When to Sell?

The Cost Of The Car Is A Key Indicator

Selling a vehicle at the right time will make it so you can get the most profit from it. You’ve got to think of things over the long term with a vehicle. The relative cost of the car, and how new it is, aren’t always the most important considerations when you’re thinking about total value.

Think about this: as of 2020, the IRS valued a business mile at 57.5 cents. So if you bought a used car for $5k outright, and spent $3k a year maintaining it, in five years you would have spent $20k. If you averaged 15,000 miles per year, that’s 75,000 miles. Multiply that by 57.5 cents, and you get $43,125.00 in mileage deductions. For $20k, you got $23,125 in value at least.

Other potential values are more difficult to quantify; but here’s the point regardless what you paid for the vehicle initially: the way you use it, and how long you use it, can do much to determine what your budget threshold is to keep the vehicle. When it’s cost or use falls below that threshold, it’s time to sell. A few different factors can contribute to this potentiality:

• Lack Of Use
• Vehicular Damage
• When It Costs Too Much To Maintain

Lack Of Use

Though autos have come a long way since the early days, time is still an unbeatable enemy. Cars break down. Leave a car on its own, uncovered in a field. Come back in a year’s time. Rodents, bugs, sand, dust, flat tires, empty batteries, gradually stressed components, rust—all can impact functionality.

If you’re in an extremely corrosive environment, a car left unprotected for a year could come to ruin. In more dry, consistent environments, the process of erosion is slower, but it still takes place.

If you’ve got a car sitting in your garage you don’t use but a few times a month, The vehicle should be sold while it’s still in relatively good condition, and hasn’t become too damaged by stagnation.

Vehicular Damage

Sometimes your vehicle gets damaged in a hail storm or something similar. Sometimes there’s an auto accident, and though the vehicle runs, repairs are necessary you’re not willing to make. This may mean it’s time to sell.

When It Costs Too Much To Maintain

The older a vehicle gets, the more it breaks down. There’s just no way around it. Fixing it gets costly over time. There comes a point when the cost of keeping a car road-worthy is higher than the value it brings you. This is a clear indicator of when to sell. As a rule of thumb, if a repair is half the vehicle’s value, that should be the last repair you make before you sell and get some of your money back. You might even try to sell it while giving the new owner full knowledge of the necessary repair; though success in such a sale is going to be unlikely.

Determining Just When To Sell Your Vehicle

Different situations will have different solutions. Generally, if you’ve got vehicular damage, the vehicle isn’t being used much, or running it gets to be expensive, it may be time to cut your losses and even recoup some of them by selling the car. For more tips, tricks, and sales opportunities, be sure to subscribe to our blog at Anybody’s Autos.