Trade-In Value Estimator
The short answer: enter what your car cost new, how old it is, its mileage, and its condition, and this tool applies a standard depreciation curve to give you a ballpark trade-in range. It is deliberately a range, labeled a rough estimate — real offers depend on history and local demand that no model can see. Use it to smell-check real appraisals, not to replace them.
See what the appraiser sees
A history report shows the accident and title records that explain most low trade-in offers — run yours before you're surprised by it. NMVTIS-approved report partners (ClearVin / EpicVIN) are the planned partners for this slot. Note: some report sellers convert a cheap trial into a monthly subscription — read the terms before paying; we say so because we checked.
How this is calculated
The model starts from a widely used depreciation curve: a car keeps about 80% of its value after year one and about 85% of the remaining value each year after (so roughly 42% at five years). It then adjusts for mileage against the ~12,000-miles-per-year expectation (about −6% per 10,000 excess miles, with a floor and a modest credit for unusually low miles) and multiplies by your condition band. The output is shown as the midpoint ±12%. Example you can check: a $30,000 car at five years with average miles in good condition estimates to about $12,500 (range roughly $11,000–$14,000).
What the model cannot see, stated plainly: accident and title history, your local market, options and color, seasonality, and whether your exact model is hot or cold right now. Those factors routinely outweigh anything on this page. The guides on pricing your car to sell and selling privately walk through getting real numbers.
Frequently asked questions
Why is this estimate a range instead of one number?
Because one number would be false precision. A depreciation model can't see your car's accident history, local demand, color, options, or how it presents in person — all of which move real offers by hundreds or thousands. The ±12% range is the honest output of a model that only knows price, age, mileage, and condition.
Why is the trade-in value lower than what similar cars list for?
Listings show retail asking prices; a trade-in is a wholesale transaction. The dealer takes on reconditioning, lot time, and resale risk, and prices that in. Selling privately usually nets more — the gap is the fee for convenience, and it's worth pricing both ways before deciding.
What moves a real trade-in offer most?
Accident and title history (a branded title can halve value), mechanical condition, whether the car is a model the local market wants this season, and presentation. A documented service history and a clean, detailed car consistently appraise better than the same car dirty with warning lights on.
How do I get a number I can actually negotiate with?
Get the car's history report (accidents and title brands explain most low offers), then collect two or three real appraisals — dealer, instant-offer services, and a listing-price check for identical cars near you. Use this estimator as the sanity check on all of them, not as the anchor.