Get Rid of Your Car: Does Cleaning Your Car Increase Trade In Value?

Are you thinking about trying to trade your current car in for a newer one? Before you do, you might want to try and find out how much your car is worth so that you know what you can expect to get for it.

You might also want to think about doing what you can to improve your car so that you get the most value for it. Doing something as simple as cleaning it could make it more valuable in the eyes of a car dealer.

If you’ve been wondering, “Does cleaning your car increase trade in value?”, you should know that it does…in some cases. Learn more about it below.

An Ordinary Car Wash Probably Won’t Do the Trick

If you’re thinking about what to do when trading in a car and considering cleaning it to increase its value, you should know that a regular old car wash probably isn’t going to do much.

It might help a little if your car is covered with dirt, dust, and debris after being parked for weeks or months on end. But it’s not going to help a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.

You’re going to have to do more than ask yourself, “Should I clean my car before trading it in?”, and take it to the car wash. You’ll have to go above and beyond to add real value to your car by cleaning it.

Detailing Your Car Might Get the Job Done

So, if taking your car to the car wash isn’t going to make it more valuable, then what is? Well, those asking, “Does cleaning your car increase trade in value?”, will be happy to know that detailing it might be the answer you’re looking for.

When you’re trying to figure out how to be ready for a car trade in, you should think about taking your car to be detailed (or better yet, doing it yourself!). An auto detailer will be able to make both the inside and the outside of your car shine by the time they’re finished with it.

Detailing a car will give it a like-new appearance. It’ll also make it look like you’ve taken great care of it. Both of these things could make it more valuable to a dealer making a trade in offer.

There Are Also Other Things You Can Do to Increase a Car’s Value

When you’re asking, “How should we prepare for buying a new car with a trade in?”, you should know that you can do more than just clean and detail an old car to make it more valuable. You can also do things like:

• Making minor repairs to the car to make it run better
• Fixing any minor dents and dings in the exterior of the car to improve its appearance
• Sticking a fresh set of tires on it

You might also want to think about potentially junking your car instead of trading it in. Many times, junk car buyers will give you more money than a dealer will for your car when you call them and say, “I want to junk my car for cash.”

If nothing else, it’s worth calling them and asking them what kind of offer they would make to you. 

So, Does Cleaning Your Car Increase Trade In Value? It Just Might

You shouldn’t spend a small fortune fixing up a car right before trading it in. You’re not going to be able to increase the value of it enough to justify the expenses that come along with making repairs.

But you might want to ask yourself, “Does cleaning your car increase trade in value?”, and give cleaning a try. For just a small investment on your part, you may be able to bring your car’s value up exponentially.

Get more tips for selling a car by poking around on our blog.