Posted on by wrote in Blog.

If you own your vehicle, chances are there will come a day where you will need to sell it. When that day comes, you either have a choice to sell it independently, sell it back to a dealership, or trade it in for a newer vehicle. Regardless of your method of selling your car or truck, it will be assigned a valuation at the time of sale based on a number of factors. Maintaining a high valuation can be difficult in some unavoidable ways (like mileage, for example), but there are plenty of controllable ways you can ensure a higher value on your vehicle. Check out some of 618 Dent Guy’s tips below:

Don’t Smoke!

If you are a smoker, avoid smoking in your vehicle. This is a huge hit to your valuation, as the smoky smell is incredibly difficult to fully get rid of from the interior of your car. Similarly, it can turn interior surfaces yellow and cause the fabric to become loose. Many dealerships will either outright refuse to purchase smoked-in vehicles, or will only offer bottom-of-the-barrel pricing for it.  If you must smoke or vape in your vehicle, do so with your windows down and the A/C on – but know that even this will not produce great results for your valuation.

Get Regular Oil Changes

Don’t let your oil changes slip through the cracks – it is imperative that you keep up on the maintenance of your vehicle in order to lengthen its life (and, therefore, its valuation). If you are in the market for a new car, you can always try to negotiate free oil changes with the dealership – oftentimes this incentivizes you to keep up on it more. However, even if you do have to pay for it, the payoff by investing in this important maintenance schedule will be seen during the trade-in/selling phase. 

Invest in Car Washes & Wax

If you aren’t one to get regular car washes, you might want to start now. Whether you use the drive-through car washes, get it professionally detailed, or simply do it yourself, you will be thankful you did in the future! It is incredibly important to the integrity of your vehicle’s paint to ensure that no dirt is left on for long. Substances like pollen can actually “bake” onto the vehicle, meaning its prongs will latch into the pores of the paint and ultimately cause damage to the finish. Removing baked-on pollen incorrectly can actually cause scratches on the paint as well, so always be sure to use soap and warm water with gentle agitation – never dry-wipe it aggressively. 

Similarly, waxing your vehicle a few times a year can help maintain the integrity and brightness of your paint job. This is extremely important as all paint will eventually start to dull over time, which is one of the first things a prospective buyer sees when viewing your vehicle!

Keep The Car Under Cover

Whenever possible, keep your car under a sturdy cover. A garage or carport is a great way to shield your vehicle from the elements, thus decreasing the chance it could get damaged by flying debris or hail. 

Hail damage can be extremely devastating to a car’s exterior and can tank your car’s value if not addressed professionally and quickly. Paintless dent repair for hail damage is a great way to remove the damage completely, but doing so by keeping all original parts of the car (see below for why this is important!),

Utilize PDR for Dents & Dings

Paintless dent removal isn’t just a great choice because of how easy and convenient it is, but also because it preserves the valuation of your vehicle. A conventional body shop may opt to completely replace a dented panel on your vehicle – while this is a completely legitimate method of repair, it will not only cost more in labor and parts, but also devalues the vehicle by replacing it with a part that didn’t come with the original.