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How Much is My Car Worth?

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Planning on insuring, selling or trading in your car? You’ll no doubt be asking the internet ‘how much is my car worth?’ And, we imagine, hoping for the best (read: highest) possible answer. As it happens, there are several ways to value your car, depending on what you’re planning.

You may want to try a few of the different methods then cross-reference outcomes to settle on a happy medium. And if you’re selling, you’ll want a top-notch result but whether it’s ‘worth’ your asking price will depend on whether a buyer is happy to pay it.

Whatever the purpose, here’s a shortlist of valuation methods to give you the best idea of your car’s worth.

3 ways to check ‘How much is my car worth?’

With the pandemic putting hiccups in all supply chains, the price of cars has gone up faster than it would’ve otherwise. So if you’re selling in the current climate, expect a good price. However, you might end up forking it out again and more to replace the vehicle you sell…

Whatever your cause, in this article we’ve listed several ways to assess the value of your car.

Here they are:

  1. Resale value
  2. Trade-in value
  3. Replacement value for total loss
assessing how much is my car worth comes down to it's upkeep

1. How much is my car’s resale value?

Most of the factors that count towards the value of your car are hard and fast. Like details to do with its current state, service and maintenance history, and kilometres driven. If you’ve kept all your car care-related paperwork from services, details and repairs, this helps your assessment along.

Here are the key factors that can count toward the assessment of your car’s value:

  • Make
  • Model
  • Year
  • Variant
  • General condition
  • History

There are several free and paid online tools that calculate your car’s resale value. You’ll want to do a bit of homework and a bunch of cross-referencing. Try out these three free online car valuation tools: Red Book, Car Sales and Drive.

When you’re selling your used car, another surprising factor that counts toward buyer opinion can be the colour of your car. The safest car colours are often the most sought out. It’s something to consider when buying a car for the first time too – here are some tips for first time car buyers.

Wanna know more? Then read how to get the best car resale value and how to sell your car fast and still get the best price!

2. How much is my car’s trade-in value?

The general rule of thumb is to expect a bit less for a trade-in than for a private sale. After all, the process of trading in your car is relatively pain-free when compared to selling it privately.

You get to avoid having to take calls from people you don’t know, make time on workdays and weekends to meet them and have them try out your car, answer all kinds of questions and bear with the process as they pore over every detail. And best of all, you avoid having to haggle on pricing before signing over ownership.

The price of not having to do all this means trading-in to a dealership tends to result in a sale value of about 10-20% less than you can get selling privately. Find out how to get the best value on your car trade-in.

woman asks how much is my car worth if I sell it?

3. What is my car’s replacement value in insurance?

When it comes to buying a car insurance policy, you need to select which option suits your pocket and your long-term prospects. i.e.: what kind of fix will you be in if your car gets written-off? BTW, the laws on what constitutes a total write off vary slightly between states and territories.

Put simply, a vehicle is ‘written-off’ when it’s been so badly damaged it’s not safe or economical to repair.

So, a car can be repairable and still be considered a write-off. It comes down to cost of repair vs cost of replacement/insurance . Now, back to replacement value…

The replacement value of your car depends on the premium you’re willing to pay towards your car insurance. Because like most investments (insurance being a security investment), the more you put in the more you get out.

You can choose between market value, which is the resale value of your car at the time of claiming. Or your can choose the agreed value. This is an amount you decide your car is worth, which must be reasonable so your insurance provider can agree to it.

Read ‘what is the replacement value of my car‘ to help you make the best decision.

How much is my car worth with car insurance

Knowing the difference between replacement value, market value and agreed value is useful information that will help you choose your car insurance plan. Because just like every person is different, so is every insurance plan. We’ll tailor your policy and your premium to your budget and your needs.

Get a quote online now, and become a PD Insurance customer. You’ll love how fast, easy and reliable our online insurance is.

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