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How to Maximize the Resale Value for Your Used Car

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Used car marketing and how to get more for your vehicle.

You own a car and want to sell it, but what you have decided not to do is to trade it in for a new one. That’s a good move because what a used car dealer will give you in a trade is often less than what you might get through a private party sale. Still, setting a price for your used wheels can be a bit of a challenge, therefore consider the following points as get your ride ready for marketing.

Understand Your Local Market Conditions

Toyota Tacoma X-RunnerWhere you live will have a bearing on how fast your used car will sell and for how much. If you own a convertible, you should be able to fetch top dollar in southern California, but not so in Wisconsin. If you live in Florida and own a 4×4, you will find demand weak nearly everywhere across the Sunshine State.

Know your local market and target your vehicle to people that may want to buy it. For instance, if you own a compact used car that is in decent shape, it may appeal to a college student or to a family in need of a second car. A minivan or crossover can make for a great family vehicle while a classic sport coupe may appeal to collectors.

Find Out What Your Vehicle Is Worth

2014 Chevrolet Silverado High CountryYou have determined that there is a market for your used car. That is good! What you need to figure out next is what your car will fetch in your market. You can discover that price online by checking out the pricing guides offered by Kelley Blue Book or Edmunds.com, plugging in your information including the make, model, model year, options, mileage, condition of the vehicle and where you live.

Note that you may find multiple prices listed. One price will be your car’s trade-in price, the other its private party value. If you have accurately pinpointed the car’s condition, your price will come in somewhere between the two. Of course, the higher the asking price, the more room for negotiation — provided that you don’t set the price too high and scare off potential buyers

Survey Your Local Market

BMW 435iWe already discussed selling certain types of vehicles in markets that might not be a perfect fit. You can’t do anything about where you live, but you can survey the market to find out what is selling in your area.

Visit popular online vehicle selling sites such as eBay Motors and Craigslist to learn what is being marketed. Attempt to find your make/model vehicle or one similar to it in the listings. Find out how it is being priced and whether bids are being received. Look at the competition and then set your price accordingly.

To move your vehicle fast, set the price below its market value. You will attract more shoppers and may be able to negotiate a higher price if several buyers step forth.

Explore Your Marketing Options

Pontiac GTOConsider pricing your used car for an unusual amount to attract buyer attention. For instance, if your car’s value is $7,500, you may want to run an ad retailing it for $7,496.04. The odd pricing, especially if featured in the title of your ad, will draw more attention to your listing.

Your listing should be complete, offering as much details about the used car as possible. Plan to upload at least 10 photos of your car including pictures of its exterior with close up shots of the wheels, fascia and rear deck. Inside, show the seats, the carpeting, the dashboard and other special features including the navigation system. Lift the hood to show how clean the engine bay is. Highlight the vehicle’s strong points in your listing and don’t forget to include your contact information.

Smart Selling Considerations

BMW M6Know that buyers will want to scrutinize your used car carefully before making an offer. Make those appointments during the day or in the early evening before the sun goes down.

Allow the buyer to take your used car to a mechanic if requested, but use your judgment if you fear that your vehicle might get stolen. You can always accompany the buyer and be present when he speaks with the mechanic too.

Prepare to negotiate in earnest with a bottom selling price in mind. You won’t reveal that number to the buyer, but it is something to keep in mind as your negotiate. Once you settle on a price, accept cash for your vehicle, sign over the title, remove the plates and notify DMV and your insurance company that you sold the car.

See Also — 8 Reasons to Avoid a Particular Used Car

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Diesel Resurrection: How Volkswagen Might Win Back Customers

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Five ways Volkswagen might salvage its US operation.

Volkswagen is in a world of hurt, but that pain is entirely of the company’s own doing. While some have been making pronouncements that the automaker as we know it is finished, others believe that something can be salvaged. I, for one, stand in the latter camp. To that end, there are several conditions Volkswagen must meet in a bid to win back customers. It all begins with transparency and continues by building trust.

1. Never deflect blame. Thus far, Volkswagen has accepted blame for the emissions scandal, although it does not yet revealed who is to blame. Affected customers don’t care — they want to be made whole. There will come a point when we’ll learn precisely how the cheating scandal was conceived — a clear and unequivocal response from Volkswagen is the transparency required at this point.

five2. Buy back the affected cars. Unless the fix Volkswagen creates preserves both performance and fuel economy, diesel customers will always feel that they were deceived. Drivers operated their vehicles under the impression that their cars were clean and efficient. Volkswagen breached that trust. Therefore, providing a buyback program is a start with customers, then free to buy a heavily discounted new Volkswagen or take their check to a competing manufacturer. Unless Volkswagen offers an aggressive program in the United States, its hopes of ever improving beyond a market toehold here will be set back, perhaps permanently.

3. Drop the price of new diesels across the board. Volkswagen is the largest seller of diesel cars in America. Shoppers spanning all brands will wonder if any diesels are worth the cost. Volkswagen cannot do much about general perceptions, but they can begin to change impressions for the Volkswagen brand. One way to do that is to offer diesels as a no extra cost option, perhaps for one year. Certainly, Volkswagen will take a hit with each sale, but they’ll build goodwill and allow owners to reap the highest residual values.

4. Extend the powertrain warranty. So far as we know, the diesel scandal has nothing to do with the engine’s long-term durability. The problem has everything to do with manipulating emissions testing to deliver results that are a flat-out lie. Volkswagen can build customer confidence by matching the Hyundai-Kia 10-year, 100,000 mile warranty on all of its models, regardless of the engine type. Also, they should back date the warranty coverage to 2009 for the affected diesels that customers choose to keep. Chances are expanding the warranty coverage won’t cost Volkswagen much, but it could earn the brand much-needed respect and the sales edge that has eluded it in the US for decades.

5. Back strong emissions standards worldwide. The Volkswagen scandal exposes the weak and inconsistent testing practices of the EPA and other government environmental agencies around the world. A related matter that will need to be tackled is just who should be doing the testing. Likely, we’ll witness all automakers consenting to government testing instead of being allowed to submit their own tests for approval. This change should include the EPA mileage testing. As a result, Volkswagen must back tough emissions testing or at least provide evidence that their vehicles don’t contribute to smog and climate change, at least at elevated levels. Certainly, this a topic rife with political posturing and gamesmanship, but Volkswagen lost whatever edge it had before the scandal was made known. It would be best to back tougher emissions and find other ways to demonstrate environmental leadership than to give any appearance that they’re not sorry for polluting with abandon.

Time Will Tell

For Volkswagen, time is of the essence, especially as they restructure the company, determine the cause behind the scandal, and work diligently to regain the trust of their customers.

There is a chance Volkswagen will remain a permanent “also ran” player in the US market, but they dare not abandon it. The company is heavily invested with its lone US manufacturing plant in Tennessee and also has two other important brands to protect, Audi and Porsche.

Speaking of the other brands, maintaining a safe distance apart from the Volkswagen brand is critically important. In addition, Audi A3 owners with the 2.0-liter TDI engine will also need to be made whole.