Understanding the importance of Car Valuations

When it's all said and done, a car's true worth is like anything else. It is only worth what someone is actually willing to pay for it!
A pretty obvious statement you might think, but apparently not. Research shows that most private sellers tend to be guilty of over-valuing their 'pride-and-joy' and as a result end up stumping up more cash than they need to in the shape of local advertisement fees as would-be buyers balk at the inflated asking price.
At the opposite end of the scale, research shows that many sellers tend to under-value their asset when excitedly lumping it in as part of a 'part-exchange' deal on a newer vehicle!
Thankfully, with the advent of the no-obligation free car valuation, buyers and sellers can now arm themselves with all the vital car price data they need within seconds.
As a potential used car buyer, knowing in advance the value of a car you are considering places you in the most favourable position for negotiating effectively with a second hand car vendor and can also serve as your best bargaining tool when buying privately.
Similarly, an informed car valuation enables a seller to make a more advantageous choice as to what price to sell for, so that their advertisement receives the greatest interest and offers the best chance for a quick sale.
With these car valuation tools now freely available, and with no obligation 'cash for cars' sites ready to make offers on almost any vehicle, it really has never been more easy or convenient to get a car valuation guide.

Selling your car in 2010

Wow, how times have changed?
The last time I tried to sell a car was almost five years ago. Back then, it was basically a straight choice between part-exchanging with a local dealer and going through the tiresome "haggle" routine. Or, it was to pay extortionate local private advertisement fees and face up to the the twin irritants of time wasters and "tyre-kickers"!
In the end, can you believe I actually did both? Having used Glass's Guide to value my car, I placed an ad in the local Gazette (which ended up costing over £100) and barely received any interest, other than two stereotype "tyre kickers", one of whom actually had the barefaced affrontry to say he would "take the car off my hands" if I knocked £400 pounds off the £1600 asking price!
After that, the part-exchange option seemed infinitely more attractive and although, I didn't get anything like what I wanted for my vehicle (I was told I got the "car book price"), I think I got a reasonable deal (but no more than that) on my new Ford Mondeo.
Basically the whole car selling process soured me and, I think that is the reason I held on to my trusty Mondeo for two years longer than I ideally wanted.
Thankfully, in the words of Bob Dylan 'The times, they are a changin'! The advent of new car buying websites gives the vehicle seller a quick, hassle-free option which simply wasn't there five years ago and let me tell you, in my experience at least, the world is a better place for it!
Listen, you would have to be super-naive to think you will achieve the very best cash price for your vehicle with any car buying company, but the trade-off is the simple, time-saving, hassle-free process. And, again in my experience at least, their valuations aren't anything like as miserly as some of the more negative critics out there would lead you to believe. After all, with respect to all the car valuation tools out there, the true value of anything is what someone is prepared to actually pay!
So, it's car buying websites all the way for me now and I think the future is only going to get better, as new 'trading portals' like Car Arena enter the marketplace, thus exposing vehicles to a much wider audience of potential car buyers!