There are numerous sites online that provide you with an automated free car valuation, such as Parkers Guide, What Car, Autotrader, CAP, Glass Guide, HPI or We Buy Any Car, to name just a selection. The question you probably ask yourself is why do they all differ in their free car valuations so much? There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, it's impossible for a computer to 100% accurately value a car and secondly they are just opinions anyway - at the end of the day, everything is worth what someone is prepared to pay.
At SellCar, we will not offer you an estimated car value. Rather, we will put considerable work in on your behalf so that we are able to offer you a firm offer to purchase, subject to final viewing. Simply Request a Quote from us to find out how much we will pay.
HOW YOUR CAR'S VALUE IS CALCULATED
Let's speak in Estate Agency terminology, for a moment. If you were to ask an Estate Agent how much your house is worth and then ask how much they will buy it for, the second figure will be lower than the first. If they then come to view your house and discover it needs, for example, a new roof, then the third figure will be lower than the second figure. If, prior to exchange of contracts, a like-for-like example goes on the market in the same street for a lower price, then the fourth figure offered will quite likely be lower than the third.
Depending how old you car is, your real car value might also be impacted by changing deals and discounts on new versions of your car. For example, if you have a one year old car and, overnight - as is often the case - the manufacturer decides to increase the discounts available on new models then, depending how much the increase is, the value of your one year old model might need to be reduced pro rata. Please note, these changes in new car bonus's can amount to thousands of pounds not hundreds!
A change in the overall market or just the used car market will also have an impact on a value, but not always as expected. For example, if there is a decline in new car sales then sometimes certain used car values will increase as less part-exchanges are generated and vice versa.
Supply in excess of demand. Well, the value of everything is driven by supply and demand. If the former outstrips the latter, values decline. In the motor trade, a fleet operator (for example, Hertz the car rental company) might decide to de-fleet a few thousand Fiat 500's. This will result in a decline in the value of said model until the excess supply is removed from the market.
When calculating what your car is worth we also need to take into account exchange rates, as most cars are manufactured outside of the UK.
The above are just a few of the factors influencing any car valuation. The offers to purchase quoted by SellCar take into account as many of the above as it is possible to take into account. We buy any car up to 8 years old and 80k miles. For more information please see How It Works and Why Sell To Us. Simply Request a free car valuation to find out our qualified and therefore accurate purchase offer for your car.
WHY IS AN AUTOMATED CAR VALUATION NORMALLY INACCURATE?
Any automated vehicle valuation tool will need to obtain it's data from somewhere. Normally this will be data that was accurate a few weeks ago but isn't any longer. It is latent data....unless the technology that drives the quote also takes into account all the above previously mentioned factors as well as others that we have not mentioned.
To Request a Quote for a qualified car valuation from SellCar simply enter your vehicle details where indicated or email the Purchasing Team at enquiries@sellcar.co.uk.