Is it selling season?

If I’ve got a car to sell, is spring a good time?
Cory: Generally speaking, spring is the time of year when the market is hottest. The reason is you’re coming out of winter—you’re opening up interest in rear–wheel drive vehicles, sports cars and convertibles, which aren’t as attractive when it’s cold and there’s snow on the ground. You also find that a lot of people are just ready for a change in their own vehicle, so there’s an increase in demand for cars for that reason too.

Let’s say I want to sell. Is it like staging a house, where I should fix up my car prior to selling?
Cory: First impressions are important. I would call myself a seasoned appraiser, and I look at what I’d call “pride of ownership.” — If you’ve kept the car clean outside and the interior pretty neat, I’m going to assume that you probably took care of things under the hood too, and that you’ve had some regular maintenance done on the vehicle. And so that kind of presentation is definitely going to get you the most amount of money for your vehicle.

How about mechanical repairs?
Cory: That’s a different story. Unless you’re capable of doing the repair yourself, you’re going to pay a retail price to repair that vehicle, whereas we’d use some of our business partners or do the repair in–house. Making mechanical repairs just so you can turn around and sell the vehicle doesn’t really make sense.

Is it different selling to CarShop?
Cory: We’ve got the same value system whether you buy or sell. We’re about transparency, saving you time and saving you money. It’s what sets up apart. We do a really thorough cosmetic and mechanical assessment, check several different sources, consider all possible factors, and then give you a firm written offer that’s good for seven days. If you want an idea of what your car is worth ahead of time, you can check the KBB estimates on the CarShop website.

And no pressure, just like when you buy?
Cory: Right. We try to tell you exactly how we arrive at the value that we give you. If you decide you want to look around, that’s fine by us—whatever suits your needs. That’s really what we’re here to do. If you want to sell it to us, you can be in and out in 45 minutes.

Could I get an even better deal if I wait a bit longer?
Cory: We’re coming off about 24 months of high values, and those values cannot really continue to rise. The market and the weather–specific boost in interest is the perfect recipe. Now is a really good time to get the most amount of money for your car.

Have a car you’re thinking about selling? Get started at carshop.com/trade-sell.