How To Price Your Car

You're all ready to sell your car: it's been inspected, any issues have been taken care of, and you've cleaned it thoroughly inside and out. There's just one hurdle to cross before you can list your car in a newspaper or online: pricing your vehicle. Obviously, you don't want to price it so high that no one is interested. However, you want to get a fair price and don't want to undersell.

Not only does make and model come into play when you're pricing your vehicle, but condition does as well. This is the biggest problem car owners have when they're about to sell their vehicle; understanding the guidelines for determining condition are often interpreted very objectively, meaning a used car dealership, a personal car owner that is selling their vehicle, and a used car buyer could all consider the same vehicle to be in a different condition.

The first step is taking inventory of any imperfections in your vehicle. Be sure that you look inside and out, as well as under the hood. Take this information and compare it to a condition guide. Here is a very general condition guide that you can use:

Excellent
This is generally reserved for new vehicles.
Good
Most used vehicles fall into this category. There may be some very minor issues with the engine that do not significantly impact drivability. Cosmetic damage is very minor.
Fair
The car can be driven, but there are major engine issues that must be addressed. Cosmetic damage needs to be repaired.
Poor
This means that your car is unsafe to drive, and would likely be sold only for parts or as a project vehicle.

There are two other major components of price: mileage and options. Obviously, having higher mileage is going to bring down the price of your car. Look up the average mileage for a car of the same year as yours. The closer you are to this average, the closer you can price your vehicle to the average for vehicles of that make, model, year, and condition.

Added options increase the value of your vehicle. If you are confused about how much to add based on add-ons, look for vehicles with similar features and note how much those specific features raise the asking price above average.

Pricing your used vehicle isn't easy, but it can be done with a little time, effort, and research.

Back To Sell My Car Articles