When is the best time of the year to sell your car?
If you have your eye on a new car and are planning to sell the one you have, the best time to get a good price for your old ride is right around the corner.
If you are looking to upgrade to a new car and intend to sell your old ride, the upcoming Labor Day weekend would be the best time to make a listing for it.
According to automotive research and sales site CarGurus, the ideal time to sell or trade in your car would be just after Labor Day. This was not the case in the past, when April was the time you would get the highest price for your car. According to data from the car buy-and-sell website, the pandemic caused this shift in 2020.
One reason for the high selling rate during Labor Day week is that listings for used cars are down 6% during this time, the lack of supply thus partially drove up automobile values.
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As the research indicates, the prices of used cars during this post-Labor Day period are 3.2% higher than the average, which could be a considerable chunk of additional money for you if you time your sale right.
Car shopping guide Edmunds says that the average price for used vehicles was almost $30,000 in the second quarter of the year. If this is what your car would usually go for, a 3.2% increase would amount to almost $1,000.
Despite the current steep prices of secondhand vehicles, CarGurus also encouraged those who intend to dispose of their car to do so as soon as possible if they want to get the best value for it. Used vehicle prices have been elevated, but the average listing prices for them have begun to go down. Values are expected to decrease even further throughout the year.