In addition to making your car easier to sell, your modest investment can double or triple with the additional income from the sale. Your car is ready to show. But the only way to get the true value for your trade-in is to take it to two or three dealers who would be willing to buy your vehicle for cash without your buying a vehicle from them. It's impossible to evaluate a deal unless you have an independent opinion of what your trade-in is actually worth. It's not available from any blue, yellow or black book.
Dealers also get their figures from weekly auctions that are closed to outsiders.
An auction typically moves thousands of vehicles each week and helps determine the wholesale value of used cars. Dealers get a weekly update of which cars have sold and what prices were actually paid. The dealer is going to retail your trade. This dealer can afford to give you more than the dealer who is going to wholesale your trade. In these cases, the manufacturer offers an extended warranty as part of the used car purchase price transferable to the new owner.