Media Post: How to improve the resale value of your car
You’ve already gone through the stress of buying a car and now when it comes to selling it, you’ve realised there are more new headaches coming down the road. Everyone loves a good bargain and they will be on the hunt when looking to buy a car themselves. On the flipside, you as the seller want to get the absolute best bang for your buck. There are a couple tips and tricks to help you along the way that will help increase the value of your car.
Four Quick, Easy, and Inexpensive Repairs:
There are some very simple fixes you can make to your car before listing it to sell. The buyer will look for any excuse to decrease the value of your car so take these easy steps recommended from Kelly Blue Book itself in order to get the most of your car. These 4 simple fixes are fairly cheap, take little time, and will prevent the buyer from having any minor reason to haggle with you:
1. Replace your lights: If you have a broken head or tail light it’s a very simple fix and will improve the value of your car to the buyer. It takes only a few minutes to replace and you just need the replacement bulb and a screwdriver to fix.
2. Fix any chips or cracks in your windshield: Any chips or cracks in your windshield will equate to major money to the buyer of your car. In reality, getting these little dings in the glass will be fairly cheap to fix.
3. Replace your breaks and tires: When a buyer checks out your car, they will look at the wear and tear on your breaks and tires. This is typically a general reflection on the overall wear on your car. If your car has high mileage on top of worn out tires, expect them to ask for a fairly hefty reduction in price.
4. Repair major dents and scratches: Most used cars will have minor dents and scratches but if your car has anything that stands out significantly, expect to get those repaired yourself to save money. Getting dents out and scratches hidden is typically an inexpensive fix but will greatly improve the appearance of your car to the buyer. Installing a vinyl wrap may help reduce scratches and damage to paint as well.
Keep Records and Reports
Every car needs standard maintenance and keeping records of these can help show the buyer that you’ve been taking care of your car properly. Typically a buyer will bring a mechanic to check your car for glaring issues and to check that the car has been properly maintained so it’s better to be prepared with your records if an issue is brought up.
Just like your credit score, your vehicle identification number (VIN) report is important. This report includes the history of your car such as owners, accidents, and servicing. Every buyer typically looks at this before purchasing and if there is a discrepancy in the VIN it’s easier to contact the company to change the error opposed to trying to persuade the buyer that it’s a mistake in the system
Upsell Money Boosting Options
Although you can’t change many of your options already included in your car, you can upsell these options to the buyer in order to increase the value of your car. The Chicago Tribune has a comprehensive list of options that can help or hurt the value of your car when reselling. If your car has the following options be sure to mention them as they persuade buyers to pay a bit more for your car versus the same one without these options:
- Premium tires
- Better upholstery (Such as leather)
- Convenience items in trucks
If your car has fairly standard but optional features such as remote keyless entry, power locks, power windows, and tilt steering wheels it most likely won’t bump your car up too much in price but may still be worth mentioning.
