How to Find the Value of your Car Before Selling

How to Find the Value of your Car Before Selling

Posted on October 1, 2021

If you’re planning to sell your car, coming up with a realistic valuation is one of the most important tasks you have to take care of. That’s what we’re helping with today.

Whether you want to sell your car to a dealership or privately, knowing how to find the value of your car can help you assess any offers on their merit rather than guessing, which makes life easier for everyone!

How to Find the Value of your Car

The first piece of advice we usually offer anyone planning to sell a car is to separate emotion from value.

If you have had the car for any length of time, you may be emotionally attached to it. You may have had good times in the car, it may have taken you to some amazing places and help you create fantastic memories.

None of that matters to the new owner.

Valuing a car is all about the nuts and bolts and its market value. While it may sound harsh, you have to forget everything else and view it as the asset it is.

Your memories will always be with you but someone has to buy the car.

So, your first task is to look dispassionately at your car. Look at the condition, mileage, any issues and be honest about how it compares.

We can sometimes have a blind spot where we don’t always see the real picture and that’s the case with cars. That’s especially the case when we are emotionally attached to it.

So, before you go out into the market to compare prices, remove the emotion, be honest about the condition of your own car and factor that into your valuation.

Market value of cars

We have a favourite selection of sources to help you assess what your car is worth. They are Carfax, Kelley Blue Book, Auto Trader, eBay, Craigslist and Kijiji. There are of course other sources but as most of us use these to buy stuff, it’s a good place to assess market value.

To properly assess market value, you need to compare apples to apples. That means comparing the exact same make, model, trim and year of car. If you can get close to the colour and mileage too, that can make a difference.

Colour impacts the value of some cars more than others so it’s something to bear in mind but don’t worry if you cannot find your exact colour match.

Valuing your own car

Now you have a good idea of what the same car sells for online across Canada, you can begin building a valuation for your own vehicle.

We would recommend valuing it in the middle of the range, unless yours is particularly good or bad. That way, a slight movement up or down with an offer won’t hurt so much.

Now you have an idea of what your car is worth, you can bring it in for a valuation if you want to sell your car to a dealership or prepare the ad if you want to sell privately.

Once you receive an offer, you have the knowledge and evidence to back up that valuation if a buyer tries to beat the price down!

For any questions, concerns, or inquiries. Please don’t hesitate to contact us here!

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