Should I trade my car or sell it online?

List online or trade?

If you’ve got a current ride that you’re looking to get rid of when you purchase a new or used vehicle, the first question you’ll probably need to ask yourself is: “Should I trade my car or sell it online?” Certainly there are advantages and disadvantages to each choice, so we’re here to help you sort through some of the major points for and against both options. Now, it’s true that we deal in trades here at Mazda of Lodi so you might think us biased toward that option, but the reality is that we want you to do what’s best in terms of time, effort, and finances, and we’ll give it to you straight. Let’s begin. 

Reasons to sell online or in classified ads:

Potential for a higher cash sum. It’s not guaranteed, but since you’re cutting out the middle man, there’s a chance that selling privately could net you a bit more when all is said and done.

You can take your time.  Since you’re not doing a trade, you can hold off on selling your current ride until it’s a good time for you or you get the right offer.

Many places to list for free. While some sites and most publications that allow you to list vehicles will charge a fee, many such as Craigslist are free to use and get a lot of local views.

Sometimes trading is just easier.

Reasons to Trade Your Car In:

Hassle-free. When you list and sell the vehicle yourself, it’s up to you to take a good hard look at everything that’s potentially wrong with your vehicle, take photos, write up a catchy description, set a price, arrange meetings and test drives… the works. So even the avenues that let you list for free end up taking their toll on your time.

Fast, Free Appraisal. Trading in at a dealership like ours means you get a fast, free appraisal of your vehicle, and you can even get a basic idea right away by using our Calculate Your Trade tool here on our website. We inspect thoroughly and give you clear answers about how the trade-in process will work.

No repercussions or dissatisfied customers. Ever try to sell something and have the person come back with complaints or demanding a full or partial refund? Not fun. Because we have experts on hand who perform a complete inspection ahead of time, you’ll never have to worry about us trying to renege on our deal!