A lot of assets, like art and jewelry, increase their value as time goes on. Unfortunately, cars are not one of them. In fact, cars tend to age faster than almost anything you can buy today, so when you buy a new car with an intention to sell it in a couple of years, you should be prepared for the fact that in a decade it may be worth much less than you originally paid. However, there are some ways to increase your car’s resale value, and today we’ll show you the most effective techniques.
Buy and sell cars safely on JiJi
Consider the brand
The first thing any car buyer pays attention to is the car’s manufacturer. This info comes before the age and condition of the car, so you should find out how the brand of your car affects your chances of selling it at a high price. For instance, Japanese cars like Toyota and Lexus are famous for keeping their value, while British and German brands like Land Rover, Volkswagen, and Mercedes Benz can last you for decades under the condition that the vehicle is well cared for. With these brands you can get up to 60% of their original price in up to 5 years since the purchase, although a lot of less popular brands retain less than 35% of their value in the same time period.
Maintenance and repair
Having a properly functioning vehicle is one of the things that help you have a safe and secure ride whenever you need. However, when a vehicle is well cared for, it can also improve your chances of selling the car at a good price level. Before you take photos of your car to post an ad on JiJi, or take your vehicle to the used car market, take a good look at both the car’s mechanics and general look.
Any chips, cracks, dents, broken or deteriorated parts, should be resolved in order to get a great price for your vehicle. Otherwise you’ll just give the potential buyer more room to negotiate the price, pointing out the imperfections and asking for a discount, which means you risk making less money from the sale.
Choose the paint color
There are situations where it’s best to repaint the vehicle before putting it up for sale. Painting the car is a great way to get rid of defects and give your car a visual kick. But be careful with the paint color you choose. For example, flashy colors like metallic reds, pinks, neon yellows and other bright hues can potentially lower your resale value due to the lack of customers with similar tastes.
Better consider a safe color – black, silver, gold, white, khaki, dark blue are all popular colors within all kinds of buyers. Plus, they are practical and durable – therefore your resale value will definitely win from the change.
Go easy on customization
With movies like Fast and Furious and games like Need for Speed and Grand Theft Auto, it’s very easy to get carried away by customization opportunities and end up with a vehicle that looks like a tuning monstrosity instead of a car that will definitely sell well when you put it online. Before you put on another device on your vehicle, stop for a minute and think how the change will affect your car’s resale value.
People searching for a used car are usually looking for a family-safe, practical vehicle that can be used equally well in daily commute, long road trips, and driving your family around town. For this reason a typical buyer is less likely to purchase a vehicle filled with additional devices and customization units. It can be years until you find the buyer, and by that time your car will lose even more of its resale value.
Mileage
Mileage is another aspect that greatly affects the end price for a used vehicle. You can have a physically flawless car in a perfect condition, but if the mileage exceeds 200,000 km, the resale value will not be as high as you’d like it to be. Of course, you can’t voluntarily lower your mileage, but you can make the decision to sell the car before it loses most of its value.
Generally, a car scores 13,500 km of mileage every year, so as long as your actual number is within 13,500, you will be fine, but if the mileage is dramatically bigger, be prepared to sell your vehicle for less than you originally expected.
