How to Get the Most Out of your Car Trade

Car trade in is all about appearances. If your is car filled with empty water bottles, newspapers, empty donuts boxes, and covered with a year’s worth of road dirt, it will look neglected. Getting the most money for your trade is in your primary goal.There are two steps to this process: cleaning up your car and figuring out your trade-in value. Assessing trade-in is very easy with the Internet. Cleaning up your car can be done two ways. Either take the car to a detail shop for cleaning or do it yourself. Whatever your choice, your car needs to be clean. Not a simple wipe down, but a complete cleaning of your car. Assuming your car is mechanically sound, here are the steps for cleaning the car inside and out and assessing your car’s trade in value before visiting the dealership.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bucket
• Car wash soap
• Towels
• Sponges
• Trash bag
• Car interior cleaning wipes or spray cleaner (Simple Green works well)
• Vacuum
• Carpet spot remover
• Rags
• Window Cleaner
• Paper towels

How to Get the Most Out of your Car Trade

1. Wash the outside of the car thoroughly, including the wheel wells, wheels, and tires. Pay particular attention to the cracks and grooves of your car. Dry the whole car with clean towels. Take your car for a quick spin around the block and then dry any areas with water droplets.

2. Pop open the hood. Use a wrung-out sponge to wipe accumulated grime from the inside of the hood of the car. Wipe the visible inside panels of the engine compartment (same color as the body paint). Open all the doors for a good wipe down of the door ends. This includes the actual door and the painted surfaces inside the edge of the vehicle.

3. Clean out every bit of trash in the vehicle. Check under seats, in seat pockets, trunks, cup holders, etc. Everything should be removed from the car except the owner’s manual and insurance information in the glove box. Remember that your plan is to trade your vehicle. Don’t leave anything in the car.

4. Vacuum thoroughly under the seats, in the small cracks, and between the seats. If your seats fold or slide forward, vacuum there too. Quite frankly, the appearance of your vehicle can make the difference in hundreds of dollars at trade in. Use household spot removers to clean marks from the carpets and mats.

5. Wipe down the entire interior of the car. Seats, dashboard, consoles, door panels. Scrub stubborn spots. If your interior is fabric, try to use carpet spot remover to remove the spots. And if necessary, vacuum the seats themselves to remove crumbs and dirt. Clean the inside and outside of the windows thoroughly.

6. Now you’re ready to do some research. Use a Internet search engine to check your used car price. This is the best way to get a ballpark figure for your trade. Most sites ask for make, model, and accessories. Mileage and an honest assessment of the condition of the vehicle also figure into the trade-in value. This is very subjective which is exactly why you need to visit a few sites to make sure you have an average. Try searching on “used vehicle pricing.”

7. There are three types of pricing: low retail, clean retail and high retail. Retail price is the cost to buy the car off the dealer lot. A low retail vehicle has excessive dents and visible wear and tear on the car with body and needs mechanical work. Clean retail reflects wear on the vehicle commensurate with the car’s mileage. Glass and tires are in good condition and all power options should be working properly. High retail is a flawless vehicle with high gloss paint, minimal wear on carpet and upholstery and a quick engine start. Mileage on a high retail vehicle should be low. See! Cleaning your car inside and out wasn’t in vain.

8. Print out your information and take this to the dealer with you. If you’ve cleaned your vehicle and armed yourself with research about the true value of you car, you’ll be able to negotiate a fair trade in.