How To Get The Best Car Trade In Value

Make an appointment for an appraisal with the used car manager at 2 local dealerships: one that sells your make of car (a franchise dealer) and one that does not. The dealers will assess the condition of your car, its age and other factors, and then determine its trade in value.

For example, say you take your Dodge Intrepid to a Dodge dealership. Lets say that dealer knows he can go to a closed auction (permitting Dodge dealers only) and buy an off-lease Intrepid for $2,500 over book value. So he may appraise your vehicle in that range without regard to the various used car values.

On the other hand, he may know that your model has a reputation for being unreliable and expensive to repair. Thus, he may appraise your vehicle for less than book value.

In the meantime, a Toyota dealer's used car department manager may be unaware of all this insider information.

Point is: To get the best car trade in value, shop your vehicle around at different used car departments. It makes a difference!

The BuyingAdvice Team sought appraisals for a 2002 Beetle at Honda, Ford, Volvo and VW dealers used car departments. We received offers that varied $4,800!

Email to a friend

Copyright 2009 BuyingAdvice.com, INC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, or redistributed.

Search By Car Type