Selling your car? Then you’re probably wondering how you can get a reliable and fair price for it, assuming that you already know what it’s worth at the time.

Before you go ahead accepting the first offer you get, first establish how much it is worth. Just like there are many ways to get your car valued, there are also various misconceptions about the actual resale value of second hand vehicles in South Africa.

Looking for a higher price ? At your inspection, you can choose “Option 1” to receive instant cash in hands; or if you’re looking for a greater price, select “Option 2” to advertise your car to dealers nationwide for 48-hours and get the best price directly from the market. Book An Inspection Now!

When selling your car, it is important to familiarise with ‘book value’, ‘retail price’ and ‘trade price’:

  1. Book value: A vehicle’s ‘book value’ is a rough guide used to help determine the retail book value and trade book value price of that specific car. The industry uses book values – only as a starting point – and not as a definitive reference.

  2. Retail price: The price the dealer applies on the vehicle when he sells it to consumers.

  3. Trade price: The price the dealer pays for your vehicle, when you sell it.

How does CarZar Value Cars?

We base our pricing on your car’s current market value. While generating your online quote, our pricing algorithm takes into account what the industry is currently paying for your vehicle based on the existing market demand. This is usually driven by vehicle popularity, economic conditions and model-specific factors.

Why is retail price higher than trade price?

When retailing a car, dealerships incur substantial costs. These include the cost of capital, cost of marketing, cost of insurance, cost of reconditioning, cost of displaying the vehicle on the floor, and the cost of paying the administrators and salesmen.

Why not rather Trade-in my Car?

Most consumers believe that trading-in their car for a newer car will give them the best deal. This is not actually the case. When you trade-in, you buy a newer, generally much more expensive car, and the dealer makes a good profit on this vehicle. In order to entice you to buy the new car from him, the dealer will be willing to reduce the profit on the new car and allocate this “discount” to the amount he will offer for your trade-in – creating the impression that you are getting a higher price for the car you are selling.

By selling your car for cash and then visiting a dealership with cash in hands, you will be able to leverage on a much higher bargaining power and receive a better discount on your new car purchase. With cash in hands, you will also have more freedom to choose your next car purchase, instead of getting locked with a dealer who wants your car but may not have the vehicle you are looking for.

What else will improve the Resale Value of my Car?

Depreciation plays a major role when calculating the resale value of a car. Your car’s value will depreciate as soon as it touches the road. However, the rate of depreciation decreases as the car gets older. Your car value is also dependent on its mileage. The lower the mileage, the higher your car resale value will be. Different car brands also depreciate at various rates, thus model, age and year are important.


Reconditioning costs are the costs required to bring the car into a ‘selling condition’. Recon costs are determined by the physical, mechanical and electrical defects of your car – tyres that need replacement, dents, scratches, etc.  Different damages can therefore have a higher or lower impact on your car value. The better your car’s condition, the lower your recon costs.

If you want to sell your car fast and hassle-free while receiving a fair price, or simply want to get an instant online quote for you vehicle, visit CarZar.co.za .