Trading In And Trading Up With Centennial Auto Group

What to Expect

Trading in your vehicle while purchasing a new one can be a little daunting. There are a lot of numbers flying around, and it can be hard to keep track of all the different factors that go into making up your deal. To simplify this process, we use an easy-to-follow system that focuses on fairness and transparency, while keeping you informed and engaged every step of the way.

Before you arrive at any of our dealerships, you’ll want to make sure you bring a copy of your vehicle’s registration. This will be used to verify your VIN and ensure you have a clean title. Once you have that, you’re ready for your appraisal! 

If you run a tight schedule, we recommend booking an appointment with either of our Used Car Sales Managers, Paul Germaine for our Charlottetown customers, or Greg Burness for our friends in Summerside. If you’d rather come in on the fly, we can make that work too! 

You’ll want to allow approximately 15 to 20 minutes for the appraisal to take place, during which you can take a test drive, check out our inventory, or snack on some of our freshly baked cookies. 

How Your Appraisal is Calculated

Now it’s time to dig deep into how we actually determine the value of your vehicle. When it’s time to trade in, there are a variety of factors our appraisal experts rely on to provide you with the most accurate and up-to-date price point for your vehicle.

The first thing we consider when taking any vehicle in on trade is the vehicle’s condition. Has it been properly serviced and maintained? Is there any damage that needs to be fixed, or has work been done recently? Is your vehicle showroom-ready or is it showing a bit of wear and tear? Your vehicle’s condition is 100% in your control. If you smoke daily in your vehicle or your interior needs some special attention, you may want to address it before having your car appraised. 

Your vehicle’s current condition will help us calculate our second point of consideration - reconditioning cost. All trade-in vehicles are accepted with the intent to resell. If there is little work to be done, you’ll see a higher value than a vehicle of the same make and model that needs major repairs or significant cleaning. 

Next, we look at the year of your vehicle and how many kilometers you’ve added to the odometer. These variables contribute to your vehicle’s market value, which is one of the key factors in calculating your trade-in value. In addition to your odometer reading and vehicle year, market value is established using the most current market data and trends. We use the latest software to look at the price-points models like yours (right down to the trim and colour) are selling for within a specified geographical area, so you know you’re getting a fair and unbiased value. 

Why Trade In with Centennial Auto Group?

We’ve already mentioned two of the biggest benefits of trading in your vehicle with Centennial Auto Group: our Used Car Sales Managers, Greg Burness and Paul Germaine. With over 45 years of experience, our appraisal team has the expertise and marketplace know-how to give you the most accurate value for your vehicle. We’ve equipped our professionals with top-notch software that helps pull together all of the factors of your appraisal, while providing the most current market value and competitive pricing on similar trades to ensure a proper evaluation. 

When you trade in your vehicle with us, we also offer the convenience of processing all paperwork and documentation, preparing the vehicle for resale, and handling the actual sale of the vehicle. That includes fielding any questions, advertising, and meeting with potential buyers. 

Last but not least, when you trade in your vehicle rather than selling it privately, you’ll receive a significant tax benefit. Look at it this way, whatever amount the dealership offers you for your vehicle will be deducted from your new vehicle’s cost. In addition to this initial savings, you’ll also only have to pay taxes on the remaining amount not covered by your trade in value. If you were to sell that same vehicle yourself, you become responsible for the full amount of the new vehicle along with the full tax bill. 

If that’s not quite clicking, let’s use an example. Let’s say your current vehicle is worth $10,000 and you trade it in for a vehicle worth $20,000: your final bill will be $10,000 plus tax ($11,500). 

On the other hand, if you were to sell your original vehicle privately, you’ve received $10,000 to put towards your new $20,000 vehicle. However you’ll now be on the hook for our province’s 15% HST on the full $20,000 amount, bringing your final bill to $13,000. 

Trade In - New Vehicle ($20,000) - Trade In Value ($10,000) = $10,000 + HST → $11,500

Private Sale - New Vehicle ($20,000) + HST →  $23,000 - Private Sale ($10,000) = $13,000