Buying a new car is without a doubt one of the most satisfying experiences for anyone. However, what many car owners don’t know is that your car loses its value (sometimes by up to 10 percent) the moment you drive it off the lot. The rate of depreciation is quicker at first but slows low down after a few years.

If you’re considering selling your used car in Houston, TX and are asking yourself, ‘what’s my car worth?’, this post is for you! Inside, we’ll share with you a few factors that dictate the value of a used car. We’ll also show you reliable tools to help you estimate the value of your car.

Let’s dive straight in!

Top 3 Factors That Determine Your Car Worth

The first step when you want to sell your car is to understand its worth. This helps you to make more informed decisions when negotiating with a prospective buyer. A common issue that we face when buying used cars is having owners overvalue their vehicles. This stems from the fact that they know little about how much their vehicles are going for in the prevailing market. This leaves most of them feeling disappointed once we give them a quote.

To help you understand how much your car is worth, we explain three factors that impact your car’s resale value.

Condition of Your Car (Exterior and Interior)

This is one of the most obvious factors affecting the car’s value. A clean, accident-free car will sell a lot higher than a similar one that’s damaged or has been involved in an accident before. Additionally, vehicles with dents or scratches, torn leather seats, dysfunctional electronic equipment, and other related issues are least sought after in the market.

When evaluating the car’s value by condition, consider how much wear and tear it has, the actual damage, and any previous repairs it’s had. In some cases, it pays to repair and replace any broken or missing items to attract a higher price on your vehicle.

Car Mileage

The vehicle’s mileage almost always correlates with its condition. This is because the scope of wear and tear increases as your mileage goes up.

If your odometer reads 200,000+ miles, you might not get a great price even if the car is in mint condition. Lower mileage translate to a higher resale value.

Service History

Having your car serviced regularly helps to keep it in tip-top mechanical condition. If you can present maintenance receipts from authorized car service dealers, they help to assure potential buyers that you’ve cared for it. This too helps to increase your car’s actual market value.

What’s My Car Worth? These Online Car Value Estimators Can Help

There are several ways you can use to estimate the value of the vehicle you’re looking to sell. One such method is to use online car value estimators. These valuation tools give you a car’s price in an instant. All you need to do is provide the vehicle’s accurate details including its registration number (VIN), mileage, exterior condition, and more.

Here are four popular valuation platforms you might want to check out:

Autotrader

This is one of the largest used car buying and selling platforms in North America and Europe. As such, it boasts a comprehensive database of used car values. When using Autotrader, you need to provide the car’s VIN and mileage. Autotrader will offer a guide price based on the average selling price from private sellers and dealers with the same car make and model as yours.

Edmunds

This is another trusted source for online car valuation. Edmunds pulls data from real-world dealership transactions to provide accurate market value pricing. The platform seeks to help consumers get fair and impartial prices for their vehicles and features other innovative tools like a vehicle appraiser.

Kelly Blue Book

Kelly Blue Book offers everything you need to research prices for both new and used cars. As an industry leader, KBB uses nationwide vehicle sales to provide accurate market value of a vehicle. Its easy-to-use online valuation tool displays a wide range of data including trade-in value, retail value, certified pre-owned value, and private party pricing.

NADA Guides

Pioneered by the National Automobile Dealers Association, this platform scrapes data from millions of car transactions to provide approximate values. NADA offers extensive pricing guides for various vehicles, including used cars, SUVs, trucks, and vans. Its pricing estimator can also estimate prices for classic cars, boats, motorcycles, collectibles and RVs.

It’s worth noting that each of these car valuation websites uses unique algorithms to estimate the market value. So don’t be surprised to see disparities in the price that each returns for your car. Even so, the variations are rarely too wide apart from each other.

Sell Your Car to Motors on Wheels

Are you looking to sell your used car fast, conveniently, and at a fair price? This is precisely why Motors on Wheels exists. We buy (and sell) used cars and trucks that are 10 years or younger. But if you have an older car or truck that’s still in good condition, don’t hesitate to contact us for a possible deal.

When it comes to prices, we beat the big nationwide dealers 90% of the time. We pay more than CarMax, Vroom and Texas Direct Auto and Autonation among others. Whether you’re looking to sell or trade in your used car, we’ve got you covered! Stop by Motors on Wheels today or give us a call on 713-660-8666. We’ll be happy to give you an unbeatable offer that matches your car’s worth.