How To Get The Most For Your Trade In
If you drive up to a car dealership in the vehicle you intend to
trade you are setting yourself up to be taken, unless you have
done your research first. One of the first things a salesperson
will want to know is whether you are trading or not. The reason
for this is so they will know what they have to work with as
they are showing you vehicles. This is especially dangerous if
you are looking at a used vehicle since there is generally no
price displayed so they can name whatever price they want.
In order to be sure you aren't being taken on a trade in you
should do a couple of things first. If you go to Kelly Blue Book
online and honestly input the information on your vehicle you
will get a fairly good representation for what it is worth. The
dealer will give you somewhere between loan and trade in value
depending on what kind of vehicle you have. The other thing to
do is to take your car around to several dealers and tell them
you want to sell it outright and get them to give you a price
they would buy it for. This will usually be a bit lower than
what you could actually get on a trade in but this in
combination with the internet research will keep you from
getting totally robbed.
The other thing to take into consideration in deciding whether
or not to trade is the tax implications. In most states there is
a sales tax on vehicles which can be substantial. If your trade
in is a fairly new model it may be more beneficial to trade due
to the tax benefit (You are only taxed on the difference). If
you have an older vehicle you may get more money by selling it
outright. In either case, you will usually get more money by
selling the vehicle yourself. You have to see what you can get
and weigh the benefits of selling it yourself versus the benefit
of the tax savings.
Have your vehicle detailed. It will usually cost you around $100
or so to have your vehicle professionally detailed but it can
get you several hundred more dollars in trade in or resell
value. As a former car appraiser and buyer myself I can tell
you, the cleanliness and appearance of a car is very influential
in the price given for it. I have appraised cars that I wouldn't
even sit in because they were so filthy and yet once we cleaned
them we made a fortune on them because they were worth far more
than I paid. I will say it again; get your vehicle
professionally detailed.