How to Trade In a Car

Getting ready to upgrade? Whether you decide to buy from a dealership or a private seller, we’d love to buy your used car. Learning how to trade-in a car is quick and easy, and we want you to get the best deal that you can get. Even if you end up going elsewhere, the steps laid out below will serve you well and help you drive home to Jersey City or Fort Lee with confidence.

How to Trade In Your Car: Step-by-Step

The used car trade-in process consists of three simple steps:

1. Get one or more estimates of your car’s current value.
2. Schedule an in-person appraisal with a dealership that accepts trade-ins.
3. Negotiate or accept your trade-in offer, and secure cash or credit for your next purchase!

It’s really that simple. However, if you don’t trust the people that you’re working with, it’s possible to end up with less money than your vehicle is actually worth. Keep reading for our best tips and tricks on how to maximize the value of your trade-in.

Estimate Your Car’s Current Value

There are a wide variety of tools that you can use to estimate your vehicle’s trade-in value online! Kelley Blue Book® has one, and Edmunds does too! Here at Land Rover Englewood, we’ve partnered with KBB® to provide quick and easy trade-in valuation directly on our site! Not sure where to start? It’s never a bad idea to get multiple estimates.

Why should you take advantage of our tool when selling a car to a dealership? Just for starters, it’s usually easier to get a good deal if you take care of everything you need to do in one place! Our tool combines KBB’s vast knowledge of used cars with our own hands-on experience in the pre-owned market, so you can be certain that our estimate reflects both local and national conditions.

Schedule an In-Person Appraisal

New York City area drivers who take advantage of our trade-in valuation tool will receive an email with their estimate. Of course, since all estimates are pending until an in-person inspection takes place, we’ll also invite you to come into the dealership, where we can take a closer look.

While you’re here, we’ll inspect your model’s condition, and look at how well it’s been maintained. If there’s room for it on our lot, we’ll make you an offer right away. Remember to bring in your estimate (or estimates) so we can reference it during our appraisal.

Negotiate or Accept a Trade-In Offer

So, you’ve got your offer. You may already be aware that it isn’t necessarily the final one. If your offer isn’t as good as your estimates led you to believe it would be, it never hurts to negotiate — especially if you can back up your argument with evidence of other similar sales. Of course, not all dealerships will want to negotiate with you. Still, many are willing to meet you where you’re at!

The best case scenario occurs when you’re selling a car that’s yours and yours alone! That way, you can put all of the money directly towards a new or new-to-you model. However, there are a couple of alternative scenarios you should be aware of:

• If you still owe money on your current vehicle, you can use the trade-in money to pay off whatever remains of your loan. The rest can go toward your next ride.
• What if the trade-in offer isn’t enough to pay off your loan? In those cases, a dealership with an in-house financing department may be able to roll over your loan, so you only have to worry about one monthly payment.

Trade In Your Vehicle at Land Rover Englewood Today!

Ready to take the next steps? We know how hard it can be to off-load a model that you’ve lived with and loved, but we hope that you’re just excited about the trade-in process as we are. Contact us today to learn more, or set up your appointment today.