What’s Best? – To Trade in or Sell Your Used Car? This is the age old question that every vehicle owner will eventually find themselves asking. There are a few benefits and to each so let’s examine these so that you can make the best decision possible when looking to sell your old vehicle.
Trading in your car:
This has been said to be the easiest out of the two options due to the following reasons:
- Dealers of used-cars obviously would want you to trade in your used car as it means that they can make more of a profit from it when the resell the car to its next owner.
- Trading in your car usually does not take a lot of time and can sometimes even be a same day transaction which means that you don’t have to sit with your car for weeks or even months looking for someone to buy it. This means that you also do not have to deal with the new owner of the car directly after you have traded it in to a dealership which can be a very handy thing as you are no longer responsible for the vehicle but rather the dealership is.
- You can bargain with the dealer over the cars trade in value, especially if you know exactly what condition your car is in. Some dealers will try and make a quick buck by saying that there is x, y, and z wrong with the car and will therefore offer you a lower trade in value. However, should you have taken a car to get it assessed by someone else beforehand you can use this as a bargaining tool.
Selling your car:
Although it may be easier if you trade in your vehicle, you may want to consider selling your car before you determine the answer to the question: What’s Best? – To Trade in or Sell Your Used Car?
Firstly, selling your car yourself generally results in you receiving a higher price than you would if you were to trade in the car. However there are certain things that you need to consider before you opt for this route. For example, if your car is in poor condition, you would need to try and fix it up before you sell it in order to get a good price. This therefore requires you to determine if the car is worth all of the effort and if you can afford to spend the time working on the vehicle. Another issue that you may encounter when selling your car privately is that you are now legally obliged to inform any potential buyer of any possible defaults that they may incur. This is due to the new Consumer Protection Act which has come in to play. Should you not fully disclose all of the details of the car and the next owner finds fault with it, you are then liable for the expenses to repair the fault.
Another issue that you could face is that you may not sell the car quickly and if you advertise your car in an Auto Trader or in the classified section of a newspaper, you may end up being inundated with calls to come and view the car. This means that you need to be available for people to come and view the vehicle and this can be very time consuming.
Selling your car privately and doing all the leg work yourself is not your only option however, you can still sell you car privately but use a dealer to do all of the advertising and showing of the vehicle. This is called selling by consignment and will result in you not having to do all of the leg work but involves you paying the dealership basically an administration fee for advertising and showing your vehicle to potential buyers. This way you may lose out on a small amount of money but you can still receive a higher price for your vehicle than you would have if you had traded it in.
Ultimately the best thing for you to do when you are faced with selling or trading in your used car is to weigh up the benefits and the negatives of each and determine whether or not you are looking for simplicity or if you are looking for a higher selling price. This will help you determine which option is best for you.