My wife had a vehicle (Jeep) she was looking to sell so she did an online value estimator from this place and got a decent number. We weren't ready to do anything yet, but this company was very persistent, calling regularly. So when we actually bought our new vehicle we reached out and made an appointment. The value had changed but was in-line with Carvana and Carmax so that was fine.
We got there and I mentioned to the appraiser that we had installed a back up camera that wouldn't show up on the VIN search. He told me that wouldn't change the evaluation. Then he told me the vehicle had been in an accident - which it had - for a whopping $800 in repairs, there was a small dent in the front quarter panel that got fixed. While a professional might be able to tell - a lay person wouldn't and would probably find more value in the back up camera. And he also says there is a $299 doc fee for the vehicle.
So he goes out and does his inspection, taking about 15 minutes and being very thorough. What we have to remember is that when they are doing those "inspections" they are negotiating. The longer it takes, and the more things they write down and touch on the vehicle, the more they are trying to drive the value in your mind down.
We come back in and he says. "Ok. That vehicle has been in an accident. That's called 'diminished value'. What I can give you is {$2500 less than what we told you}". I just said no and gestured for my wife to leave. He then said "Well what would you want for the car?" I said I knew what he was doing - he was attempting to anchor us to the new lower number and negotiate off of that. He protested that he wasn't. He also insisted that every dealership had a doc fee - which is mostly true when you buy but I've never heard of that when selling.
At this point we weren't messing around with that guy any further. Went home, called Cary Autopark Jeep (where we bought it). Had a 5 minute call with the GM. He gave me an estimate dependent on my representation being accurate. I took it the next day, he looked at it for 2 minutes and confirmed the offer. Which was $700 more than this place initially offered and about $3000 more than they finally offered. And no doc fee. Did the paperwork and in and out in about 20 minutes.
With other (easier) options out there, I don't know why anyone would fool around with this guy. read more