Why Do I Have To Know What My Car Is Worth?
Knowing how much your car is worth now rather than new has numerous benefits. It’s important information to have for several reasons. All of them can benefit you and your wallet. Here are a few reasons to find out now how much your car is worth.
- To determine an accurate trade in value and get the best deal possible.
- If you want to sell your vehicle, to know what a fair price is to sell for.
- If you want to buy a vehicle, to know if the price you’re paying is worth it.
- Because a car loses value up to 10% – 20% as soon as you drive off of the lot with it. Even brand new!
How Do I Find Out How Much My Car Is Worth?
The best way is the easiest :
- First you need to know the make and model of your car and the year it was manufactured.
- Now to find out how much it’s actually worth, you need to find out what is called the car’s “Kelly Blue Book Value” that dealers use. How?
- Click here, or go to kbb.com and put the info you’ve gathered in where instructed.
- Then it will tell you the car’s value as of right now.
What If My Car Is A Classic Car Or Collector’s Car, Is The Value Right?
This may be the one instance when the Kelly Blue Book Price could be wrong. Classic and Collector cars retail and sell at different values than what’s in the Kelly Blue Book. Why? Because it’s about trends and supply and demands, along with numerous other factors and not necessarily just about the cars age that decide how much is a car worth.
The Criteria For A Classic Car Is :
- Car must be 20 + years old
- Cars from the year 1900 – 1979 are considered either antique or classic cars.
The Criteria For a Collector’s Car Is :
- Cars ranging in age from 1980 to 1991
How Do I determine The Value Of My Classic Car Or Collector’s Car?
There are many things to be considered here. Most of all is the condition, and whether or not the car still has original stock material and/or parts.
Car enthusiasts believe classic cars have timeless design, technological, and nostalgic value. The best and most reliable way is to use an on-line valuator source to find out classic and collector car values.
Try these on-line classic and collector car valuators :
- (NADA) National Automobile Dealers Association
- Classic Automobile Appraisal and Resource Guide
- (VMR) 5-Level Collector Car And truck Price Guide
There is no one price estimator that can tell you how much your car is worth, but it is a great starting point.
Next to that, look around and see what your make and model vehicle is going for these days. Check out classic and antique car sites and clubs such as the Classic Car Club of America and The Antique and Automobile Club.
A good place to look other than those would be auction sites and California classifieds and auto trader listings. California seems to be the leader in trends next to Nevada, Florida, Texas, New York and Michigan in America.
What effects The Value Of My Car?
There are multiple things that can affect the value of any car for better or worse. Here is a list of some of them that can bring the value of your car down very quickly.
For Instance :
- Car Accidents.
- Mileage, depending on year.
- Overall condition inside and outside of vehicle.
- Whether or not there was cigarette smoking inside of the car.
Using The Value Of Your Car For Trade In Value
When using the value of your car to get the best deal possible on a trade in, never go lower than what your car is worth. The dealer knows they can make that exact amount and then some from the re-sale of your car.
They start out giving you a low trade in value expecting you to negotiate up but experts say never compromise on the actual value of your trade in and take every penny it’s worth or walk away.
They’ll call you back when sales are slow. So make the best deal not the good deal now. There will a be quite bit of “let me ask my boss.” And at some point they will say they can’t do better than, x – amount. If the amount is not for everything the car is worth? You know what to do. There is always someone else willing and ready to make the sale.
