When considering trading in your vehicle we as the buyer need to put a value on it. We use several different sources to establish this.
The first step is a vehicle appraisal. This includes a road test and a walk-around of your vehicle. We are looking at your paint to see if perhaps the vehicle has been repainted. If it has been repainted we want to know why. We are inspecting the wear on your vehicle. We want to see how much reconditioning it will need to sell it, or in some cases if it will need too much to repair what the estimated repairs will be so we can wholesale it.
After the inspection we will do a few things such as pulling a car proof. This will indicate if your vehicle has been in an accident or has any insurance claims on it. If a car has been damaged and repaired it is viewed by many buyers as inferior and is therefore devalued. Banks also put a restriction on this; if there is a claim of $5000 to $8000 dollars on your vehicle that also affects the value any banks won’t finance the vehicle meaning whoever buys the vehicle will have to be a cash buyer.
We will Canadian Black Book the vehicle to get a wholesale value; we will also pull auction reports. These reports will show any up-to-date current report of similar vehicles and what they are being sold for. We will then get a dollar value of what the market indicated your vehicle is worth. We minus out any reconditioning and that will determine a trade-in value. Trade-in values can appear to be all over the board and can be confusing to the customer.
So could you get more for your vehicle privately? You probably could, yes. No dealer will pay retail for your vehicle. They might show you more based on discounts but the market indicates what your vehicle is worth.
Whether buying or selling nice, clean, well-kept used vehicles always demand the most money and used, beat-up vehicles demand the least. So let your legacy start here at Legacy Dodge.