If you’ve recently been in a severe car accident or natural disaster and your vehicle is totaled as a result, you can attempt to trade or sell your vehicle to a junk car buyer in Memphis, TN. To do this and to get a reasonable price in return, you’ll need to know the salvage value of your vehicle.
The good news is that it’s actually relatively simple to calculate your vehicle’s salvage value. While the value may vary depending on the make, model and condition of your car, there are some important elements that will always go into determining that value.
Here’s an overview of the key elements associated with estimating salvage value:
- Industry guides: There are some outstanding industry resources that can be invaluable in determining your vehicle’s salvage value. For example, Kelley Blue Book and the National Automobile Dealers Association Used Car Guide are both great tools that will help you get a good sense of your vehicle’s value, even when it’s in extremely poor condition.
- Auto insurance: Your auto insurance provider can also be an excellent resource when you need to determine your vehicle’s salvage value in Memphis, TN. Each insurance provider will use a certain percentage of market value to determine the value of a vehicle it considers totaled. Usually this will be 75 percent of market value, but again, it will vary from provider to provider, so make sure to get in touch with your insurance company to get its specific figure.
- Retail and wholesale value: Add the resale and wholesale values of the car together, then divide the resulting figure by two to get the current market value of your vehicle.
- Calculate: Take that current market value of the vehicle and multiply it by .25 (1.00 for full value minus .75 for the estimated percentage of market value used by your insurance company).
Once you have this figure, you can use it in your negotiations while attempting to sell your car. You don’t necessarily have to sell your vehicle to the first junk car buyer that bites—you can “shop around” a bit and negotiate with multiple junkyards to find the one that will give you the best price.
Always beware of junkyards that lowball you, giving you offers way below what you calculated as being your vehicle’s salvage value. If you share information from Kelley Blue Book or the NADA Used Car Guide, this will probably provide you with a bit more leverage in your negotiations, because it becomes harder to argue with these professional figures than with your own calculations.
Interested in learning more about how to sell your junk car in Memphis, TN and determine its salvage value? We encourage you to contact Lester’s Cash for Junk Cars for more information about how you can expect the entire process to work and what you should know about negotiating your junk car sale. We look forward to working with you and answering any questions you have about the junk car buying and selling process.