Ready to buy a new car? We’re quite sure that getting rid of your old one also tops your list. The most ideal solution, in this case, would be to trade in your car.
When trading in your car to a dealer, they’ll buy the old car from you and deduct the cost from the price of the new one you’re buying from them. If you’ve decided to trade in your car, there are steps that you can take to make sure that you get the best car trade-in value available. You’d agree that when it comes to paying for a new car, every dollar will count. Hence, getting more cash for your trade-in will mean borrowing less for you.
In this article, you’ll get to see the pros and cons of selling your car yourself versus a trade-in.
Read on…
If you decide to sell your car yourself, you’re most likely to get the most cash off your sale. All you’ll need to do is to put a ‘For Sale’ sign in the car window with the hope that a passer-by will see it and be very much interested in it.
Another option would be to list your car in the classified automotive car section in the newspapers or on Craigslist. Once again, you’ll need to wait and haggle prices over and over again with potential buyers until you can strike a good deal.
Then there’s also the stress of scheduling car inspections and test drives which is not only time-consuming but also risky.
If you decide to sell your car to a dealer or trade it in, the dealer handles the whole transaction from the beginning to the end. Instead of dealing with a private buyer, all you’ll need to do is to show up to the dealership and bargain. If you don’t have the time and patience to wait for a private car buyer, a dealer saves you the trouble of advertising and waiting too long.
Here are additional reasons why trading in your car is better than selling it privately:
It’s Faster. Trading in with a dealer has its pains but it’s faster than selling your car yourself.
Reduction in The Price of Your New Car. Once you’re trading in your car at a dealership to get a new one from them, they’ll deduct the trade-in cost from the price of your car.
So, if your trade-in amount from the dealership for your old car is $7,000 and you’re looking to buy a car that’s worth $20,000 from them, you’ll only need a $13,000 loan.
Reduced Sales Tax. Since the dealer removed a lot of thousand dollars off the price of your new car, you’ll automatically pay lesser sales tax.
Cons of Selling Your Car to A Dealer.Restrictions on Where You Can Buy A New Car.
When a dealership evaluates your car and agrees to buy it off you, you're often required to buy your next car from them. If they don't have the car you want or need then you won't be able to trade it in. Most dealerships won't let you sell your old car to them and buy a new one from another dealer or buy later.
Lesser Payout for Your Car. Indeed, trading in your car for a new one is quite convenient and pretty simple. However, it’s also quite common for many dealerships to offer you an amount that’s quite less than what a private buyer will offer or lesser than your car’s value. Think about this…let’s say a private buyer will be willing to pay $17,000 for a 2010 Honda Accord in perfect condition with a mileage of 35,000 miles. But when you take it for a trade-in at a dealership, you’re being offered $14,500 for the same car with the same conditions, that’s a price cut of about $2,500.
Now you can see that most dealerships won’t pay you the real price for your car. This is because they’re also looking to sell it and make a profit off it.
They’ll rather look to offer you a wholesale price – the price they’d buy it from the manufacturer or even much less. Don't forget that you'll be responsible for towing your car from dealer to dealer [if it's got issues] just to hit a good deal. It's even worse if your car's not in good condition.
You’re probably asking yourself already, “How do I know the trade-in value of my car?" Well, to get a fair estimate [especially if your car has some flaws here and there] you can make use of our tool that gives online quotes for old and junk cars.
You’ll need to enter in some details like the model, make, condition and so on of your car. Knowing the value of your car will help you know what a dealer will offer you and how to negotiate a trade-in price.
It's important to know if there's an outstanding loan on your car or if you've got negative equity on your car loan. When you've got negative equity on your car loan, it means your car's worth is lesser than the amount you still owe on your car.
This doesn't mean you can't trade-in your car but the loan balance could be rolled into your new car loan. This will mean more monthly payments from you.
Any damage caused to your car has the power to reduce its new value and lead to low trade-in value. No one is asking you to give your car a total paint makeover but cleaning up the interior and exterior will help a lot before you go visit a dealership.
You can wash the carpets, buy a little paint to cover-up repair dents and minor scratches and even take your car to the car wash. These little repairs and maintenance adds more value to your car and helps increase the trade-in value. Otherwise, you might be better off selling it to the local junk car buyers or donating your car for cash.
