5 Reasons to Know The Value of Your Car in 2019

There are many good reasons to know the Value of your car, and with the diverse insurance options nowadays available, that's probably number one. Monitoring your car's value to make sure that you're not overpaying on insurance premiums every year is good practice. Apart from that consideration, there are many other reasons or occasions when having an accurate value on your car is essential. Indeed, when you think about it, it's weird that some people never really think about their car's current value until it's time to sell it, as we're all pretty aware of what our houses, clothes, phones and PCs cost on an ongoing basis.

Five compelling reasons to know the value of your car:

1. You’re selling your car

Selling your car privately can take time and money before you actually see your car sold. Getting a comprehensive car valuation based on the market you're selling into will allow you to present it at a fair price - fair to you and fair to buyers - and ensure that you sell it faster, and at the right price. You’ll neither sit and wait nor feel burned after the sale - a car valuation sets the correct tone for happy sales.

Related: Understanding Vehicle Trade and Retail values

2. You’re trading in your car

Knowledge is power, and without a car valuation you can find yourself at a dealership without a clue of what your car is really worth. Without a car valuation, you have no point of departure, and you're putting the power in the hands of the other party. Getting a car valuation ensures that you will get the best price on your trade-in, because you have a legitimate market valuation to guide you. Furthermore, the Wheel Index vehicle value tool is accurate - unlike many other figures bouncing around the industry - and will give you a rock-solid base from which to evaluate offers.

Related: 5 Reasons A Car Dealership Offers You A Low Trade-in Value

3. You are potentially over- or under-insuring your car

When it comes to getting insurance on your new or second hand car, car insurance companies are often the ones who will tell you what your car is worth, and then give you a premium for which your car will be insured. You won’t know if this is a legitimate market value, unless you get an independent valuation on your car. It’s important that your car is insured for the right vale.

If you have not kept abreast of your car’s value, there is the potential that your car could be under-insured, leading to nasty surprises if ever you claim. When submitting an insurance claim for a car accident, you are only then likely to discover that there is a shortfall on your car insurance claim, apart from the excess you might pay.

By getting an annual car valuation, you can ensure your car is valued and insured for the right cost and value. This information is also vital when you look at increasing your insurance or taking out gap cover to fill in for any standard insurance shortfall.

Related: Car depreciation and insurance premiums

4. You're repairing your car

With luck, when you need a car repair, be it mechanical or bodywork, you’ll have insured correctly and might only field a reasonable excess, and then have the remaining bill picked up by insurance. That’s a pretty standard scenario, although any excess is obnoxious, as it’s basically a punitive deterrent to compensate for the fact that insurance companies want your money, but don’t want to have to investigate each claim extensively. Insurance companies essentially pass their business risk onto you, something we’d flatly eject in any other sphere.

Quite apart from that, let’s say insured or not, you simply want to gauge whether it’s worth repairing your car for the quotes you’ve received. Perhaps the excess demanded by your insurer - if you have one - is enough to make you reevaluate the repairs. Or, if you have no insurance, perhaps the overall value of the car and the cost of repairs means that selling it as a wreck and moving on will actually be the most cost-effective for you. Either way, none of these calculations can be of any value unless you have a car valuation from which to proceed. When you know the value of your car, decision making becomes meaningful.

Related: Denied Car Insurance Claims Explained

5. It’s just good to know the value of your car

Are you trying to do the maths on getting your kids through the next few years of school? Juggling emigrating or just moving cities? Changing jobs or houses? For a host of reasons, we often evaluate our estate or financial standing to determine whether a certain move can be profitable or even sensible for us. When a car is such an important component of life in South Africa, no accurate picture can be painted without a car valuation. Are you going to trade your car and replace it in a new city, hang onto it, sell it and start cycling - what? What’s the best route for you in whatever you’re considering? Having a car valuation provides essential facts and figures, without which an informed, intelligent decision is impossible.

Related: Know the Book, Trade, Retail and Market Value of Your Car

What is my car worth?

The other really compelling reason to remain up to date on your car's value, is that market reality and perceptions vary so widely. Many car owners still feel that whatever mods they add to their car adds value too. It doesn't necessarily add up that way, and many buyers also seek out original model cars. Repairs, too, should be contemplated within a legitimate value of your car. For example, if might feel worth it to you to repair your 2005 Ford Laser because you're just so in love with the car. Whether you justify repairing an older car or not, you should at least know how costs are presented against the current value. If your car needs R30,000 to repair, for example, but is only worth around R20,000 on trade-in value, you might want to reconsider.

Your car is worth what you feel it's worth to you of course, insofar as you're attached to it and you also have a convenience value associated with it. When taking your car to the open market, however, trade-in value is the typical metric employed to price a car, so that everyone can have the same point of departure. In a nutshell, when it comes to rands and cents on the open market, our car valuation is on point, and the only valid metric to employ.

Related: Do you know how much your car is really worth?

How does our vehicle value tool work?

The Wheel vehicle value tool generates a comprehensive and accurate report, as it pools data from only sources with integrity and fitting process, as well as incorporating as many such sources as are valid. So, with our car valuation, you get quality data and quantity thereof too. We have vetted and identified legitimate industry data sources - the same sources generated and employed by the motoring industry in this country - and also gone to great lengths to get as many such sources into the bag, making our car valuations comprehensive, accurate and thus legitimate.

How accurate is our vehicle value tool?

Put simply, any time you ask for a car valuation, we take the same make and model’s current recorded sales data from clean, reliable sources around the country, and can thus present an accurate national average value on any vehicle. From there, you can figure up (for mods) or down (for damage or missing bits), but the valuation will be accurate and tie into market sentiment and reality, making your business there so much easier.

What is the market value of my car?

If your head is spinning, reading about sentiment and facts, and trade, retail and market values, things can be a lot simpler than that. It might seem obvious, but market value is what the market will currently pay for a car like yours. That’s it. You might get away with some cheek when selling your car, as a lot of people love certain cars and when they find one, they’ll often pay a little more to get exactly what they want. But market value is what you’ll be paid for your car when selling it privately. Trade value is what you can expect when trading it or selling it at a dealership.

So, for most intents and purposes, a little above trade - a price that factors in a bit of human emotion and endeavour - is the bottom line on your car. Too far down and you’re being ripped off. Too far removed, high up and away from that price, and you’re unlikely to sell at all. Market value is the honest value, and applies to all parties in a purchase or sale. When you use our vehicle value tool and glean a car valuation, the indicated trade value is what you can expect from a dealership. And you can expect to fetch a little more still, selling it privately.