Prepare Your Car for Trade-In (Car Buying Tips)
When I sold cars, I was amazed to see that 90% of my customers did not bother to prepare their cars to be traded in. It seems that they didn't truly understand this basic truth about trading a car in.
When you trade in a car, for that moment, you are the seller and the dealer becomes the buyer. If you were going to sell your car to someone off the street, you would clean it up a little to make it more appealing to the buyer. Why would you not do the same when selling it to the dealer? Besides, the condition of your car can make a good difference in the trade evaluation.
Upgrade the Condition of Your Vehicle
If you can do any work to upgrade the condition of your vehicle from poor to fair, fair to good or good to excellent, then you should do it if you can get a favorable return on your investment.
By all means, take the time to thoroughly clean your car. First impressions go a long way. If an appraiser sees a dirty car, he is going to think that you did not take care of it. If he sees a clean car, then he’ll think otherwise. His opinion can make the difference between hundreds or thousands of dollars. Besides, he may be attracted to receiving a vehicle that requires no preparation before being put on the car lot for sale.
Shampoo the upholstery, get all the bad smells out, thoroughly wash and wax the car. If there are any minor dings in the paint or small rust spots, use a little bit of touch up paint on them. If there are any small dings in the windshield or any other of the windows, apply some windshield filler. Even clean up under the hood. An afternoon of detailing your car may allow you to sell it for hundreds or tens of hundreds of dollars more.
The last three paragraphs are found in The Car Buying Bible (www.carbuyingbible.com), a 162-page car buying guide. Inside, you will find great money-saving car buying advice and the best car loan calculator around.
When you trade in a car, for that moment, you are the seller and the dealer becomes the buyer. If you were going to sell your car to someone off the street, you would clean it up a little to make it more appealing to the buyer. Why would you not do the same when selling it to the dealer? Besides, the condition of your car can make a good difference in the trade evaluation.
Upgrade the Condition of Your Vehicle
If you can do any work to upgrade the condition of your vehicle from poor to fair, fair to good or good to excellent, then you should do it if you can get a favorable return on your investment.
By all means, take the time to thoroughly clean your car. First impressions go a long way. If an appraiser sees a dirty car, he is going to think that you did not take care of it. If he sees a clean car, then he’ll think otherwise. His opinion can make the difference between hundreds or thousands of dollars. Besides, he may be attracted to receiving a vehicle that requires no preparation before being put on the car lot for sale.
Shampoo the upholstery, get all the bad smells out, thoroughly wash and wax the car. If there are any minor dings in the paint or small rust spots, use a little bit of touch up paint on them. If there are any small dings in the windshield or any other of the windows, apply some windshield filler. Even clean up under the hood. An afternoon of detailing your car may allow you to sell it for hundreds or tens of hundreds of dollars more.
The last three paragraphs are found in The Car Buying Bible (www.carbuyingbible.com), a 162-page car buying guide. Inside, you will find great money-saving car buying advice and the best car loan calculator around.
posted by Brian at 7:16 PM
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