How and When to Sell Your Car for More

When it comes to selling cars, the main goal for many car owners is to get the best price possible for their beloved rides. It’ll be even better if sellers can make a profit. But is making a profit on a car even possible in Singapore?

The short answer is yes, but it’s a lot harder to profit from selling your car as factors such as how and when you sell your car will impact its valuation. This includes the method you choose to sell your car, your car’s depreciation rate, its COE, and even current COE prices.

So if you want to find out how and when you should sell your car, then you’ve come to the right place! First off, let’s start with the impact of current COE prices on the market.

How Do COE Prices Affect My Car Valuation?

A car’s valuation is based on a number of different factors like your mileage, number of previous owners, and many more. But one important factor that greatly affects a car’s valuation is actually something that’s not even on your car. And that’s the current COE prices!

If COE prices are high, the valuation for your secondhand car will also be higher. This is due to simple supply and demand economics. When COE prices are high, potential buyers will shift their attention to the used car market as used cars are cheaper. However, as the demand for used cars goes up, the prices for these cars will go up too!

So if you want to make a profit from selling your car, then selling your car when COE prices are high would be a good idea. But this only works if your car’s COE is significantly lower than current prices, and if you don’t plan to buy another car, or already have a second car registered. Otherwise, buying a second car, either brand new or used, will still even out the cost and you won’t exactly be making a profit.

What About Depreciation?

The rate at which your car depreciates is arguably the most expensive cost of car ownership, which is why this is an important consideration if you want to make the most out of selling your car. Additionally, the rate of depreciation is not consistent throughout the course of 10 years. Instead, from the get-go, your car loses a chunk of its value once you leave the dealership lot. The rate of depreciation remains high in the first 3 years of ownership and only “evens out” from the 4th year onwards. This is also why you don’t see a ton of 1 to 3-year old cars on the used car market!

So when should you sell your car to minimize your losses on depreciation?

Most experts would say that selling your car from the 4th year onwards would be ideal as the rate of depreciation would steady its course from the 4th to 8th year. Selling a car that’s 4 to 8 years old will allow you to fetch a good price for it as it should still be in relatively good condition with a decent amount of COE remaining.

However, you might want to consider the wear and tear of certain car parts as your car starts to age. This would potentially result in higher maintenance costs as you might need to replace or repair certain parts. So getting rid of your car before it incurs these additional costs might be a good idea, and depending on the particular make and model, there should still be demand for it.

Which Car Selling Route has the Best Returns?

There are a number of ways for drivers to sell their cars and each method comes with its own pros and cons. You can sell your car on your own to a direct buyer, go through a consignment agent, or via car auction networks or bidding platforms where buyers will bid for your car.

To better understand the benefits of each method, check out the table below where we rank each of them based on returns, time spent, and difficulty of the process.

Pros and Cons

Selling your car to a direct buyer would get you the most returns as you’d be doing all the hard work and you won’t have to factor in dealer fees or pay someone to help you sell your car. From handling the paperwork, advertising your car, and managing viewings and price hagglers, there’s a lot you’d have to do!

Is the extra hassle worth it? It’s hard to say for sure as it depends on how much time (and patience) you actually have to handle the entire process!

Also, consignment services are an easy way for you to sell your car as the agent handles everything for you. However, there will definitely be a trade-off. This trade-off will be in the form of payment to the consignment agent, which then affects the amount you get to take home.

Fair Valuation, Simple and Easy Process

Selling your car through a bidding platform offers good value for time spent, and it’s a simpler process compared to the other options you have. However, selling your car on these platforms doesn’t totally protect you from unscrupulous tactics where buyers would haggle prices, lowball offers, and the hassle of dealing with various buyers.

So if you’re looking for a way to remove this aspect, then CARRO is the place to be!

Selling your car through CARRO takes away all the hassle that traditionally comes with car selling. There’s no need for you to go from dealer to dealer, you’ll be protected from any unscrupulous tactics to lowball you and you’ll only deal with CARRO throughout the process. Additionally, there are no hidden fees or transaction fees involved, so you’ll get to keep the full valuation of your car!

When Should I Sell My Car?

It’s an age-old question that many ask, but there’s no one size fits all answer to this. Just like the reason for buying a car differs from driver to driver, the reasons behind selling a car would be different too. For whatever reason, if you NEED to sell your car, then don’t wait too long as your car is a depreciating asset. The longer you take to sell it off, the more you’d lose in the valuation.

Now that you are aware of market factors that can affect the valuation of your car, the different methods that’ll get you a good price, and factoring in depreciation in your decision, this should give you a good basis to make a better decision for when is the best time to sell your car.