Sponsored: Stay in control of your finances by tracking your car’s valuation

Unsure about your car’s depreciation rate? Track it for free on Motorway, to avoid any surprises once you’re ready to sell it.

How do I get a reliable valuation?

A shocking 65% of motorists in the UK accept that they will get a bad deal when they sell their car.

It turns out that many of us don’t know what our car is worth, or how the valuation may have changed over time, and a further portion of us dislike negotiating so much that we’ll knowingly lose money.

The first step to getting the best amount of value out of your car is to find a reliable valuation source.

Motorway has provided free, online valuations for years based on live market information, and sales data from their online daily sale.

This means, the instant valuation you get on their site is based on similar cars selling on their platform.

For an instant, free valuation, simply enter your reg and mileage on the site.

You could go even further, though, and track the changes to your valuation over time, in order to understand how your car’s price is changing.

Motorway’s free Car Value Tracker tool is just as reliable as its instant valuation, but it lets you visualise your price on a graph going back two years.

You can even track six different vehicles at once – for free! If you’re wondering, ‘how much is my car worth?’ – look no further than Car Value Tracker.

Motorway’s Car Value Tracker lets you compare the depreciation rates of up to six vehicles for free.

You may be surprised by how your different cars lose, hold, or even gain value at very different speeds.

There’s no rule of averages for car depreciation, and it’s hard to keep on top of all the factors in the market that affect supply and demand.

What affects my car’s pricing?

It’s hard to tell what’s going to influence used car pricing, but here are the main areas to pay attention to, especially the ‘big three’ of age, mileage, and condition.

Age
Typically, cars lose value quickly in the first few years that follow their initial registration.

Selling a nearly-new car could get you a similar price to selling a four or five-year-old car, which is why it’s important to track your value.

When your price holds, or drops slowly, you’re getting the most value out of your car.

Mileage
If your mileage is lower than average (which, these days, looks like approx 8,000 per year) then your car’s value will be strong, compared to similar models on the market.

Looking after your mileage is a good way to preserve value.

Condition
The exterior and interior condition tells your buyer how much pride you take in your car, and is a direct indicator of value.

Your buyer will insist on discounts to cover the cost of repairs (and then some) if you haven’t taken good care of your car and kept your service history.

Fuel type
Diesel cars from before 2016 (or, more specifically, those not compliant with Euro 6 regulations) are being regulated in Clean Air Zones like ULEZ, and there are changes to car tax bands taking place over the next few years.

With emissions policies changing all the time, it’s worth bearing in mind how your ongoing running costs might affect your valuation going forward.

Supply of new cars
The 2020s started with supply chain shortages for new cars, which drove up the prices of used cars.

The industry is now catching up to pre-covid levels of new car registrations, meaning that average used car prices have dropped a little.

2035 and Net Zero
The UK Government has delayed the ban on the sale of new fossil fuel engine cars from 2030 to 2035.

This has created some uncertainty in the automotive industry, as companies decide how to respond and motorists consider what cars they should be driving (and are affordable) over the next few years.

Timing:
If you have a young car and are thinking of selling it, be aware of the plate change dates every March and September.

For example, selling a 22 plate car once the 73 plates had come in could have reduced the value somewhat.

Equally, your timing can affect other factors that matter to your buyer such as: the validity period of your MOT and warranty, and tax liabilities.

Car Value Tracker gives you unique insights into why your valuation may be changing, and what similar models are fetching in Motorway’s online daily sale.

When is the best time to sell my car?

The very best time to sell your car is whenever you want to get value from it – it could be worth more than you realise, and, two years into the cost of living crisis, it can be handy to free up cash from our assets.

However, in general, what you should be looking for when you’re thinking of selling your car is a period of fairly flat value.

If your car hasn’t lost any value for a year, and then you sell it, you’re getting more use and mileage for your money.

If your car is financed, you may not realise you have the right to sell it before your contract is finished. You can get out of your agreement early by clearing the outstanding finance with the proceeds of the sale.

If your outstanding balance is higher than your estimated sale price, you’re in negative equity and will have to make up any shortfall.

However, if you’re in positive equity, you’ll keep all the surplus when you sell your car for more than the value of the remaining finance.

This means you can make money on your financed car, by selling it early.

Car Value Tracker can help you compare your ongoing valuation with your car finance payments, so you can track whether your car is depreciating slower than expected, allowing you to get more than the ‘guaranteed future minimum value’ in your contract.

This is a paid promotion on behalf of Motorway and does not necessarily reflect the views of loveMONEY.