Trading In or Selling a Car

Should you trade in your old car or try to sell it yourself?

Deciding whether to sell your old car or trade it in is a matter of personal preference. Depending on what’s important to you, either of these options may work well for you.
 

There are advantages and disadvantages to selling your car yourself.

The major advantages being you will probably get more money for the car and won’t have to haggle with a dealer to get a fair price for the car. However, selling a car takes some time. You will probably have to spend some money to advertise the car, and you will have to deal with phone calls and visits from prospective buyers. If you really want to get the best price for your old car, or if you just don’t like negotiating with car dealers, selling the car yourself is probably your best option.
 

Trading in your car is much more convenient than selling it yourself.

You can drive to the dealership with an old car and drive out with a new car. However, you do pay for this convenience. You may not get as much money by trading in as you would by selling the car yourself. Also, you will probably have to negotiate with the dealer to get a price you consider fair.

Trading your car in is probably the best solution if you’re looking for the smoothest way to dispose of your old car. This is especially true if your car isn’t worth much. The extra money you would get by selling it probably doesn’t justify the extra effort you would have to expend.
 

How do you know how much your old car is worth?

You should do your homework before you sell or trade in your car. Several sources offer used car pricing guides, which can help you determine a fair asking price for your car.

One of the most common is the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Official Used Car Guide. Another source of information is the Consumer Reports Used Car Price Report. You can get up-to-date information on the selling prices of various used cars in your part of the country.

When you’re ready to purchase a new vehicle, we have competitive auto loan options to help you drive off the lot in style.