Why and How to Trade in Your Car When You Shop for High-End Pre-Owned Cars
If you are shopping for high-end pre-owned cars and want to reduce the amount you have to pay on your used vehicle of choice, you may want to consider trading in your existing high-end car. Of course, you can sell your vehicle out of hand and perhaps even get a better price for it, but it takes time and you have to deal with the administrative load – and risk – that goes hand in hand with private sales of high-end pre-owned cars.
Private Sale Versus trade-in
If you advertise your high-end pre-owned car in the classifieds or online, it competes with many other pre-owned cars for attention. Yet, at the same time, you can expect many people to call who have yet to arrange finance, do not even have the deposit or simply want to negotiate for an unreasonably low price. Then there are also the scammers to be concerned about, waiting in the wings. In a worst-case scenario, they may call just to find out where the car is located and give the information through to crime syndicates, especially if it is a high-end car. If you decide on the private advertising and selling route, you need to know that the buyers will ask questions and you might need to divulge information that can make you a victim of identity theft or another type of scam.
You will have to divulge, in detail, the accident and service record of the car, information about home repairs, and more. You may also need to get a roadworthy certificate. Of course, every buyer will want to test drive your car and for understandable reasons. It will simply not be wise for anyone shopping for a high-end pre-owned car to buy a vehicle they have never even taken for a test drive. But, it all comes with a risk of being robbed of your vehicle. Even if you go along on the test drive, there is always the risk of the driver hijacking your vehicle. Considering the risk, it is certainly a better option to either trade in your vehicle or sell it through a reputable dealer of high-end pre-owned cars.
How to Calculate the Trade-In Price
You will hear about book value, trade-in, and retail price when you speak to a vehicle sales consultant. The retail price, in effect, is the price that the vehicle will be sold for from the dealer’s showroom or through their website. This price is made up of the trade-in price plus the profit or mark-up from the dealer. The trade-in price is what the dealer is willing to pay for your particular pre-owned car and the amount is used towards the deposit or down payment of the car you select from the dealer’s portfolio of high-end pre-owned cars. Now we get to the book value of the car; this is the industry accepted value for the specific vehicle make and model.
How You Know What Your Car’s Book Value Is
A little bit of homework is required. Read up on the Internet what the general trend is regarding the value of high-end pre-owned cars of the same make, model, and year as yours. Extras on the car add a little to its value, but not always as dramatically as you might expect. They do, however, make your car easier to sell. You can also take your car to the AA for a roadworthy certificate and get an independent vehicle valuer to value the car in terms of what you will get on pay-out from the insurer if the car is stolen, to determine its value. You can review the verification report from your insurer to determine the value, or you can visit our dealership to get a book value estimate after we have conducted a thorough pre-inspection. Do not throw away any receipts for repairs or services done on the vehicle. Keep the service record at hand and be sure to wash the vehicle and repair minor scratches or dents.
Which high-end pre-owned cars trade in at good prices?
Vehicles still under warranty or with their service plans still valid are normally sought after. Vehicles with less than 100 000 km on the odometer are especially sought-after and dealers are always looking for popular high-end pre-owned cars that are in tip-top condition.