How to Know What Your Vehicle is Worth
Pricing your vehicle correctly can result in a faster sale and help you to negotiate pricing. Many potential buyers research prices when shopping, so, if you ask for too much money, you aren't likely to receive phone calls or emails about your sale. If you're trading your vehicle to a dealership toward another purchase, knowing your vehicle's trade-in value before you have your car appraised puts you in a better negotiating position.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Gather your vehicle information. You'll need your car's year, make, model, level and mileage. Check your vehicle over for any features that might increase its value, such as leather, alloy wheels, sunroof or DVD player.
-
2
Appraise your vehicle at Edmunds.com, the Kelley Blue Book and the NADA Guides websites. All three guides offer different values. You'll need a median value to determine a fair cost for your car.
-
-
3
Enter your Zip Code; values differ by area. Choose the appraisal type you want to research. Trade-in value is the same as wholesale value, private sale refers to any non-dealer sales and retail value refers to dealership sales.
-
4
Choose the correct year, make, model, level and mileage for your vehicle from all websites. Check the correct engine and transmission combination for your car, as many models have various paired options. If you aren't sure of the size of your engine, check your title or insurance information.
-
5
Choose any additional vehicle features from the options list. This list shows available options for your car that didn't come as a standard option from the factory. The original purchaser paid extra for the features you see listed, and they increase value.
-
6
Enter your vehicle's condition. Read over the explanation of each condition thoroughly before making a decision. Inputting an incorrect condition can change a car's value by thousands of dollars.
-
7
Add all values together and divide by three to obtain a median value for your vehicle. Print the values from all three appraisal guides so you can show how you determined your fair value.
-
8
Check local classifieds and dealer websites for like-vehicles. Appraisal guides don't take current market conditions into consideration. You might find that your vehicle is currently selling for more or less than appraisal guides suggest.
-
1
