What affects the value of my part exchange?

This might seem complicated at first or you may expect a salesperson to come up with all sorts of reasons why your beloved, soon-to-be gone, old reliable is not worth what you thought but it's very simple. If you were buying it, what would you think?

Now, if you've decided that it's time to move the car onto someone else because it is making weird and wonderful noises or will need pushing onto the forecourt, then chances are that it is going to be worth far less than you'd like. But, if you're looking at new vehicles because the 2-seater convertible is not practical for a young family or it's time to upgrade to something with a bit more grunt, now the insurance costs are finally affordable, then chances are that you've been taking care of your potential part exchange and are in a good position when it comes to its value.

Mechanically speaking

Before anyone gives you a figure to work with, they'll want to give it a once over and make sure there aren't any major issues, if the vehicle sounds, looks and feels ok then the next step is trying to work out how well looked after it has been.

Your typical car has over 10,000 moving parts and you can't inspect every single item but you can look at a vehicle's servicing history.

Full service history (FSH) gives any prospective buyer confidence that the vehicle has been well looked after (you can see how servicing or a lack of can affect a vehicle in our previous post) and what work has been carried out. Think of it as a car's c.v., if you had an employment gap of 3 years someone would probably wondering what on earth you'd been up to? It's the same with missing service history, if you haven't had someone checking the vehicle over periodically then all manner of horrors could be waiting for the next owner. If your vehicle has had the same oil swilling around for several years or never had timing belts checked then the odds don't look good. It could also be that the manufacturer has issued a minor tweak, recall for a certain part or just a routine software update that could be missed and cause complications later down the line.

On the other hand, if your vehicle has been serviced every 12-18 months by a reputable garage, with service stamps to back it up, then we can be really confident that it is in good condition.

Full Service History might seem like a thankless task of trying to find paperwork before selling a vehicle but could cost you at least 5-10% of the vehicles value!

Matters of the Heart

Getting a part exchange price from a website is one thing but these are usually based on a standardised price vs. your mileage and a poor to excellent condition but it doesn’t necessarily factor in desirability.

Colour, specification, extras, driver assists and technology all play a part in how desirable a car is. When buying new, you may have been willing to forgo certain luxuries to meet a budget but with a used car, all those expensive extras are that much more affordable. It's no surprise that cars with touchscreens, sat nav, leather seats, parking sensors, B&O speakers etc, etc, are snapped quicker than their more basic brethren. Simply put, you will get more for your vehicle if someone really wants it! We've all justified spending hard earned cash if we wanted something badly enough!

The flip side here is that car with a more Spartan specification list may not be as desirable and therefore worth less to a potential buyer. By no means does it mean it won’t sell but be prepared to adjust your expectations on what you might finally receive.

As with any car that’s been used on the road, there is going to be the odd surface scratch, a stone chip here or there and other minor scuffs that you’d expect under normal wear and tear which is always factored into the value. Naturally, the less wear and tear the more your car is worth.

So, why is any of this important to us or any dealership?

We are always looking for quality pre-owned cars, that meet our high standards, to join our forecourt before finding a new home. All cars that leave our forecourt come with our Peace of Mind promise, which means that we are staking our reputation on the quality of that vehicle.

We don’t leave this to chance and carry out rigorous checks on all vehicles (you can read about that here), whilst every vehicle we buy has the potential to require thousands to become fit for sale, we’d rather buy the vehicles that don’t as it means you get great part exchange price and we don’t spend weeks in the workshop trying to find that rattle!

The more cynical readers may think, “yes but surely you just slap a price in the window and don’t mention any issues?” but we can promise you that Norman Motors wouldn’t be celebrating over 65 years of service if we cut corners!