# Detailing vehicle prior to trade in appraisal?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/detailing-vehicle-prior-to-trade-in-appraisal/57085>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** b3000, mazda\
**Created:** [November 1, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/detailing-vehicle-prior-to-trade-in-appraisal/57085 "2010-11-01T22:47:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![SD3100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@SD3100](https://community.cartalk.com/u/SD3100)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/detailing-vehicle-prior-to-trade-in-appraisal/57085/1 "2010-11-01T22:47:25Z")

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Looking to get my 2005 Mazda B3000 pickup appraised for trade-in. I strongly believe in detailing any vehicle prior to a private sale but is it worth the investment if I’m taking it to a dealership? If so, exactly how crazy should I get with the detailing and is it even worth considering getting the engine compartment detailed too?  
  
  
  
 Thanks for the advice.

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**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/detailing-vehicle-prior-to-trade-in-appraisal/57085/2 "2010-11-01T23:13:05Z")

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I doubt if it would be worth it. The dealer will look past any dirt there. Likely he will not really detail the car before he sells it. Maybe a little cleaning and polish.

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**Author:** ![mcparadise](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mcparadise/32/32_2.png) [@mcparadise](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mcparadise)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/detailing-vehicle-prior-to-trade-in-appraisal/57085/3 "2010-11-01T23:56:14Z")

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Don’t bother. It won’t make a significant difference in trade-in value. Besides, the dealer will detail it before putting on the lot.

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**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/detailing-vehicle-prior-to-trade-in-appraisal/57085/4 "2010-11-02T00:14:17Z")

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It won’t make you so much as a penny. The dealership can wash the car for free. They don’t care if you do it before you bring it in. In fact, unless you bring it in with a missing engine or something, they generally don’t give a damn what condition it’s in. They’ll offer you ultra-lowball on it whether it’s perfect or pathetic.