5 Reasons A Car Dealership Offers You A Low Trade-in Value

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kingr
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5 Reasons A Car Dealership Offers You A Low Trade-in Value

Post by kingr »

Low trade-in value offers when trading in your sale car can be understood and overcome if you know how a car dealership evaluates your used car.

All of us are attached to our cars, at least in some way, and the emotions we bring to ownership sometimes impact on our ability to evaluate its true value, A car owner heading off to find a good trade-in value for their baby at a car dealership can often be alarmed at just how little they are offered in terms of trade-in value.

The situation is sometimes a clash of two worlds. One is that of the car owner, emotionally attached to their car and intimate with the vehicle. Sheer numbers play a role in trade-in values too. A car owner typically has one car only, and it’s the focus of their automotive world. In that singular experience, we all gloss over our car’s flaws and typically pronounce that its issues, if any, really “aren’t so bad.”

The car dealership, on the other hand, has a crisp and rather mercenary focus, by necessity. Their world is that of constant car evaluations, units and figures. We can’t say that the car dealership’s opinion is then completely unassailable, as they have business interests at play too, after all. But most car dealerships will support their trade-in value offer with industry intel and recent sales figures. In a nutshell, there are a few reasons why both parties might look at the car differently. It’s important that a car owner looking for trade-in value from a car dealership is aware of these aspects, so that they can either address flaws or look for a different route to selling their car.

1. Recon Costs Are Too High
Even though we often get to a point of just “living with” pending repairs on our car, a car dealership is under no obligation to view a car that way. A car dealership simply sees an overall picture - the car is in great, fair or poor condition - and starts tallying figures on specific repair costs with each flaw encountered. It helps to imagine yourself as the car dealership’s buyer when going through the initial evaluation. What would you expect to hear and see if you walked in and wanted to buy a car from them?

While you might feel that some damage is minor or other flaws negligible, would you accept that as a buyer? Never forget that this is the end of the road for you, but for the dealership it’s a transaction. They have to continue the journey with your car, selling it on as a desirable vehicle again.

The typical areas a car dealership will look at that might result in a low trade-in value offer are, firstly, is that the car has:

1.Mechanical or cosmetic damage. Whether there are engine, chassis or bodywork issues, your car might be attracting poor offers because it is simply going to cost a bite to get it back into showroom condition.

2.Worn tyres

3.Deteriorating paint work

4.Erratic or absent service history

5.Motorplan or service plan expired

2. Obscure makes often have a low trade-in value
Diehard enthusiasts of obscure makes and models need to accept that the particular model might not have a big market demand. Slow movers are deadweight on a car dealership floor until sold, and their prospects of a future sale will influence the price offered to you. Unfortunately, very often hybrid and electric vehicles don't sell well nd have low trade-in values, aand the car dealership therefore simply won't make you a high offer for your car.

3. Service histories affect trade-in values
If you are trading in the middle to upper echelons, a full service history becomes imperative. Not having one is a potential price killer. Prior accident damage - even if repaired - may carry other implications for a car dealership working the retail space. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like BMW and others will also list the nature of repairs on the motorplan, noting whether the car was repaired by an authorised repairer. buyers shopping in this echelon expect authorise repair and service histories, otherwise the dealer's trade-in value also drops.

4. Stock levels affect trade-in values
A car dealership could also be sitting on too much stock of the same type of vehicle. So even if your Ford Fiesta will be the only one on the floor, the dealer might have 30 other same-class hatches already. They want diversity as they need it, tailored to their demographics, so another hatch might be of low value to the car dealership. Besides that, the car dealership might also be struggling to move existing stock of the same model. You shouldn’t take it as a personal insult, but rather appreciate that if they already have the same model in stock, your car’s trade-in value could be low at that particular car dealership.

5. Getting The Best Trade-in Value
So, what to do? If you’re looking for the best trade-in offer around town, be ready to drive a little! First and foremost, get our car valuation online so that you have a baseline figure to work with. Then, shop around car dealerships if initial offers seem too low. This avoids the individual car dealership dynamics mentioned above, and also helps you build an honest picture of your car’s current value. If shopping around doesn’t elicit better offers from car dealerships and you’re adamant that you want more, repairing relevant issues then has to be the next step.

Related: I want to sell me carI Want to sell my car

Get quotes on needed repairs and, when adding them up, don’t forget the implied runaround to get things sorted. Many car owners tally the overall costs and, even though it hurts a little, accept a lower trade-in offer from a car dealership. Don’t forget that a car dealership is immersed in the mechanical world, and you’re often not. Sticking on price over minor issues might still see those minor issues becoming a major pain to resolve, for us who are not daily players in the car trading game.

Make sure that you will be scoring a genuinely better deal if you effect needed repairs. Ask for specific points of concern from car dealerships looking at your car. Ask questions like “So, if I replace the front bumper, what will the offer be?” Many car owners add up repair costs and conclude that the dealership’s trade-in offer wasn’t so bad after all.

6. Selling a car privately
The other option is to sell privately, where you can escape the showroom dictates, although car issues will still remain issues. Private buyers, however, more often come with a strong desire for that particular car, and also come with vastly reduced resale imperatives. That said, damage is damage, and any buyer will start knocking the price down based on repair items.

The peer to peer arena, however, is more amenable to negotiating around these issues than a car dealership. If all else fails, contact us and we’ll give you an honest appraisal of your best options, based on what we see. Remember, business only exists if it’s fair on both parties. Armed with your initial evaluationinitial evaluation, shop and drive around a little and be upfront about possible issues on your car. If neither a dealership nor the private arena is giving you the results you want, get in touch!
Last edited by kingr on Thu Aug 09, 2018 9:17 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Cst donavan
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Re: 5 Reasons A Car Dealership Offers You A Low Trade-in Value

Post by Cst donavan »

Wat can the selling price be for a polo 2004 model 1.6 .under 200.000 km
Cst donavan
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Re: 5 Reasons A Car Dealership Offers You A Low Trade-in Value

Post by Cst donavan »

Cst donavan wrote: Wed Aug 01, 2018 4:14 pm Wat can the selling price be for a polo 2004 model 1.6 .under 200.000 km
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kingr
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Car Make: VW, Mini, Slowyota
Car Model: Mk1 2 Door, Hilux D/C
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Re: 5 Reasons A Car Dealership Offers You A Low Trade-in Value

Post by kingr »

You can use our online tool to quickly get the value of your car https://www.wheelindex.co.za/car-valuation-tool
Kurt #3337

Current:
- 10" Mx5 NC2 (main daily)
- 12" Toyota Hilux D/C 2.5tdi 4x4 (tow car / vacay)
- 2020 Mini Cooper S Clubman (swambo)
- 80" VW Mk1 2 Door Golf 8vt project 192wkw/314nm

Ex: 07" G5 GTi, 13" ST180, 03" Mk4 2 door 1.8T Stage 2, 07" Velo 1.6, 83" Mk1 GT 2.0 8v MP9, 87" Mk1 1.6 CitiSport, 88" Mk2 2.0 16v, 83" Mk1 GT 1.6 + 40 webers
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