Motor dealerships remain the “first choice” for part-exchange appraisals & valuations in 2024, despite the rise of specialist online services.
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of car owners are likely to get a part-exchange valuation from the retailer they intend to buy from, up from 62% last year.
However, despite the rise in specialist buying services giving online valuations, only 14% said they were likely to use one, down from 15% last year.
The trend favouring dealers is strong across all age bands rising from 58% of under 25s to 66% for over 75s. The most popular age group for online services was 46-55, although this only accounted for 17%.
When asked which websites they would visit for part-exchange valuations, most owners (40%) said WeBuyAnyCar, down from 46% last year – while Motorway improved marginally from 14% to 15% since last year.
This data once again highlights the under-appreciated role motor dealerships have as the preferred source of part-exchange valuations, despite the noise created by the challenger online car buying services.
This confirms that dealers should be doing their utmost to make it as easy as possible for existing and new customers to get fair valuations for their trade-ins, especially in what continues to be a suppressed new car retail market.
Including appraisals & valuations as part of the sales process is the preferred choice for most owners, with the best performing dealers valuing the role they play in providing part-exchanges to secure sales and generate stock for their used car forecourts. They also know how easy it is to lose this business to online challengers.
This research is part of the annual JudgeService State of the Nation report, September 2024.