Things To Avoid To Retain Your Car's Value
The moment you take your brand-new car out of the showroom, it starts depreciating. Unfortunately, depreciation is a factor that adversely affects your car's resale value over the years. As you drive your car, its life and value decrease due to wear and tear and increased mileage.
Most car owners sell their new cars after driving them for 3-5 years maximum. It's no surprise that after so many years of driving the vehicle, you won't be able to sell it equivalent to the amount you purchased the car for. The value of your vehicle depreciates by 11% when you drive it out of the showroom.
Moreover, if we talk about yearly, it depreciates by 15-25% in the first five years. Despite this yearly depreciation, you must take good care of your vehicle to maintain its market value. You must strictly follow the periodic car maintenance and keep it clean both internally and externally to avoid unusual depreciation.
You should not do certain things in a bid to maintain the car's market value. This article will talk about these things that can negatively affect your car's value. Therefore, pay close attention to it as it can help you recoup your investment.
IMPORTANT FACTORS TO AVOID
1. REPAINT VEHICLE
Your car’s resale value will decrease significantly if you repaint it completely or some body part, even though you may repaint it to make it look good. However, this may backfire as the buyer may become suspicious and think the car met with an accident or there are scratches/dents on the car body. This will result in a decrease in the car's value. We recommend using our car paint protection service to help you maintain the original paint or regain the lost shine.
2. LOST DOCUMENTS
Before someone decides to buy your vehicle, the first thing they will check is your car’s maintenance history and the car’s title. If you have all these documents, you are perfectly safe. If not, you need to find all these essential documents and show them to the buyer. If you are selling your car in the UAE, you need to present the following documents to sell your car without any delay or trouble:
- Original Emirates ID
- Car inspection certificate
- Car insurance certificate
- Motor registration card
- Car maintenance record book
- Police verification certificate
If you have lost any of these documents, please get them re-issued right away.
3. SHABBY CONDITION (INTERIOR & EXTERIOR)
The condition of your car's interior and exterior body plays a pivotal role in determining its market value. If we talk about the interior, accumulated dust will result in its wear and tear. This drops the quality and image of your vehicle. To avoid it, you should regularly clean the dust off your dashboard, wash mats, and vacuum upholstery to not allow dust to settle.
Many products are available that are designed specifically to keep various parts of your interior clean and in original form. A clean interior will attract more buyers and enhance your car's market value. PitStopArabia offers car wash and car detailing services which can you avail yourself to improve your car's appearance.
If we talk about the car's exterior body, it is as essential as your car's interior. The first thing which the buyer sees is your car's exterior. A paint that is free from scratches, dents, fading paint, and is well maintained will definitely catch the attention of buyers. In fact, the buyer may be willing to pay extra money to buy your car.
Due to high temperature and excessive exposure to sunlight, your car’s paint may fade away or lose its shine. Such a condition of the paint will have a negative effect on your car’s resale value. You can maintain your car’s paint by not allowing dust to settle for long. Moreover, you need to polish/wax your car to keep the paint as good as new.
4. AVOID AFTERMARKET MODS
Aftermarket modifications may look cool. However, they hurt your car's resale value. You may have modified your engine to increase its performance or may have made changes to your lights or car body. These modifications may seem perfect to you, but it may not be the case with the buyer. He might think that the car is altered and leave right away. Any sort of alterations done to the vehicle reduces its market value.
5. POOR MAINTENANCE
If you don't follow the regular maintenance schedule of your car, then problems will arise and eventually reduce the life and reliability of your car. This, in return, will decrease the value of your vehicle to a great extent. You should follow the scheduled maintenance strictly to keep the car in top condition and maintain its reliability.
If the buyer sees that the car has not been maintained regularly, it’s an automatic red flag that the vehicle will definitely have issues. These problems will accumulate with time until it gets so severe that your car's engine needs to be replaced or the automobile is labeled as unfit. So, by regularly maintaining the automobile, you are addressing these minor issues and not allowing them to expand and become severe.
Conclusion
If you wish to avoid losing money when selling your vehicle, stick to the above tips. In case of any query or suggestion, please contact us. Lastly, we would like to reiterate that you must invest in periodic car maintenance and popular car paint protection. One improves the vehicle’s performance and the other its appearance.