If you buy a car, the last thing you are likely to be thinking about is selling your vehicle. However, the lifetime of your car is not infinite and it can be helpful to put some thought into the overall lifetime of your car. Knowing the best time to sell your car can help you to get a reasonable return for your money and it can help you to afford the funds to put towards a new vehicle.
As soon as you drive a new car off the forecourt, it depreciates greatly and there is a big drop off I price. If for whatever reason you were to leave the forecourt and then turn around to come back into sell it, you would be in line for a big shock at the price that would be offered to you. There is a very notable drop-off in the value of a car when it first on the road and this means that it is worthwhile owns for a period of time to ensure that you get value for this time you own it.
However, there is still an argument that suggests it is better to sell your car sooner (say after 2 years) than leave it for a number of years (more than 4 years) because the car will continue to depreciate in value. One way that people look at it is to sell a car at the level when they can get sufficient funds in return to be able to upgrade to another car. It is unlikely that the person will be able to afford a new car for the price of selling their own car but the trade-in or sale can offset the price of a new or newer car to a reasonable level that people are satisfied with.
Every car is different, which can make pricing difficult
When thinking about which particular age it is best to sell a car at, it is impossible to say. This is because there are so many different makes and models of cars. Some cars are manufactured to a better standard and this means that they can be relied upon for a longer period of time. It should also be remembered that every car is different and have different owners. A 4 year old car that has a very careful driver who only uses the car once a week is likely to be in better condition than a 2 year old car than has been used by a reckless driver who covers great mileage every week.
The variable factors involved with pricing a car makes it very difficult to be able to put a finite time or even rough period when a car should be sold.
Age is undoubtedly a factor
However, there is no doubt that the age of the car will be a factor in the price that is received. Even reputable online car buying firms like cash4usedcars.com will have a pricing structure that is in line with the age of a vehicle. This means that the price will drop every year and unless a car owner can go to lengths to prove that their car is in great condition, they are unlikely to be able to get more for their vehicle.
As a rough outline, it should be known that once a car hits 5 years old, the failure rate of the vehicle will be at its highest level. This can be brought in alongside a car that has clocked up over 60,000 miles is likely to be facing a number of problems.