In our opinion the best way by far to value your car - is to "do it yoursef". Obviously it's not as simple as it sounds, but with a little common sense and a point in the right direction, you could be finding yourself with an accurate valuation in no time

 Valuing Your Car:

When it comes to valuing your car the market is so big and so diverse that it is near impossible to gain an accurate valuation using only one source. Thats why, Carbay, as well as providing you with detailed reviews on valuation providers out there, are offering you a basic yet working guide on how to value your car.

Step 1: A great step to begin your quest for a valuation would be to visit a website which offers to buy your car - giving you a trade valuation. www.webuyanycar.com for example.

Step 2: You now have a bottom line price that you know you car is definately worth more than. If possible the next step should be to get a valuation from an official valuation guide. Glasses for example. Car dealers will use such books to aid them in valuaing your car so the retail price recommended for your car would usually be around what a dealer would sell the car for.

Step 3: You now have a bottom line price (usually around £2000 less than the true value). And you have a rough idea of the price that a dealer would sell your car for (this price is probably an accurate yet pessimistic valuation, of your car). The third step would be to look for similar cars on Autotrader. The car market is always changing and so are car values, so you need to be aware of what other people are selling the same car for (in terms of selling - these are your competitors).

The price you see on autotrader would usually be slightly higher than a valuation guides (glasses) guide price.

Step 4: Before concluding your search for a valuation though there is one more thing to take into account. And this is whether your car "ticks boxes":

When deciding whether your car ticks boxes you need to think what boxes potential buyers of your car will be looking to tick. These metaphorical boxes, include, leather seats, alloy wheels, fsh, low mileage, sat nav. If your car does tick these boxes then you can obviously be more demanding with the valuation / asking price, but if your car doesn't tick the boxes that cars in the same price group are ticking then you may need to reconcider the price.

 Will servicing my car myself effect its value?

The quick answer to this question would be "no", but of course different cars, and different buyers will always differ slightly. In general if selling to the trade the servicing doesn't usually make a whole lot of difference to the valuation, and the honest truth is that dealers often don't take much notice in these facts until they have already bought the vehicle. When selling privately, people do like to see service history and many people may be put off by no official service history.

Tips:

When servicing your car yourself, ensure that you keep all receipts, for everything you do. Before hand, attempt to research what needs doing to your vehicle on each due service, ensuring that nobody has any reason to devalue your car. A self serviced car - can be attractive to a private buyer, with the correct receipts, it can show that a vehicle is well looked after.

Untill the manufacturers warranty is over, it is recommended that all servicing is done through authorised garages. The value of a car which still has manufacturers warranty will be higher than a car without, and self servicing can void your warranty.

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