Determine the Value of Your Car in Canada: 4 Crucial Factors

If you’re planning to sell a car, then you need to know the 4 factors that determine the value of a car in Canada, otherwise, you could be getting ripped off on the sale and have no idea. To avoid that you need to know how to figure out your car's value, and in this article, we’re going to break down all of the factors you need to consider. 

 

Age & Depreciation

Most likely the biggest factor in your car's value is going to be its age. Cars lose value over time because they are what is known as a depreciating asset. This is for 2 reasons, 1 is that cars are not built to last forever and so will naturally degrade and rust over long periods. However, the more important reason is that cars very quickly become outdated as technology improves and newer cars have better gadgets and gizmos. 

 

 

There are online calculators you can use to figure out the exact rate of depreciation that’s happened to your car which is based on factors including the car's age, make, model, and sometimes even where it was produced. 

 

Condition

The next biggest factor is the car's condition. While no used car can be expected to be in spotless brand new condition, we all agree that there is a curve, and if you show up to buy a car and find the front bumper to be hanging loose and one of the doors to be missing you’d be quite offended if you were then expected to pay full price. 

 

 

There isn’t an exact science to figuring out the effect of problems and damages to a car's value, however, a good starting point is subtracting the cost of repairs from the current speculated value. 

 

Modifications

After market mods can have a surprisingly large effect on the value of your car, and unfortunately if you’re into mods it's a very negative effect on the value. Both because mods rely heavily on personal taste, and if they break down they’re much more expensive to replace than stock parts.

 

You may also run into issues trying to sell a modified car, which is why it’s always recommended that if you’re going to modify your car you keep the original parts and reinstall them before selling. 

 

 

Emotions

This is the least scientific of all of these factors that determine the value of a car and yet sometimes it has the biggest value. There’s no way to scientifically trace love, but if a buyer just happens to love your car then that can make it’s value skyrocket much higher than any of these factors bring it down. That’s why when you’re selling you want to make sure the seller is getting invested, not just financially. 

 

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