There
comes a point in life when you have to face the decision to sell your car. Some
people like to keep their automobile with them until it reaches the end of its
life. While others wait until the vehicle’s repair and maintenance bills
increase or till its warranty runs out.
But
in reality, there is no mileage threshold which can tell you the right time to
sell your wheels. As these days most of the vehicles run without any major
mechanical problem even after exceeding several miles. But there are still many
factors which affect the decision to sell a vehicle.
To
help you out, we have listed below some top tips which will help you to know
the right time to sell your car.
1) Determine the price of your car
This is a very important step which
influences the decision to sell your vehicle. It will help you in making
decision smartly. To find out the price of your wheels, you can browse online
for reputable websites like Redbook.
You just have to input your vehicle information like model, make, age of your
vehicle along with kilometers travelled by it and its condition. These auto
valuation websites will provide you an estimated value of the vehicle.
You can also research the prices
offered by several cash for cars companies on their respective websites. All
this will help you to determine your automobile’s worth.
2) Find out the cost of repairs
In order to determine the right time to sell your vehicle,
get it inspected by the mechanic. This will help you to know all the major and
minor repairs which need to be done in order to keep it running on the road.
This will include current repairs as well as well maintenance your vehicle will
require in years to come.
Major repair and maintenance involves:
- Replacing worn-out tyres, timing chains, car brake rotors and pads, timing chain, suspension parts and water pumps.
- Changing transmission fluids and coolants.
Along
with this also go through the owners’ manual and check the manufacturer’s
recommended repair and maintenance schedules. If you don’t have one, take your vehicle
to a reputable auto shop.
If
you try to avoid these repairs, then it may cost you even more huge repairs. For instance, Timing chain which
controls the opening and closing of valves in the engine. If it gets worn out,
it can damage your vehicle’s engine.
Also, watch out for burning fuel, which means
engine need to be replaced. And also check transmission slipping while changing
gears.
3) Do
some calculations
After
finding out the costs of repairs, sum up all the repairs current as well as
ones that will be required in future. Compare them to the trade in cars value
of your area.
If
the maintenance costs go much beyond the automobiles actual worth, it will be a
smart decision to get it replaced with the new wheels.
4) Consider the previous repair bills
Sometimes even mechanics
fail to give a precise estimate of repairs and maintenance. To avoid such
problems, it is advisable to consider past repair bills also in order to
determine true repair costs.
Add up the costs of previous
repairs, current repairs required and major maintenance expenses that you will
have incurred in coming years. After this, compare this recalculated costs with
trade in value of your car. If it is more than your wheel’s actual price, then
it will be better to get it exchanged with new one.
5)
Other factors
Other than the above variables, other factors
also play major role in deciding the right time to sell an automobile. These
are brand, make and model of your vehicle and market situations.
