How to Get the Maximum Value for Your Trade

How to Get the Maximum Value of Your Trade

How to Get the Maximum Value for Your Trade

Tips from folks at Fred Martin Superstore

 

Naturally, when you sell your used car to a dealer you would like to maximize the amount of money they pay for it. How do you do this? Easy: make your car look as attractive as possible! Although you are unlikely to increase the value of your car dramatically, because dealers work with standard wholesale car values, you can almost certainly get several hundred more dollars for your trade when it looks nice. Bottom line: it’s worth your time to spruce up your car, or truck, before you trade it in.

 

Here are a number of things you can do to maximize the value of your car before you trade it.

Things you can do outside of your car to maximize trade-in value

Put on new wiper blades – Are your windshield wiper blades old? Replace them with a nice new set. This won’t cost you very much and when the your dealer’s used car appraiser turns them on, they will operate smoothly.
Touch up any minor paint blemishes  – If you have minor scratches or chips in your paint, dab some touch up paint on them. For major blemishes or dents, of course, either get them professionally repaired or leave them as is as the appraiser will discount for this.
Polish foggy headlights – The plastic covers on most headlights today get cloudy over time. While they still work fine, they make a vehicle look old and worn. If your headlight lenses are foggy and scratched, most of the time they can be restored with special headlight polishing kits. Your local auto parts store should have several in stock.
Make sure your tires are good – If your tires are old and worn, it might make sense to shop for some local deals and get them replaced before you trade. Appraisers generally take off a fair amount of money to replace the tires on trade-ins. They really have to because they can’t resell a car with worn tires.

Things you can do inside your car to maximize trade-in value

Detail the interior – A nice clean car is going to bring you more money than a dirty car. Now this doesn’t mean you have to shell out hundreds of dollars to a professional detailer. You can do it yourself. You can get cleaning sprays at most grocery and hardware stores, along with paper towels, and then – clean away. For fabric seats you can get special cleaning compounds to remove dirt and mild stains.
Clean out all the compartments – Make sure you get all the trash out of your console and glove box that has been collected over time. Vacuum them out and leave the owner’s manual, and spare keys in the glove box. And, for your truck or rear hatch, clean this area too.

What do I clean under the hood?

Clean the engine compartment – Over time, engine compartments naturally develop a film of dirty oil on all surfaces. Fortunately, there are several varieties of degreasing compounds that you can buy, such as Gunk Degreaser, that you used to make your engine compartment nice and clean again. If you’ve never used an engine degreaser, you will find they work really well.

Top off your car’s fluids – Your dealer’s appraiser will lift the hood and check your car’s fluids. Make sure you get them all topped off. If you’ve had a recent oil change, leave the maintenance sticker on the windshield. This is also a good sign that you keep up with the preventive maintenance on your car. That’s a good thing to an appraiser.

In the Akron, OH area, contact the folks at Fred Martin for your automotive needs!

Fred Martin Superstore is ready to help you out with all your automotive needs. Whether you want a new vehicle, used vehicle, Fred Martin will pay you an excellent price for your trade. And, as this article illustrates, a good, clean vehicle will help you maximize its value.
You can also browse our website to view all our new vehicles or visit us today at our Norton, OH location.

We look forward to hearing from you!