How to value your car to sell it
The price you ask decides how fast you sell and how many time-wasters you meet. Ask too much and the car sits for weeks; ask too little and you lose money. This guide shows a simple way to get to a sensible asking price using what is publicly known about the market.
1. Collect the facts about your car
Write down: make, model, generation, year of manufacture, engine and fuel, gearbox, mileage, number of owners, equipment, and the state of tyres, body and interior. Gather the service book and invoices. The more you can show, the more a buyer will trust the number.
2. Find the market range
Look up your make, model and generation in the market statistics and note the median and the range (25th to 75th percentile). Remember that these are asking prices from ads, not sale prices. See “How to use the market prices” for how to read them.
3. Look at a few real ads yourself
On the advertisement sites, look at ten or so cars that match yours as closely as you can: same generation, similar mileage and equipment. Compare their asks with the range. This shows you what your direct competition looks like.
4. Adjust for your car
- Mileage: clearly below the typical mileage for the year supports a higher ask; above it pulls the ask down.
- Condition: be honest about dents, rust, worn tyres, warning lights and anything that needs work soon. A buyer will find them.
- Service history: a complete, documented history is worth real money. A car with no history is worth less, for the same reason it is riskier.
- Equipment and extras: air conditioning, driver aids, a second set of tyres on rims can all justify a little more.
- Papers: a clean title, valid registration and no outstanding fines or loans make a car easier to sell.
5. Set an asking price and a floor
Buyers negotiate, so leave room. Choose an asking price inside or slightly above the middle of the range that fits your car, and decide in advance the lowest price you would accept. Do not tell the buyer your floor.
6. Watch the response and adjust
Many calls but few viewings often means the price is too high or the photos are weak. Many viewings but no offers can mean the car does not match the ad. If after two or three weeks you have no serious interest, lower the price in a clear step rather than a few euros at a time.
A valuation tool is on its way
We are building a tool that estimates what a car is worth from the market statistics. It will be announced here and in the tools list when it is ready. Until then, the steps above give you a defensible price.
A word of caution
Market statistics describe asking prices of many cars, not the value of yours. Neither this guide nor our statistics are a valuation or a promise that a car will sell at a given price. For a high-value or unusual car, consider an independent appraisal.
Tools for this post
- Market statistics – Asking-price ranges by make and model.
- Value my car – What cars like yours are asking, and where to start.
- Fair price – Usual advertised price of a model.
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