In the course of our conversation he indicated that he would like to trade in his current vehicle for this car. He proceeded to list the various features of the vehicle along with numberous accessories and upgrades that he had added over the years.
We appraised the vehicle through our normal channels, made some calls to buyers who would be interested in that particular brand and suggested that he would be better off selling the vehcile privately. With his upgrades, the vehicle was somewhat unique; a private buyer would appreciate these upgrades whereas a dealer would see these as time and money.
Accessories don't add a tremendous amount of value when you are trading in your car or truck! You may ask why this might be? Someone has paid good money to have an accessory added and yet it makes little difference in trade value. When a dealer takes a car in on trade they look to market the vehicle in such a way to appeal to as many potential buyers as possible. Many of these upgrades appeal to a niche market and would actually make the vehicle more difficult to sell. Some accesories might actully be removed before putting them out on the lot for sale. Doing this represents time and labour by the dealership which means they actually have to put more money into the vehicle before they even get to the reconditioning process.
It often happens that customers are optimistic in regards to the worth of their vehicle. Don't let the bling of shiny accessories lure you into the belief
that you will get your money out them! They are fun to have but more for the personal satisfaction than long term value!
