When you want the best possible price for a trade-in, does cleaning the vehicle increase the value? What are some easy ways to increase the trade-in value for a vehicle? In this article, I am going over easy ways in which you can increase your vehicle trade-in value.

Clean up:

One of the simplest ways to increase the trade-in value of a vehicle is a clean-up. Doing a thorough cleaning can increase the vehicle’s value by a couple of hundred dollars. The reason this is is that if you keep your vehicle clean, they will assume that you keep your vehicle in good condition. If you don’t keep your vehicle clean, the seats are stained, cup holders are sticky or any damage done in the interior, the dealer knows you don’t take care of it and you will be offered less. Keeping your vehicle clean and cleaning it before a trade-in shows you keep it in good condition, and you will be offered more.

Fix the small things:

Fixing small things in your vehicle can increase the vehicle trade-in value pretty easily. If you have anything damaged or out of order, the dealer will lower the offer because of them. Don’t repair every problem in the vehicle, but repairing the main ones can increase the value, and you will have a better name. When repairing things in the vehicle, make sure everything is clean and in order. Try and pay attention to the details.

Dents, scrapes and scratches:

Something that decreases the trade-in value of a vehicle is dents, scrapes and scratches. Often they are not very expensive to have repaired. Usually, scratches are a little more expensive than dents, but most companies will do the job for about $100. If you believe that you can make more than the $100 you invest, then it is a worthy investment.

Don’t look desperate:

When you trade in your vehicle, it is important not to look desperate. This tells the dealer that you might be trading in a damaged vehicle. If you keep some things in your vehicle during the trade-in, it shows it is more of a personal car that you took care of. If you remove everything, it can come across as subtly desperate. The dealership will either lower the price offer or reject it.

Research is key:

When trading in your vehicle, do the research beforehand can increase your trade-in value. Sometimes dealerships will underpay you for things that should be worth more. Make sure you mention anything expensive or anything that can bring up the value. They will consider it. Knowing the value of something will allow you to reject any offer too low for your liking.

Looking for the best price:

Go to multiple dealers to get the best offer for your vehicle. Keep track of the paper on your phone. Knowing the prices along with the dealers will give you the best price possible. If you want to use leverage, you can. Saying something like, “this other dealership is offering me more”, or something like that can form leverage and raise your value even more.

(For more car detailing blog, check this article: What is the most powerful car vacuum?)