How Does Servicing a Car Affect the Resale Value?

Resale value is a very important factor for many car owners. Many car owners do not plan to own just one vehicle throughout their entire lifetime. Often times, an owner will keep a car for a year or two, or until the car loan is paid off and then trade in that vehicle for something new. Resale values effect trade-ins as well as traditional sales.

Many factors affect the resale value. For one, the resale value of the car diminishes as soon as you drive it off the lot. This is unavoidable and owners will try to offset that loss by cosmetic improvements and changes. Another factor that may or may not be unavoidable is accidents.

The diminished value due to a car accident varies car to car all due to the damage incurred. There are several reasons why an accident diminishes the car's value; the most obvious is the damage. Of course, if the owner does not repair the exterior and the interior damage of the vehicle it will not be nearly as much as it was once worth. However, should the owner have the car in for servicing they may be in for a shock.

After an accident, the car will loose considerable amount of its resale value. Even if the owner or the Insurance company pays for top of the line parts for the car repair. This is because future buyers will see that accident as a black mark and even though everything was repaired, they will still be very wary of it.

This loss of resale value does not only affect cars that have been involved in an accident but with any vehicle that has been repaired for any reason.

Minor repairs, such as oil filters and the like will not really impact the resale value. Repairs that are seen as routine maintenance are regarded as common place are unavoidable. What will have a negative impact on resale value include replacements and repairs as a result of neglect and misuse.

In regards to servicing as a result of accidents, some insurance companies may pay for the diminished value of the vehicle. This is only true if the accident is not your fault, of course.

What can also affect a car's resale value are the types of parts used. OEM, or Original Equipment Manufacturer will not bring the value down as much as using LKQ parts will. LKQ (Like Kind Quality) are restored or recycled parts. Many Insurance companies will use the LKQ parts instead of OEMs since the restored parts are far cheaper. For car owners, this will mean an even greater loss of any potential resale value.

Car servicing, as long as it's routine like rotating the tires or changing the oil, will not necessarily affect the resale value. Only when that car repair is a result of an accident or neglect will owners see a diminished value for the vehicle.

Some ways to help improve the car's resale value can include:

- New Paint

- Clean Interior

- New Tires

- Clean Upholstery

- Everything in working order

While such visual improvements will not raise the resale value to where it was before a major servicing, it will help even slightly.

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