Car Trade In Value

Used Car Trade In Value vs. Retail Value

Car Trade in value VS. wholesale value, what’s the best way to find out your car's trade in value, learn the secret to sell your car to dealer for top dollars!

Car trade in value and wholesale value are essentially the same. The only difference would be the car’s trade in value CAN BE higher than the wholesale value. To better understand the scenario. We will use a case study to illustrate both terms.

This page is fairly long as I'm trying to explaining the subject matter as precise as possible, so please be patient and read it from the top to the bottom. Then you will have a good understanding of Used Car Values as well as Used Truck Value.

Let’s say you own a year 2003 Toyota Camry LE 4 cylinder base model and you are in the market of buying another vehicle, you went to this dealer and you like to buy the year 2008 Toyota 4Runner Sports Edition that they have on the used car lot.

The term trade in normally implied that you are selling your current vehicle back to the dealership as a TRADE, for whatever the value this dealer appraised for and you intend to purchase another vehicle at the same dealership.

Since you intend to purchase another inventory vehicle of the dealer you visit, meaning the dealership has financial interest on you (as a customer) and your vehicle (as a trade in vehicle and another used vehicle inventory to sell for profit). Therefore, your car’s trade in value will vary based on:

• Profit margin of the used car that you are interested in buying (2008 Toyota 4Runner)
• Trade in vehicle condition, marketability, potential (2003 Toyota Camry)

To make the transaction happen, the dealer would either offer higher car trade in value for your 2003 Toyota Camry which is common practice, or lowered the retail price of the 2008 Toyota 4Runner that you would like to own. Or they will do both to earn your business.

The dealer will say it out loud that they pay you above the Black Book Car Values for your trade. Now you know their secret agenda about trade in value PERIOD! Well of course, if you are from Canada deals will go with Canadian Black Book.

Wholesale Value Is Book Value

Now let’s define the term wholesale value. If you decided just to sell your car straight to the dealer without buying another one, the dealer will pay your car with itswholesale value.

Unlike car trade in value, a car’s wholesale value is how much the car is sold on auctions (auction price), or the value that wholesalers would pay for.

Since this is a single vehicle transaction and less avenue for dealer to make profit. Sometimes a dealer would just print out an auction report to show you exactly how much was the car sold in recently auctions.

Depends on the mechanical and physical condition of your car, the wholesale value can be even lower than the auction report print out. Because there are reconditioning cost, repairs and safety inspections etc.

Should I Trade In or Sell On My Own

Obviously selling it on your own will get you the most money out of your car. If you are not comfortable dealing with private parties, or just not interested in selling by yourself.

Sell the car back to dealer would be your second choice, sure you leave some money on the table, but that’s a quick and easy transaction. Especially for people don’t have lots of time and need to sell the car fast.

If you own an older model cars like 15 years old or older, the car trade in value can be as little as $500 to $1,000.

If the car is still in reasonable driving condition, it’s better for you to sell it privately than trade it in.

If on the other hand you own a late model car less than 5 years old, trade it in for a new car would much easier for you.

I personally recommend automotive.com fast free new car quote services, it takes a few seconds and you will get response within 24 hrs, just enter your name address and contact information, perspective dealers will contact you for the quotes of your desired vehicles. Give it a try and I think you will like it :) Click the link below to begin:

How Much Should I Get

The author of this site always suggests you take your car to a reputable dealership with the same manufacture brand name of your car FIRST. If you own a Honda, take it to a Honda store first. Let theused car manager do the full appraisal, depends on the situation. They might even call a few fellow dealers to get their quote and offer you the final BEST they can ever get.

Then take your car to other dealers and shop around for BETTER price. Check your local newspaper, some dealers advertise they will buy your car regardless whether you buy their car or not. If there's a Carmax Used Cars store near to where you live, go there and let them Appraise Your Car. 

Here's another tip - Check out the classified ad section of your local newspaper. Look for ad says: "We buy any used car under any condition, running or NOT".

Give them a call and let them know if they can offer higher than the one you got, we can do the business. This way you just bump up a few hundred dollars of your trade-in by making a few phone calls.

Do you have any specific questions in regards to used car price guide? Enter the key phrase below and do a custom search within my site :)

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