How to Sell a Car at a Dealership

Can you sell your car to a dealership? Of course—and when you sell to a dealership like Land Rover Annapolis, the vehicle that you’ve always wanted to own becomes that much more affordable. Still, it’s rarely easy to part ways with a vehicle that you’ve relied on for years. At the very least, you’ll want to make sure that you get every penny that your old vehicle is worth. We’re here to help, and we’ve laid out everything you need to know about how to sell a car at a dealership near Edgewater or Crofton. 

How Does Selling Your Car to a Dealership Work? 

Selling a car to a dealership is actually very straightforward. You’ll just need to make an appointment or stop in during our business hours and give us a moment to look over the vehicle.

With that said, the most satisfying traders are those who do their research and take a few steps to maximize their returns. So, how does selling your car to a dealership work? Here are six steps that we recommend:

1. Prepare your vehicle for appraisal. It generally isn’t worth it to spend time and money fixing major issues; the dealership that you sell to will make any necessary repairs in their service center. However, you can definitely increase your trade-in value by making sure that your vehicle looks as nice as possible. Touch up any scratches or dents, top off your fluids, and detail the interior to improve your bottom line.
2. Write down everything that sets your vehicle apart. This step is also optional, but if your vehicle has unique features, modifications, or a perfect service history, the dealership will definitely want to know! In many cases, these notes can improve a vehicle’s resale value.
3. Secure your title—or your lender’s information. You generally cannot sell a car without the title in hand, but if you’re still paying off your loan, your lender will most likely hold the title for the time being. We can contact your lender and secure the title if you’re selling a vehicle that hasn’t yet been paid off. Just let us know who the lienholder is on your account!
4. Find out how much your vehicle is worth. Now comes the fun part. There are plenty of online tools that can tell you what your vehicle is worth—but it’s not a bad idea to find out how much similar vehicles are actually selling for in your area. The more examples you can provide, the better your chances of getting a higher offer.
5. Schedule your appraisal. You don’t actually need an appointment to sell your car at a dealership like our own—but if you do make an appointment, we can get all of the paperwork ready to go ahead of time. We’ll still need to look over the vehicle in order to make you a hard cash offer, but this process is quick and easy.
6. Accept your offer—or take your vehicle elsewhere! The dealership’s used car manager will make you an offer, and you’re free to accept or reject the offer as you see fit. If you’ve done your research, you can even negotiate to secure a higher return. If you’re checking with multiple dealerships to get the best price, save any offers you receive. This isn’t the case everywhere, but here at Land Rover Annapolis, our offers are never contingent on whether or not you buy a vehicle off our lot. You can accept cash, apply the trade-in value to your loan balance, or take your business to another dealership.

Benefits of Selling Your Car to a Dealership

Now that you’ve seen how to sell your car to a dealership, you understand how easy it is to get started. Plus, our location is easy to reach from anywhere near Annapolis or Severna Park. Still, you might have questions about whether a dealership is really the best place to take your current vehicle. 

We’d love to buy your used car, but from an objective standpoint, selling a used car at a dealership really is much more painless than listing it privately and trying to find a buyer on your own. And while services that let you sell your car online may seem nice, these services often pay out less than brick and mortar local businesses like Land Rover Annapolis.

Selling your vehicle at a dealership may even offer tax benefits—since the value of your trade-in is usually deducted from your next vehicle’s price before taxes are calculated. 

Sell Your Car to Land Rover Annapolis!

Used cars are fetching record prices, and that means there’s never been a better time to sell your car to a dealership! Get in touch with our team, get your vehicle’s trade-in value, and get ready to hit the road in a new or new-to-you luxury SUV. We can answer any questions you have along the way, and we even make it easy to apply for financing online.