Trading in your vehicle can be exciting. If you aren't buying your next car, you'll be making a bit of money on a vehicle you no longer want or need. Our friends in West Point, King William, and Williamsburg, VA, might not be sure what goes into the process of trading in your vehicle.
To help you figure that out, our financing team at West Point Ford has put together a step-by-step instruction guide. Give it a read!
Step One: Gather Your Paperwork
If you're preparing to trade in your vehicle, the first thing to do is gather any paperwork you have on your car. This includes your title if you've paid off your vehicle. Some other paperwork that might be useful to bring in are:
- Routine maintenance receipts
- Repair documentation
- Accident repair information
You might not need all of this paperwork, but it never hurts to have it. These demonstrate that you've taken good care of your vehicle and it is in better shape.
Step Two: Get an Estimate of Your Car's Worth
Getting an estimate of your car's worth is pretty easy with access to the internet. There are many different appraisal tools you can use to get an overall estimate of your vehicle's worth. This gives you an idea of what you'll be offered at a dealership.
Our dealership even has a tool that uses Kelly Blue Book® values to value your car. Our value your trade tool will give you an estimate to bring with you to the dealership. The trade-in calculator just needs a few details from you about your vehicle:
- Year
- Engine
- Mileage
- Model
Often the time of the year, the price of gas, and even your zip code can affect the value of your trade. If you check the value at one point in the year, it may vary slightly from when you get an estimate during a different time of the year.
Step Three: Clean Up Your Car
When you're preparing to bring your vehicle in for a trade, there are a few things you can do to help increase the value of your car. Cleaning up your vehicle is one. Making sure it looks nice and cared for helps improve the value.
When you trade your vehicle, it's also important to remove personal effects, like garage door openers and phone chargers. It can also help to wipe the navigation history if you have in-vehicle navigation and unpair your phone from the car's Bluetooth® connection.
Part of cleaning up your vehicle can include making small repairs, like:
- Dents
- Brakes
- Chipped glass
Repairing these things typically has a positive impact on the car's value. However, you'll have to decide if you think you'll get enough additional money to cover the cost of the repairs you've done ahead of trading it in.
Step Four: Negotiate and Close the Deal
The last step is to bring your vehicle to the dealership to trade it in. When you do this, someone from the dealership will inspect the car to make sure they give you an offer that reflects the vehicle's value. You have three options:
- Negotiate
- Accept the deal
- Turn down the deal
Once you've negotiated and accepted the deal, it's time to sign the final paperwork. Take this chance to look over everything again before signing. If it looks good, sign away and complete the trade-in process!
Ready to Trade in Your Car?
Whether you're looking for your next vehicle or just want to sell your current one, West Point Ford is happy to help you trade in your car. We can help our neighbors from West Point, King William, and Williamsburg, VA, determine their car's worth and make it easy to trade in their vehicles.
Contact us to trade in your vehicle today!