Get the Maximum Trade In For Your Used Car

How to Get Top Dollar for your Trade In Auto retailer loves trade-ins. in general, they will have far less money in the car they traded you out of,  which of course means you get less. Sell it on your own. You will usually get a lot more.

If you decide to go ahead and trade, the appraiser will establish the cash value for your car. The basis of the value is the condition and current market value salted with some tries to convince you it's not worth the price the appraiser gives you. You should feel good about the deal. "RIGHT!!!"  The car lot where you are doing business will more than likely use the a little black book that established used car prices based on auctions across the region you are located and updated on a continous basis.

Below are several tips on how to get the most out of your car if you trade or sell it yourself

Make sure your car is attractive as possible. 

Have the car detailed before you sell or trade. Everybody is impressed by a clean shiny car.

Always keep your car out of the new price negotiations until the price of the new car has been settled. Then add the trade back into the deal and stand back for another round of talk and some mad salespeople. That is when you know you're starting to win.
Click here for more on selling your car yourself

Establish the value of your trade in your self

Now for the pricing. Do some homework the N.A.D.A. Guide,  Edmunds Automotive Buyers Guide and Kelly Blue Book are good sites with current pricing information. Also you will want to check local newspaper ads, and even Car Dealers at different locations. Also you can go down to the Library and check the Kelly Blue Book or the N.A.D.A.book. The Black Book information is a little harder to get for the average public but if you can obtain a copy it is the leading source of appraisals of car lots.

Ask at least $500 more than what you want. Buyers will expect to negotiate the price.  When you do, it gives the buyer a good feeling (( Win-Win ))

Call different auto places that appraise autos. If you're trading a Ford in for a Chevrolet call the Ford dealer for example.

Used Car Black Book

What is Black Book?
Black Book, the industry-leading source of used-vehicle evaluations, is a service of the National Auto Research Division of Hearst Business Media Corporation. Since 1955 thousands of automotive dealerships and lending institutions have counted on Black Book's data to determine precise values for used vehicles. This data is presented in electronic and printed guidebooks, and in a recent year Black Book distributed more than 6 million of these pricing guides to its business clients.

Price your car the way a dealer would.
If you need to know exactly how much a used vehicle is worth, Black Book is your best bet. It is much more than an annual guide of average vehicle prices. Updated constantly, Black Book takes into account mileage, vehicle condition and factory extras of cars that have sold as recently as last week! No other guide offers this level of service to the dealers.

How does Black Book determine prices?
Black Book's team of auto experts harvests fresh data by visually inspecting the used cars, truck and vans sold at auctions throughout North America every week. The mileage and selling price, along with vehicle condition, equipment and trim levels, are recorded and rushed to Black Book headquarters in Gainesville, GA. From there, Black Book editors take into consideration numerous factors -- including weather conditions at the auctions, number of similar vehicles on the market and the prices from previous weeks' sales -- before updating the vehicle values.

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