Selling Your Car to a Bay Area Salvage Yard

If you’re looking for a company to provide cash for cars in the Bay Area, you’ll find no shortage of options in search engine results! In fact, you’ll be inundated with pitches. But what steps, exactly, should you take to get the most value from your old vehicle?

Here’s a quick 3-step guide.

1. Inspect the vehicle and evaluate it as objectively as possible.

Are there visible dings, dents, scratches, etc? Are the tires in solid condition, or are your mix-and-match tires on their “last legs?” Do any features stand out as particularly gross or beautiful? As much as possible, think from the perspective of a potential buyer. A buyer might be less concerned with a few nicks on the bumper and more grossed out by cuts and stains in the upholstery, for instance. (Think about it: wouldn’t stains on the front seat kind of gross you out?)

2. Research and compare.

Finding out the true trade-in value for a car is actually devilishly difficult. Prices can fluctuate volatilely, even within just a few days. Most trusted services that evaluate cars do so once every month. So there will be some “built-in uncertainty” with respect to the price.

Think of things from the dealer’s point of view. If the dealer can only get $1,000 profit on your car, the deal won’t be worth her time. You must compete with the wholesale market price.

3. Make any needed “big important fixes” to the vehicle.

Observe the 80/20 principle here. 20% of the “fixer up” activities you can do will lead to 80% of the results. So what are those “vital few” activities? If your tires are screwed up, fixing or replacing the tires might count.

Don’t spend a lot of time or money – usually never more than 5% of the estimated value – during the reconditioning, because you likely won’t make up the costs as profit. Plus, there is a premium on your time.

To optimize profits, approach several franchise dealers to get buy bids. Do a close, data-driven comparison among offers. But, again, be mindful of your time. Let’s say the average assessment chews up 4 or 5 hours of your time, and you could otherwise spend that time at work earning $150 an hour. That means if the average assessment takes 5 hours and you do three assessments, that’s 15 hours x $150 = $2,250 of your time poured into making the sale “more profitable.”

Rock and Roll Auto Recycling has been in the Bay Area used cars for sale business for decades. We’ve won the respect and trust of industry trade associations. We can help you figure out how much your car is worth and find the optimal path to save you money, conserve your time, and minimize headaches. Call us toll free at 1 888-550-9944 to get your questions answered.