How Do Dealers Value My Trade

What’s Trade-in Value? The Basics

First, before we discuss how dealers value your trade, let’s discuss what trade-in value is.

When you decide that you’re ready to get another car, you need to figure out what to do with the one you currently have. You could go through the many steps of selling it yourself. For a simpler experience, you can trade in your car at a dealership.

Trading in is basically selling your vehicle to a dealership instead of an individual. The dealer will give you an offer to buy your car based on its condition and other factors. You can then use this money the dealer gives you to purchase another model from their inventory.

Trading in is convenient because it saves you time and you can pick out a new car the same day you sell your old one!

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How Dealers Value Your Trade: Model, Market Conditions, and More!

When our team values your trade, we consider several factors to make sure the offer you get is fair. Three things that we always have in mind are:

• Local supply
• Local market demand
• Estimated value

When you use our online Value Your Trade tool, we’ll give you a market report for your car based on these factors. Local supply refers to how many vehicles of a particular model are for sale in the nearby area, while local market demand refers to how many people in this location want to buy your type of car.

If your trade-in is a car that many local drivers want to buy and there aren’t many among local dealer inventories, that makes your trade-in more desirable to potential customers. Furthermore, our team will want to know about the specific condition of your car. If your car is in optimal condition with low mileage, that’ll boost your trade-in value.

These are the factors we consider when determining your trade-in value. We always want to be transparent with our customers, so you can understand what goes into this process.

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How to Boost Your Trade-in Value: Put Your Best Wheel Forward

Trade-in value does indeed depend on current market conditions, but there are things that you can do if you want to boost the trade-in value of your car. Dealers value your trade based on your car's condition, so taking care of your car is an easy way to boost value.

If you stay on top of your car’s maintenance, that makes your trade-in more desirable to the dealer. Not having to perform maintenance or repairs saves the dealership time. You'll benefit in the long run if you follow your vehicle's maintenance schedule, because not only does that maintain optimal performance, but it also ultimately boosts its worth as well.

Did you know that simply keeping your car clean boosts trade-in value? Having a vehicle with a polished look helps potential buyers see all the possibilities this model offers. Simple actions such as washing your car or vacuuming the interior can result in a higher value.

Just like you like to look nice before you go out, your car should look nice before you sell to a dealership.