How Much Is Your Car Worth Right Now?
While used car prices may have stabilized in August , demand is still very strong due to a lack of supply, with the average average listing price rising 34.3% from last August. Even if you don’t intend to sell your car, it is always a good idea to check your assets to see how much they might be worth – and it doesn’t take a lot of effort.
Why is the used car market so hot?
Supply problems associated with the pandemic have led to a decline in the production of new cars, which in turn has led to an increase in the demand for used cars. CarGurus has put together a tool that shows how prices have risen depending on a particular model and brand, and each graph shows a rather sharp increase. With prices so high, now is the time to sell your used car or rent it out for profit (read more about how to do this here ). But before you can do that, you need to first find out how much your car is worth.
How to find out how much your car is worth
Fortunately, there are many websites where you can estimate the value of your vehicle for free. All you need is the following information:
- The make, model and year of your vehicle (if you are not sure, refer to your owner’s manual).
- Your location
- VIN or license plate of your car
- Your mileage
You will also need to add some more whimsical details like the color of your car (fancy colors work surprisingly well in the aftermarket), as well as full consideration of its features, including any custom updates like fancy tires.
For quotes, you can visit appraiser sites such as the Kelley Blue Book , the National Automobile Dealers Association site, or the Edmunds site . The estimated price for your car will vary from site to site as they all have different ways of calculating the cost, but it should give you a rough figure to work with.
Clark Howard, a popular consumer consulting expert , recommends Carvana’s pricing tool because he claims that the company that primarily sells cars over the Internet offers the most accurate pricing of any valuation site. Whatever you choose, it doesn’t hurt to run your information on more than one site for a quote. Plus, if you’ve bought a car from a car dealership, check and see what they have to offer – you might get more than you think, as car dealerships are desperate for inventory.
Different ways of determining the “value” of a car
Car value estimators will give you different numbers depending on how you plan to sell your car. These include:
- Retail Value : At what price the dealership will sell your vehicle in the used car retail market.
- Exchange cost : how much the dealership is willing to pay you for your car; this number is usually well below retail value. The difference in price explains the dealership’s job of transferring ownership and conducting inspections. In fact, selling to a car dealership is a convenient way to quickly unload a car, but you have to pay for it.
- Private resale value: How much you could earn if you sold your vehicle yourself. This usually makes you more money than the cost of the exchange, but you have to do all the work to line up a buyer and negotiate a sale price, which will take you more time.
To find out which option is best for you, check out this post on our sister site, Jalopnik .