Getting multiple quotes will help you make sure that you’re going for the best offer available. If you’ve got a dealership that you’re considering for your trade-in, it won’t hurt if you check out other dealerships that sell your car’s model and make.
Let's say you've got a Honda that you'll like to trade-in, your local Honda dealership may be willing to buy the old car from you. You can also look at taking the car to a used car dealership as they're more eager to pay for cars with low mileage and in good conditions.
Make sure you pay attention to the dealer’s special offers and read the fine print provided with care. Some dealers guarantee a fixed value for your trade-in even if it’s in a bad condition. Others may state that your loan would be paid off when you trade-in your car.
However, if none of these offers are open to you, your negative equity will be rolled over into your new car loan. Our advice? When an offer looks too good to be true, always do your research and ask the right questions to avoid unpleasant situations.
If your car is just going to be used for scrap, be sure to use our scrap car value calculator to make sure you are gettng a fair price.
There’s no need for you to go for the first offer the dealer makes. You’re free to bargain and propose a higher trade-in price. This is because many dealers intentionally begin with low offers.
If you’ve got plans of buying a new car from the dealership as well, then you’ll need to be perfectly sure that the price placed on the new car is the actual price. Most dealerships will mark up the price of the new car so that they can make up for the trade-in amount you got from them.
Once you’ve reached an agreed price for your trade-in with the dealer, you can close the deal. Be sure you have all the necessary paperwork to prove ownership of the car. If you've lost your title you might want to checkout our guide on how to sell a car without a title. If you’re buying a new car from the dealer, make sure it’s clearly stated in your contract and that the right deductions were made from your new car purchase. If you’re not buying a new car immediately, your dealer will give you a check for the value of your trade-in. You can decide to use this amount as a down payment for a new car there or somewhere else. Be sure you calculate how expensive of a car you can afford too.
Tip: If you’re looking to get a better offer for your trade-in from a dealership then you can consider selling your old car and going for a new one when the year is about to end. Why?
Well, most dealers will be more willing to offer more as they’re looking to get rid of the previous year’s car models. So, if you happen to be buying a model from the previous year, the dealership will be more eager to offer more for your trade-in just so that you can be encouraged to buy from them.
When you don't have the time to haggle prices with a dealer or go around looking for the best quote then this is where SellMax comes in.
What’s more? We give you an obligation-free quote that you’re open to accept or walk away from as it suits you all from the comfort of your home and your fingertips.
With the offer received from us, there are no hidden charges or any case where you need to buy anything from us to secure your quote. Your options of choosing where to get a new car are also endless with the money you get from selling your car to us.
You also don’t need to bother about fixing your car just to look nice. Save your bucks and sell your car to us in its condition. We buy junk cars for cash, so even if you're looking to sell your clunker we'll buy it from you. With all these benefits we’ve got to offer, how does it work? Very simple.
Here’s what you’ll need to do:
Tell Us About Your Ride. This isn’t going to be a long list of questions. Just details concerning your car’s model, make, year, location and condition via our online form. You can also call us too.
Receive Your Guaranteed Quote. Once you’ve submitted the details, a fair offer will be given to you on the spot. Yes, it’s that fast. Our car experts are great at math too. If you like what we’re offering then we can move forward.
We Send Our Car Professionals. Once you’ve booked a pick-up date with us, we’ll be on our way to you. You won’t have to move, all we need is where you'll like us to come to or where your car is.
Get Paid on the Spot. After every minimal paperwork and inspection has been done, we’ll be on our merry way with your car and a stack of cash will be left for you in its stead
We’ll always be willing to help from the other side of the line whenever you need our assistance or there’s something you need clarification on. Our excellent customer service will always leave you feeling satisfied. Our staff is always excited about helping people like you get what they need to be done in the most convenient way possible.
If you’re worried about us suddenly hitting you with hidden charges or changing the offer you’ve received from us then that won’t happen here. We’re as transparent as we can be.
Now that we’ve told you all about our easy, quick and transparent process, why not confirm what your car is worth using our sell my car for cash instant quote form?