Jacksonville Used Cars - How to value my trade-in?

Jacksonville Used Cars - How to value my trade-in?

 By Jeremy Kicklighter

 When considering the purchase of either a new or used vehicle, many consumers need to either trade or sell the vehicle privately. Before they can do so however, they need to know how much their used car is worth. There are several sources that dealers will use to value your car including Kelly Blue Book, NADA, and CARFAX. 

                One of the hardest things for used car owners to understand is trade-in value. This Value is several thousand dollars less than the retail value that you could receive if you sold the vehicle on your own. When searching the various sources on the internet you need to determine the criteria that best describes your vehicle. Most people will rate their car a grade higher than the dealer will.  If there are dings, dents, scratches, rips, or tears, automatically give your car an average rating. If there is something mechanically wrong or if the car has been in an accident then give the car a poor rating. I am going to walk you through the three different websites on which to value your car. 

                Kelly Blue Book is a popular customer website that provides you with valuable information on your car’s value before stepping into the dealership. Open your internet browser and type in http://www.kbb.com/ into your search engine. At the top of the page click on “car values,” then “What is my car worth?” Proceed to type in your vehicle details (year, make, model, mileage). Next choose your cars style and options. Finally, hit the “get trade-in value,” which will generate four different prices depending on the condition of your vehicle. The conditions that Kelly Blue Book lists are excellent, very good, good, and fair. They do an excellent job of helping you determine a fair value for your used vehicle. 

                NADA is another website that is devoted to helping the dealer and customer value their vehicles. After typing http://www.nada.com/ into the search engine click on the consumer tab. Under the top header there will be an option that says “autos.”  Hover your mouse over that option, then click “car prices” in the drop down menu. From this you can select your make, year, and model of your vehicle. Proceed to check the style, mileage, and options of your car. NADA gives you four different prices to base your estimate on: clean, average, rough, and retail. If you hover over the four different categories, an information box will appear and describe each of the options.  I personally like how NADA offers the retail value on the car so you can determine the price that the dealer will try to sell your car for. 

                If you bring your car into a dealership they are going to run the VIN number to check the CARFAX on your vehicle. Most dealers will pay a monthly fee to CARFAX to receive unlimited amounts of vehicle history reports. Consumers have to pay per report anywhere from $34.99 for one CARFAX report to unlimited reports for only $49.99. The CARFAX will tell you everything you need to know about your car. Every time your car has been serviced at a dealership or a reputable auto shop the details of the service are reported to CARFAX. This helps the consumer know what has been done to the vehicle. Accidents are also reported detailing how much damage the car received. By Checking the CARFAX you can save yourself the time and energy of searching for vehicles that don’t have a clean title. 

                By doing your research before you go shopping for vehicles helps you know what to expect when speaking with a salesman. Make sure you know the value of your car before they give you their trade-in value. Spend the extra money on the CARFAX to see the history report on your vehicle. When it comes to buying a used car, knowledge is power.

Jeremy Kicklighter is Manager at  Kicklighter Auto Sales

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