The following car price guide has a selection of 'top tips' you should bear in mind when valuing your car for a sale.
Car prices will vary depending on a number of factors. So how do you set the right price for your car? Set it too high and you will turn buyers away but if it is too low you may lose out on a good deal. Striking the correct balance when selling a car is the key. Set the right price and the car will almost seem to sell itself.
Remember there are a number of factors that will determine the value of your car including; Make and model, Age, Mileage & Fuel type, C02 emissions, Equipment, such as electric windows, alloys, air conditioning, seat heaters, sat nav, Overall condition, Colour, Rarity of model, Number of Previous Owners, Fuel Type and Documented Service History.
Take some time to read the following and you'll be one step closer to selling your car at the best price possible.
Car price guide
- Research - When it comes to establishing your car’s value, look around to see what other people are charging. Whether you're selling a 2000 Ford Focus or a 2013 Audi R8, take the time to do some research before you set a price. Search online for cars of the same age, condition, mileage and those with similar extras.
- Allow for a dealers profit - Cars sold through a dealership will typically cost more than those offered for sale privately so favour cars being offered by private sellers when arriving at your price.
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Ask a professional to give you a guide price
Ask a professional to give you a guide price What do the professionals offer? - Take some time to visit a dealer to get an idea of your car’s trade-in value. Be sure to visit a main dealer for your current brand and one for a competing marque. You'll get an understanding of what your car is worth based on the part exchange values they are prepared to give you. Remember that often this part exchange value includes an element of wiggle room on the list price of the new car.
- Timing - Seasonal fluctuations can influence prices. An oversupply of convertibles on sale in summer will lower selling prices similarly the threat of a bad winter can mean demand for 4x4s soars. Timing is everything! Watch the classifieds and try to gauge how many similar cars to your own are on the market and how long they're advertised for before they're snapped up.
- Haggle Room - Leave yourself some room to manoeuvre with the price, e.g. you want to sell your car for €5,000. You should list it at about €5,750. With more expensive cars, you need to leave more room, so to get €15,000 you should list the car at €16,500.Be prepared for your prospective buyer to haggle. It's part of the process and not something you should be offended by.
- Be Realistic - Above all. Be realistic. Setting a realistic price for your car is essential to ensure a speedy sale. An unrealistic price will drag out the process and in a lot of cases will put buyers off completely making it harder for you to sell your car later even when you do drop the price.
- Take the Cash? - Check out some of the online 'cash for cars' calculators. Mooney's have a useful one here that will give you a great idea of the cars current cash value in the trade. Prepare yourself for an offer that's on the low side but remember it is a cash offer and one you can always come back to later if need be.
Price and Valuation tools
If all of the above sounds like a lot of hard work you might like to know that on Motorcheck we offer our own independent car price guide. It's a quick and easy way to value your car online. Simply enter your car's registration number here and we'll automatically identify the car, find 'like for like' examples of cars that have recently sold on our database and issue you with our own independent valuation.