One of the first steps you’ll need to take as you start to shop for a new vehicle is to learn how much your current vehicle is worth. This helps you determine how much of a down payment you’ll be able to make on your next car purchase, which affects how high your monthly payments will be and how high a final price you can afford. Understanding your current vehicle’s value is therefore a critical part of the purchase process.
If you have some basic details about your current car in hand, learning how much it’s worth can be easy. Here’s what you need to know about finding the value of your car before selling it in Canada, including how to value your car with CarGurus.
How Much is My Car Worth?
- Understanding Depreciation
- Other Factors that Affect Vehicle Value
- How to Calculate Your Car’s Value
- Get an Offer for Selling Your Car Online
- Why is My Dealer Offering Less for My Car as a Trade-In
Understanding Depreciation
When you buy a brand new car, its retail value is what it’s worth—that is, until the second you drive it off the lot. As soon as you do that, it’s a used car, and people instantly expect to pay a lower price for it because someone has owned it (that someone being you). The longer someone else owns it and the older that vehicle gets, the lower its value will be on the used car market. This phenomenon is known as depreciation.
A new vehicle’s value takes an immediate hit after you drive it home, and that drop in value continues to be steep for the first 6 to 12 months of ownership. The drop slows in the second and third year of ownership, and it starts to level off more from the fourth year onward. This is why age is such an important factor in determining what your car is worth.
Generally speaking, though this isn’t a hard and fast rule, luxury vehicles (such as Audi, BMW, or Mercedes-Benz) tend to depreciate more dramatically than mainstream vehicles (such as Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Kia, Nissan, or Chevrolet).
Other Factors that Affect Vehicle Value
Several more factors can affect how much you’ll earn on a used car sale.
Vehicle Make and Model
For example, make matters. If a car is manufactured by a brand that has a reputation for longevity—Toyota is a great example of this—potential buyers will likely be willing to pay a higher sale price for it.
The model, of course, matters a great deal. If it’s something that’s in high demand, it will pull a higher price. On the other hand, if your car’s nameplate is one that’s frequently stolen in your area and insuring it is therefore expensive, interested buyers may expect you to be more willing to negotiate a lower car price.
Mileage
Your car’s odometer reading relative to its age is very important as well. Even if your car has a meticulous service history and driven your vehicle as gingerly as possible, buyers will be skeptical about the car’s condition if you’ve put 30,000 to 40,000 kilometres per year or more on it.
Car Condition and Market Conditions
Condition matters as well. If there are outstanding repairs such as dents or parts replacements that will need to be addressed by the new owner, that buyer will expect to pay less for the car to compensate.
Overall market conditions are another factor to consider. If there are plenty of used cars on the market when you’re trying to sell, you may need to price your vehicle more competitively than you would at a time when inventory is more scarce.
How to Calculate Your Car’s Value
By following just a few quick steps, you can find your car’s value in no time and have all the pricing information you need to negotiate with confidence.
First, gather your car’s information. If you have easy access to its VIN, this may save you some time. If not, you’ll want to pull together the year, make, model, trim level, current odometer reading, and your postal code.
Next, enter the details into the CarGurus Instant Market Value calculator. Visit the CarGurus Canada Instant Market Value calculator and enter these details. A few seconds later, you’ll have a free car valuation.
That’s it! It’s that easy.
Get an Offer for Selling Your Car Online
An alternative method for finding out what your car is worth is to source an offer from an online. CarGurus has partnered with Autozen to offer a 100% online sell my car service in Canada. Simply visit our Sell My Car page, enter your vehicle details, and you’ll receive an estimated quote. If you’re interested in selling at that price, the next step is to book an appointment to have an expert from ?? to come to a location of your choice to inspect the vehicle (including taking some photos of it), and collect a few final details from you. From here a listing is created and sent to our network of dealer partners who can then bid on your car. Within days we’ll let you know the best price offered and arrange for you to be paid and for your car to be picked up.
Why is My Dealer Offering Less for My Car as a Trade-In?
It’s rare for a dealer to offer you the same amount for your car as you’d get if you sold it privately. After all, the dealership is going to need to spend money on preparing the car for sale, advertising it, and paying its staff for their time. The person completing your car valuation may also interpret its condition differently than you do and foresee higher costs in getting it ready for sale. Plus, the dealer leaves room to make a profit from its own resale value.
Whether saving yourself the hassle of going through a private sale and taking a lower price for your trade-in is worthwhile is entirely up to you and your needs. If you hope to get more for your car, you may decide to put the time and effort into selling it yourself to a private party. If you don’t want to deal with the time and expense yourself, taking a lower asking price from the dealer might be a better plan. Either way, the CarGurus Instant Market Value calculator and Sell My Car online service give you an important ballpark to work within for your negotiations to ensure you get a fair price for your used vehicle.