As we live and grow, we upgrade long term assets. A car is perhaps the most perfect example of this. A few times a decade, you are going to be driving a new one. When this happens, do you often ask yourself if now is the right time to sell my car? There are a few things to consider when trying to determine if now is the correct time.
Do you think that somebody in your family will need it? Maybe you already had this in mind if you turned down the trade in offer while buying your new car. It’s a well-known fact that no dealership will ever give you an amount down that will come anywhere close to the amount that you would get by cleaning the car and selling it on the open market yourself. Maybe a family member doesn’t need it right now but might in a few years? Perhaps you should wait in such a situation. When you sell to your family, you often won’t be dealing with items such as vehicle history reports and such. The economic downside is that a family member will always be looking for a discount, however. Very rarely will you get what you would have from a stranger from your niece, nephew, son or daughter!
Maybe you are hesitant to sell your old car because you have the intention of using it as a backup? This is a very realistic way to approach the situation. If you are required to repair your new (i.e. financed) car when it breaks down under the conditions of the note, this is really not a concern anyway. Over the life of the loan at least. Some people want to drive their new car for a few years after the terms end. A solid backup might be a nice thing to have around in such a situation.
One important thing to always consider is how much you are currently paying for your new car. If your new car finance payments are a bit higher than the old ones were (an amount you were accustomed to in the past) you might want to sell for the heck of it. Doing this would allow for a little extra cash to toss onto each future payment for your currently financed car.
Are you the type of person that is living comfortable enough to contribute formerly required assets to charity? If you are, there are probably no shortage of people in need people that could use it. Even if you want something as a recovery value for the car, you could still sell it at a heavily reduced price to somebody that might otherwise not be able to afford it. If charity is a huge part of your life, these are all important considerations to make.
When is the right time to sell that previous car? As you can probably tell already, the answer is provided on a strict case-by-case basis! The right time for you to sell could be very different than the right time for your neighbor to sell.