Tips and Tricks for reconditioning your car for trade in?
 

Like many of you, I'll be trading in my car for the FR-S/BRZ. With Scion's pure pricing, it all comes down to the trade-in value of my car so I'd like to get the most out of it.

So, what are you going to do to make your car more attractive to dealers? What do they look for when they do their quick test drive and appraisal? Any links to articles about this?

...oh, and any quick tips or easy tricks to make the car look as good as possible?

Thanks!

All stock , no accidents, interior exterior perfect. Show room quality

They do a walk around the car. They look at the interior, exterior, engine bay etc. They check miles, and other bits. Check to see if the car has been smoked in and stuff like that.

I have a 2012 TC. Had it for about 3.5 months and its got 2100 miles on it. Still in immaculate condition as I'm anal about all my cars. The day I go/the day prior, I will do the same thing I do with any car I've sold/traded in.

Clean the interior/exterior, clean and shampoo carpets, clean up the engine bay a bit, get any papers/trash out and so on. If the car appears to be well taken care of, then they'll assume it was provided everything else follows suit. I'd say just make it as close to what it would look like if you just bought it from the dealer. It might take you an extra 30 minutes or an hour, but if it results in getting you more money for the car you're trading in....I'd say it's worth it.

lol, thanks for the responses. maybe I should have been more specific. I'm really looking for tips and tricks to help make the reconditioning process easier and more efficient!

Make it easier? Take care of the car when you own it. Then spend some time cleaning it up before you trade it in. Not that complex.

Pay someone to detail it. Easy for you, not easy on the wallet though.

The exterior is less important than the interior, a good shampoo/vacuuming can make a huge difference. A car looks well taken care of will make people think it HAS been well taken care of.

If you want the most money for your old car...DON'T trade it in to the dealer

Sell your old car private party. Yeah, it takes some effort, but if it means another one to three thousand dollars...it's worth the time

This. Dealer wanted to give me 4500 for a 2001 Honda Odyssey with 50000 miles. He said he could have done 6500 if it hadn't had a minor fender bender in its history ($1200 damage).

Sold it in less than a week at 7500 and even that was too little I think, but we needed to get rid of it.

Having maintenance records also helps A LOT in private party sale.

Ok so my plans are trade in my tc 2011 for ft86 but idk if this is off topic but can someone give me an advice of what to expect when i go to the dealer ive been paying this car for exactly a year now and when frs arrives ill have like 22 payments made out of 70 which is my loan terms any advice ..... Also my car has very low mileage right now i have 9k ..

Tip for interior cleaning -folex is your friend. Lifts stains in your carpet and any fabric areas in your car incredibly well. I detail cars on the side and have done a couple cars for people before they trade in. Make sure the interior is as spotless as possible. Get a decent all purpose cleaner for the interior, vacuum the crap out of it, and put a nice protectant, I like meguires for an off the shelf product.

As long as the car runs, and isn't too badly damaged the dealer will take the car. However they won't pay a lot for it either way.

My suggestion is to fix it back to stock as much as you can and sell it privately.

Personally I've tried to keep my car stock and in good shape (2002 Civic SI) and have replaced parts and done some retouching. I've replaced both door lock actuators, refinished peeling trim, sanded/refurbished the cloudy headlights, replaced front rotors/brakes, replaced tires, touched up a few dings, buffed out a few scuffs and some other things.

And I still have work to do. My A/C is out and I'm debating fixing it or not. It will help the resale value, but I'll probably wait to fix it until I sell it privately.

How did your AC go out? Mine went out because the line rubbed against the radiator and got a hole AND the condesor got holes in it. :(

How much are you expecting to get out of that civic?