There comes a point in time when your old car is just not cutting it. It’s time to get yourself a new one. Once you’ve done the research and are ready to hit the car dealerships in Utah, you then need to think about doing a trade-in of your old car so that you can get a deal on your new one.

The trick is to make sure that you get the most you possibly can for your old car to really bring down the price of the new one. Everybody knows that the car dealer is not particularly keen to give you fair value for your old car. This is why you need to do some preparation ahead of time to make sure that you can get them to give you more. In this article, we will go over several ways that you can make it happen.

1 – Do your research

Before you head out to the lot, you have to have an idea of what your car is actually worth. Otherwise, you may end up taking some arbitrary number since you don’t know what a reasonable offer would actually be.

Take some time to do some research into your vehicle. There are websites on which you can do a questionnaire that will tell you what your car is worth on paper. The analysis is based on the make, model, and year of the vehicle, as well as the condition and how many miles it has on it.

You should also browse some classifieds to see what people are asking for as it will give you an indication as to whether the number you got from the website is accurate or not.

2 – Put some work into it

To really get more for your car, you have to put it in the condition that would make it look like a good value. This means doing some upgrades to put it in better condition than it is now. There are certainly some areas that look worn or are even in a state of disrepair that needs to be corrected.

Although the dealer is going to do a deep cleaning detail on the car you should make sure to do it anyway. Shampoo the upholstery to get it looking brand new. Polish any dull-looking areas and try to correct any dents the body has.

3 – Do a separate negotiation for the trade-in

Before you even hit the lot and talk about the new car you are interested in, you should try to make the dealer negotiate the offer they are willing to give you for the trade-in.

You are likely to get more for the car since the negotiation for the new one will directly influence what you can get for the old. Doing this separately puts you at an advantage here.

Dealers know that once you find a car you’re interested in, you’ll fall in love with it and be willing to take less for the trade-in because you simply want the new one badly enough.