-in amount as a down payment on a new set of wheels.
- Theres also a tax advantage. Many states will charge sales tax only on the difference between the trade-in value and the new-car price.
Cons:
- You may not get as much money for your trade-in car if you were to sell it privately yourself.
- To get the best deal, you will probably need to haggle with an experienced sales person over the trade-in price.
Getting Ready To Make A Deal
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Inspect And/or Change Your Windshield Wiper Blades
You dont have to buy a $20 set of wiper blades, just replace your current ones with a nice cheap set and make sure to get the correct size for the vehicle. When the appraiser turns them on to check the wiper fluid theyll clean the windshield off and operate nice and smooth.
Check the wiper fluid reservoir. If you dont have wiper fluid put in water and a few drops of dishwashing soap or Windex to get you by.
Is It Worth Doing Yourself Or Paying For A Pro
Weve established that having a clean, tidy car definitely helps with both trade value and private resale value.
But is it worth the extra cost of paying a professional to detail your car, versus cleaning it yourself?
The answer to this question depends on a few factors:
Which leads us on to perhaps the most important consideration:
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Check And Clean The Engine Compartment
Clean the engine compartment and make sure there arent any tools, rags, or half-empty fluid bottles in it. Some detail companies will clean the engine compartment for you when detailing your car. If you do it yourself make sure you use a good quality degreaser and make sure you get all the chemicals off your belts and hoses.
Is It Worth Fixing Up Your Car Before Trading It In
This article was published more than 2 years ago. Some information may no longer be current.
Q: Should I get my car fixed before I trade it in?
I have about a year to go before I trade in my 2014 Mazda3, and there are a few repairs needed. Theres a small cosmetic scrape, and the brakes probably need to be replaced before too long. Is it wise to fix these things before trying to sell it, or should I just trade it in as-is? Jenn, Halifax
Fixing your car before you take it to the dealer might sound like a trick of the trade-in, but you could end up spending more money than you save.
I would not recommend spending very much money on fixing up your trade, Brian Murphy, vice-president of editorial and research at Canadian Black Book said in an e-mail. The advantage the dealer has is that they can recondition or repair your car for a lot less money than you can.
When dealers are figuring out the trade-in value of your car, they deduct what they think it will cost them to recondition your car.
Reconditioning is really about fixing what is wrong with your car that would make it difficult to sell, Murphy said. It would be about fixing anything mechanically or cosmetically wrong with it.
It might also cost the dealership half of what it costs you to get your car into showroom shape, said George Iny, president of the Automobile Protection Association .
So how do they know how much to charge you? They might be guessing.
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What Does Detailing Cost
The starting prices are often just that enticingly low starting points designed to grab your attention. If your seats or floor mats are badly stained and require extra elbow grease, expect to pay more. Have a dog that sheds year-round? Youll probably pay more for additional vacuuming.
Prices for basic detailing packages typically start in the $125-$200 range, and larger SUVs and pickups usually cost $25-$50 more because of their larger size. Prices vary because shops offer different packages that can include more or fewer services, and detailing shops often advertise discounted prices. It pays to ask whats included in the price and compare that to the deals that other shops offer.
Expect to hear sales pitches for extra-cost services such as touching up paint chips repairing or repainting scuffed bumper covers sanding off the clearcoat finish and reapplying a new coat cleaning the brake calipers cleaning the engine bay headlight restoration and more. Those additional services can remove blemishes and restore your vehicle to pristine condition , but they also ratchet up the cost by hundreds of dollars more. Have a budget and stick to it.
The Best Way To Sell A Damaged Car
If your car has frame damage, it changes everything. Your car trade-in value is much, much lower.
Frame damage and engine problems are repairable in most cases, but it requires more specialized labor to fix. Some dealerships just dont want to chance trading in a car with frame damage, so youll be left on your own to sell your junk car.
In a case where a car dealer will take your car on trade, even with frame damage, your trade value will be depressingly low.
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How Do They Handle Negative Equity
If you owe more on your car than it is worth, youll be asked to get a bank check for the amount of the difference between their offer price and the amount remaining on your loan. Youll upload an image of this check to Carvana and bring it with you when you ultimately sell the vehicle.
So there you have it. If youre thinking about selling your car, this is what you need to know about the sell to Carvana experience. Let us know in the comments below where you prefer to sell your vehicles.
Start With A Thorough Vacuuming
You can use your own vacuum, though a shop-vac or a vacuum at a coin-op carwash often will offer better cleaning power, and be more flexible. Give your car a thorough once-over. Begin with the drivers side, getting the vacuum into all of the nooks and crannies where junk, trash, and crumbs may be hiding.
Vacuum one section at a time. After you finish the drivers side, move to the passengers side, then the rear seats, the trunk, and so on. Take your time, and make sure you get as much debris as you can.
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Why Not Carmax Or Vroom
Its simple Carvana made the highest offer for my Volvo S90! Your mileage may vary , and I recommend you get offers from Carvana, Vroom, Shift, and CarMax before deciding where to sell your car. It was very interesting, after we posted our video on YouTube we received a lot of comments from people that told us they received higher offers for their cars from CarMax, Vroom, and AutoLenders .
Some commenters even shared stories about selling their cars privately and getting thousands of dollars more than what Carvana offered.
What does all this mean?
