Considering Resale Value While Buying a Car

Somehow, you want to have a new car and you wish to trade in your car immediately. Or you probably want to resell your car in order to get your money. But, whether you want to resell or trade in your car, it is important that you consider the resale value of your car just in case it gets depreciated or it has better value.

You can read these following guide in order to understand more about some factors that may influence your car resale value and the best ways to keep its value.

Consider the Car

What is exactly resale value? Resale value refers to some amount of money that you will get just in case you want to trade in your car or resell it. The fact shows that most of the car buyers even never think of the value of a car when they want to purchase it until it may depreciate since they have bought the car until they resell it.

Anyway, selling your car to others may be profitable, but you actually never know about it. Somehow, the value of your car will depreciate and you will not get profit from the car selling at all. There are some common mistakes that car buyers often make relating to resale value.

• They do not conduct a research on the car they want to buy
• They do not determine the resale value of the car before making the purchase.
• They usually buy from an unknown dealer with a bad reputation.
• They buy cars that may have a bad reputation.

If you are seriously looking for resale value of your car, then check out Kelley Blue Book which determines the worth of a used car from the real-world used car prices.

Resale Value Factors

Buying the right car is not the only factor that can influence the value of the car, but there are some other factors that may influence your car value, among others:

• Geography– A car may be quite famous in a specific location

For instance, a convertible will have bigger resale value in Southern California compared to Wisconsin.

• Climate- if the condition is cold, 4 wheel drive vehicles and trucks have bigger resale value.
• Color– Choosing a special color of a car can make it difficult to resell such as green or yellow color, so choosing the standard color is better to maintain the value.
• Upgrade and Options– The value of a car may also be affected by some features of the car, such as:

 Leather seats.

 CD changers.

 Sunroofs.

 Automatic transmissions.

Meanwhile, there are a few features that may not influence the value of a car, including:

 Navigation systems.

 Upgraded stereos.

• The Current Economy– a Resale value of a car can also be influenced by the current economy. Today, the economic condition is good, but you have no idea the condition in the upcoming future. When the gas prices are low, the car resale value may be high and vice versa.
• Supply and Demand– Limited production car which is known to be more reliable will get a high demand and it can increase the value of the car reselling. Conversely, you probably find it difficult to resell cars with high production numbers or when the cars are considered from breaking down.

How to Improve Resale Value

Now, you know that there are some uncontrollable factors that can give a big impact on the resale value of a car. But, you still have a chance to improve your car value by following these tips:

• Always keep the interior and exterior of the car clean
• Don’t park under the direct sunlight exposure to protect the car color
• Keep away from other cars when parking to avoid any scratches and dings

Don’t forget to change the oil and bring to an auto shop for maintenance regularly

• Don’t smoke or eat while you are inside the car

How to Calculate Resale Value

Maybe, you want to know how valuable a car is when you want to resell the car. Here are a few things that you may do:

Try to get the detailed information related to the car you want to purchase such as:

• Mileage
• Manufacturer and model
• Features provided
• Condition
• Transmission, engine size, and modification.

Conduct online research

o You can check a similar car on the internet which is comparable in:

• Model and Make
• Mileage
• Location

o After getting some similar cars online, you may write down the prices of each car.

Now, you can find out the average price of the car by adding the all similar prices and divide it by the car number.

• Finally, you get the average price of your resell value
• Now, you can try to check the price on Kelley Blue Book and compare it.