::Barloworld ::Used cars for sale – but what to pay?
There are used cars for sale at every price point, from R5 000 right through to R2 million or more.
The TransUnion Auto Dealer’s Guide, or “Book”, is used to gauge used car values; however, most of the time dealers regard these only as a rough guide. In theory, the “Book” value of a vehicle is the price one should be able to trade a vehicle in for at a dealership and the “Retail” value is the value at which that vehicle can be resold by the dealer. Browsing all those ads, the latter seems to be mostly true: many cars are advertised at retail value.
However, this is a realistic upper limit at which a vehicle can be financed. Banks will not finance a vehicle for significantly above Retail value unless there is a lot of justification, like many expensive extras fitted or extremely low mileage recorded. In truth, few cars sell for full Retail value; only the most popular models do, because supply and demand keeps their values high. For the rest, that Retail value is unattainable. Obscure imports of doubtful repute cannot even be sold for Trade value, and a dealer could even pay half of Trade value or even less for it in the first place.
Still, cars will be advertised for full Retail value in the hope of snaring buyers to pay that much, and the “Book” will be waved about to justify the price. An informed buyer that knows how much a used car should cost will find that the price has suddenly become negotiable, after applying some pressure!
According to TransUnion, most strong seller depreciate by roughly 20% in the first year; poor sellers and obscure brands as much as 25%. In fact, that strong seller will fetch close to trade value upon trade-in and close to Retail value upon selling outright, while that obscure model could possibly fetch a trade cover of half Trade value, and still sell outright for below trade value! Beware used cars for sale – don’t pay too much.
If you're looking for used cars for sale you have to be prepared to take your time and scope for the best possible deal, for help or advice on how to find the best buy please contact us by filling out the form below.