If youre looking for the highest offer possible, youll need to do some work to get quotes from each of the various companies , as well as test the waters of selling privately. Keep in mind that selling privately requires a lot more work, and part of the benefit of selling to Carvana is to avoid all that hassle and headache.
How To Sell An Accident Damaged Car
You can go to your local car dealerships and haggle for the best trade value for your car. But if theyre looking to make money on all sides, you wont get as much on trade as youd hoped. Fixed or not, body damage will dramatically affect your car trade in value, so it might not be the best option to get rid of your car.
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You Get What You Pay For At The Dealership Car Wash Even If Its Free
If you buy a new or used car, the dealership will never charge you for washing it. In fact, most dealers will even offer to wash your car when you get an oil change done, however, you should always refuse it. Formula Auto Care mentions that you get what you pay for, even if the car wash is free. The reason being that the cleaning equipment at most dealerships is usually not properly maintained and can cause more damage to the cars paint than you would think.
Consider The Point Of Diminishing Marginal Returns
One thing to bear in mind is that there is a point of diminishing marginal returns when it comes to cleaning your car prior to sale or trade.
Washing the exterior, vacuuming and wiping down the interior, and maybe a quick wax will give you the best bang-for-your-buck.
Always bear in mind the Pareto Principle or 80/20 rule, which dictates that 20% of the effort yields 80% of the results.
Washing the exterior of the car along with vacuuming the interior and wiping down hard surfaces is that 20% of potential effort that yields 80% of the gains.
Unless you simply love detailing, or you have lots of spare time and want to get every possible cent out of your trade or private sale, then going overboard with extremely comprehensive pre-sale detailing of your car is unlikely to yield any real gain.
Basically, the additional effort is not worth the comparatively small additional gain.
The same goes if you are looking to pay a pro. A $500 comprehensive detailing is not going to return 10x as much value as a $50 quick detail from one of those mall carpark places .
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Advantages Of Trading In A Car
While it might seem like selling your car on the used market might be the best way to get it off your hands, there are numerous advantages to trading it in to the dealership where you are buying your new car. Having everything done at the same place can ease a lot of the stress involved in getting rid of a used car and can roll all the transactions into one. The advantages of a trade-in far outweigh some of the disadvantages, especially if your car has issues.
Simplicity
The biggest advantage of trading in your car is the fact that the process is much simpler. When you sell a car to a third-party car buyer, there is a lot of extra work you have to do to make sure you get the best possible deal. Listing the vehicle in different places and meeting with potential buyers can eat up a lot of time and money, not to mention stress, which decreases the overall value of the vehicle. When you trade in your vehicle, everything is done in a one-stop-shop with the same people, and you can be reasonably certain that everyone involved is honest and professional.
Pay Off Your Loan
Potential Tax Savings
Many people trade in their cars instead of selling them on the used market because it can save a lot of money when it comes to sales tax. When you trade in a vehicle, the car’s trade-in value is subtracted from the total cost of your new vehicle. Because of this, you will end up paying less on the sales tax for your new vehicle than you otherwise would.
Paperwork Done By the Dealership
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Make Sure That Your Car Looks Its Best
Fix points out that a clean and well-maintained car is most likely to get the highest trade-in value. Clean the vehicle inside and out, she says. Detailing the car is like staging a home for resale.
Meanwhile, you should check to see if you have receipts for repairs and maintenance. These can prove to the dealer or buyer that you took care of the vehicle.
Takeaway: Clean your car thoroughly and gather any records you have so you can use them in the negotiation.
Understanding Your Cars Price And Value
Youre likely to see four types of prices when youre dealing with trading in a car: wholesale, trade-in, private and retail. Heres how each price works:
- Wholesale price or value: The wholesale price is the vehicles auction price. Some dealers purchase used vehicles at auctions and resell them. The price they pay is the wholesale value, and it is generally the lowest of the four prices you might see when looking at trade-in value.
- Trade-in value or price: If you trade in your vehicle, you could generally expect a value close to the wholesale value of the vehicle. Your vehicle may be worth more if there is a high demand for your particular vehicle or its in great condition.
- Private sale price or value: This is the amount you could expect if you decide to sell your vehicle to another consumer in a private sale, say through Craigslist or other platforms. This number is usually higher than the trade-in value.
- Retail price or value: The retail price is what you would expect to pay for a car at a dealership.
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What Can You Do To Prevent The Dealership From Washing Your Car
If youre buying a car from a dealership, you can simply tell the salesperson not to have it washed before handing you the keys. Believe it or not, they actually wont mind your request considering it takes one long step out of the sales process, thus making their job easier, and it will also make the entire process much faster, which is to your own benefit.
If youre getting your car worked on by the service center at the dealership, then place a sign that says Do Not Wash on your windshield. The service center will gladly adhere to this instruction and the dealership can be held liable if they end up washing the car and doing some damage to it.
Lastly, if you end up not getting the car washed at the dealership, take it to a professional detailer instead or detail it yourself. It can cost around $100 to $200 for a professional detailer to clean the car, but if you do it yourself, you could save a lot of money. Even if you had to purchase the cleaning supplies, you may only spend around $30 to $50 for everything for a proper do-it-yourself detail job. Ultimately, the extra financial cost, as well as the time spent, can inevitably keep your car looking much newer for a longer period of time.
