One of the most frequently asked questions we get is about Pricing a rebuilt vehicle, both for Wholesale and Retail. We’ve talked quite a bit about Wholesale pricing using the AutoSavvy Rebuilt Wholesale Value Tool. However, as the nation’s largest retailer of branded title vehicles, we certainly have a strategy and strong opinions about Retail Pricing… so, let’s get into it.

First, you must know your clean title competition.

Ultimately, you’ll be pricing yourself in parallel, but below the Clean Title Market. There are software subscriptions that can help determine your competition, but they can be pricey. You can also search your local listings on places like Autotrader, Cars.com, CarGurus, etc, and on a piece of paper or in an Excel spreadsheet find their average. This can be tedious, but you asked about retail pricing help, and this is the reality.

Second, when finding your competitive set keep the following in mind:

• Year, Make, Model, Trim, & Drivetrain are critical. These 5 fields should match when comparing your vehicle to the market. For example, comparing a 4WD 2020 GMC Yukon Denali to a bunch of 4WD 2020 GMC Yukon SLEs is NOT the same thing. You will likely undervalue your Denali in this scenario.
• Try to get at least a half dozen comps in your sample set. If the price range on those 6 cars is clustered together pretty tight, without outliers, you should feel comfortable using it. However, if the prices of your comps vary, then you may want to try and get at least 10 vehicles in your set.
  • If you need to expand your geographic search radius to find those samples, do it.
• Be careful how you value Low Miles. Rebuilt vehicles tend to have lower miles than average since they’ve been off the road for some time. History has told us that adding a $1,000 low mileage bonus for example back to a vehicle isn’t appreciated by buyers and instead, it just pinches the separation between your branded title vehicle and the clean title market too close. There must be enough separation for buyers to consider a Rebuilt Vehicle.

Last, once you’ve confidently determined the Clean Title Market Value you must decide where to price your car in parallel to “the Market.” I wish I could tell you there is a simple answer here… but it’s complicated. Simply put, we’ve seen some cars sell higher than 85% of the Market and we’ve also had to dump some cars below 65% of the Market. When pricing your car for retail you must take into consideration the market demand for that vehicle. During COVID, the demand for Trucks was high & the % to the Market at which they were selling was proportionately high. As Gas prices shot up in 2022, the demand for those same Trucks & Large SUVs took a hit.

Hopefully, some of these tips & tricks help you in your business. If Retailing your Rebuilds isn’t your thing, please consider Wholesaling with us. You can learn more about that process at AutoSavvyRebuilders.com.