Will Detailing Increase My Car’s Resale Value?
When it’s time to sell your car, it makes sense not to spend dollars on things that won’t net you more money in the end. As the saying goes “If it don’t make dollars, then it don’t make sense”. So, it’s natural to wonder, will detailing increase your car’s resale value? I’m going to attempt to answer that here based on my experience in the car industry and at our detail shop.
I’ve bought and sold many cars, and I’ve been in the auto industry since I was 18. Because of this,I understand the way car buying and selling works at dealerships and in the private market. Here’s what I’ve found as it relates to resale value and reconditioning your car to sell for a higher resale value.
Two Primary Ways to Sell Your Car
There are two primary ways that people sell their cars:
- They trade it in or sell it to a dealership.
- They sell it outright to a private party in an attempt to get a better price for it.
Trading In or Selling to a Dealership
When a dealership buys a car, they always build in the cost of reconditioning into the car purchase amount, regardless of how good the car looks. They know they need to build that in on every car in order to make sure they’re not losing money. That means they’ve already included the cost for a couple minor door dings, a full detail, possibly some upholstery repair, or re-dyeing the carpets.
Cleaning your car in advance or paying to have it cleaned by a professional would likely not net you any more money at all, since the dealer already anticipates professionally detailing your car. Even cars that are traded in that look fantastic, almost always end up getting a detail or going through the detail process at the dealership.
So, when you trade in a car to a dealership or sell it to a dealership, in my opinion, it’s a waste of your time and money to have your car professionally detailed beforehand, since they are already going to include that and take that into consideration in the price they offer you for your car.
Selling to a Private Party
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, when you’re selling your car outright to a private party, having your car professionally detailed goes a long way in increasing the value and helping it sell quickly.
First impressions mean a lot, and when your car is spotless and in amazing visual condition, the buyer feels more confident that the car has been taken care of and is a better value. When compared to the average car that’s for sale from a private party, yours will stand out as the best one.
What do people always do when they’re looking at a car and trying to see if it’s in good shape or not? For some reason, we all pop the hood, don’t we? We don’t know what we’re looking for usually, but we do pop the hood and take a peek. If the engine bay has been professionally detailed and everything’s in its proper place looking spick and span, it increases the buyer’s perception of the value of your vehicle.
Simple things that happen with every detail, like polishing the headlights, buffing the paint, and cleaning all the upholstery, go a very, very long way into making your car look much newer and in better shape than it was before.
These visual improvements will translate into a vehicle that sells faster and commands a higher sale price.
In Summary
If you’re going to trade your car in or sell it to a dealership, don’t waste your money on a professional auto detail. It won’t make sense in the end.
If you’re selling your car outright, trying to get the most value out of it, it’s my opinion, and our opinion here at the shop, that a professional auto detail will get you more money for your vehicle. It will sell significantly faster, and yours will stand out from the other vehicles for sale.
Hopefully, this helps you figure out whether auto detailing makes sense in your particular situation or not.
As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions.
