Establishing a Price for Your Used Car
Consumers can be fickle, but don’t let that discourage you. The first thing to do is take an honest look at the marketability of the vehicle that you wish to sell. Be prepared to do a little research to determine your asking price.
Spending a few minutes browsing through classified ads in your local paper and online is a vital tool to determine the current market value for the year, make and model of your vehicle. You can also check www.kbb.com for a current valuation of your vehicle, but to be honest we have checked numerous vehicles at kbb.com and it appears that they have lost touch with regards to actual valuations of vehicles in many areas. If you do check the value of your vehicle at kbb.com take the information you find there with a grain of salt as it may be thousands of dollars from the true value of your vehicle and can be a little misleading.
After determining a price range for your vehicle you’ll need to factor in some other considerations such as mileage, condition, and special features.
Some other factors that determine the selling value that some might overlook are:
- Location – where you live can play a big role in the actual valuation of your vehicle, if for instance you live in a climate that is susceptible to rust, you may not get as much for your vehicle as someone who lives in a more arid climate.
- Younger Motorists - younger drivers tend to put more miles and drive cars harder than adults. If you are a younger driver you need to know that your age will be taken into consideration as to how well the car was maintained and hard it has been driven; which may cause buyers to be more hesitant to buy your vehicle so pricing the car accordingly could help you sell it faster.
- Gas Mileage – How many miles per gallon your vehicle gets is becoming a greater positive or negative for persons trying to sell used vehicles. If you have a large vehicle some like to call a “gas guzzler” you probably are not going to get top dollar for your used car in this time of soaring crude oil prices. However, if you have a vehicle which gets good gas mileage you may be able to sell it for a little more than you could have say a few years ago.
- Special Options – If you have customized your vehicle with options such as a custom stereo, iPod, Towing accessories; you should take these into consideration when pricing your vehicle. Even small additions to your vehicle can increase its value and your asking price.
- Padding the Price – Adding a few hundred dollars to your asking price will provide you with a cushion when negotiating the price of your vehicle. If you do not add in a cushion for your vehicle make sure you list the vehicle as “Firm” so that any prospective buyer will know that negotiating on price is not an option.
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