What to Know Before You Get a Car Appraisal Wellesley MA

A car appraisal is the best way to determine the value of your car. Car appraisals are common among people who plan to sell their car, plan to buy a specific car, or who need appraisals for insurance or insurance claim purposes. If you are going to get a car appraisal Wellesley MA in the near future, you will want to consider the following guide that will help you understand what you need to know.

Why You Need a Car Appraisal

You may need a car appraisal for several reasons. You may need an appraisal before you can get insurance, especially if you are going to get stated value or agreed value insurance where the value has a significant impact on the type of insurance you will receive. You may need an appraisal before selling your car to a private buyer, since it will help give you a general value to base your price on; or you may need an appraisal before letting a dealership buy your used vehicle so that you can enter into negotiations.

What Can Impact Appraisal Value?

There are many factors that can influence a car appraisal. The most significant factors that the average used car owner will need to know include:

• Year:The year of your car can make a big difference in the value, especially for certain makes and models. Unless your car falls into the category of being a classic car, older cars tend to have less value than newer cars.
• Make/Model:The make and model of your car will also play a role in its value. Certain makes and models are considered more valuable than others, especially if they are considered to be high quality and high performing cars.
• Condition:Naturally, the overall condition of your car will play a significant role in its value. The condition will include the mechanical condition (such as engines, brakes, etc.); functional condition (such as features like working heat/air condition); and cosmetic condition (such as paint jobs). Some types of condition will be more important than others; a bad paint job, for instance, has less impact on value than non-functional brake pads.
• Features:If your car has any additional features, this may impact the appraisal value as well. Some features can add to the value and others may detract from the value. As a rule, features that add to the value can include built-in GPS, sunroofs, safety cameras, whereas features that may detract include heavy amounts of personalization such as personalized engravings.
• Previous Damage:If your car has been damaged in an accident or through fire or flooding, then this may impact the condition to a significant degree. You must also consider whether or not the damage was repaired and if so, the quality of the repair, as both these elements will impact value.

How to Get a Car Appraisal

If you want to get a car appraisal, there are three key ways:

• Estimated appraisal based on book or web values
• Dealership appraisal
• Private third party appraisal

Whatever option you choose, don’t forget to remember the key factors listed in this guide that will influence your car appraisal value.