How to Value Your Car Online: Free vs Paid Valuation Tools

As a car owner, there may be a time when you need to know what your car is worth. For example, when shopping for car insurance, knowing the accurate value of the car means you can avoid over insuring or under insuring it.

When selling or trading in your car, having an accurate car valuation will ensure you can negotiate a fair price. Most of the car valuation tools available online give a retail price, which is useful if you’re looking to sell your car privately. But some also provide a trade-in price that indicates what you could get from a dealer for your car.

It works the other way too: if you’re looking to buy a car, getting an independent valuation can help you check if a seller’s price is fair.

With free and paid tools available, it’s worth knowing why different tools can give very different values for the same car. In this article, Chill tests six online car valuation tools to see how the free and paid versions compare using real data for a 2010 Nissan Qashqai and a 2019 Ford Fiesta.

Car Valuation Tools In Ireland

There are several ways to value your car online, with both free and paid tools available to find out what your car is worth.

They are all easy to use, mostly only requiring you to input the car’s registration number and mileage. However, some do require an email sign-up to get the information for free.

Car sales websites like Carzone, CarsIreland and DoneDeal offer a free car valuation service, as well as vehicle data site Cartell.

Other vehicle data sites like MotorCheck and MyWheels ask for a small fee to value your car online.

How Free Car Valuation Tools Work

Before we get into the data, here’s a recap on how free car valuation tools work.

Cartell is a vehicle data specialist and provides valuations based on the current age, type and mileage. CarsIreland and Carzone’s valuation tool comes from Cartell so takes both advertised prices and other data available for that car into account.

Car sales website DoneDeal provides valuations based on current market listings and uses its own algorithm that considers factors like mileage, age of car and the specification.

How Paid Car Valuation Tools Work

The MyWheels car valuation tool is based on the iCap vehicle valuation system that looks at the age of the vehicle, odometer readings, owner type and category of the vehicle, and many other variables and specifications. But the website states that if a vehicle has additional extra and non-standard specifications, this may add a greater value to the vehicle from a buyer/seller perspective.

MotorCheck valuations are provided by Benchmark Automotive who specialise in valuing used vehicles. The valuation is calculated based on Irish market data and things like year, mileage, fuel type and trim/options.

What We Found When Comparing Free And Paid Online Car Valuation Tools

To test and compare each car valuation tool, both free and paid versions, we chose two test vehicles, a 2010 Nissan Qashqai and a 2019 Ford Fiesta. We put the registration number and mileage of both cars into each free and paid tool. What we found is presented in the table below:

Valuation Tool	2010 Nissan Qashqai (299,337 km)	2019 Ford Fiesta (161,700 km)
Carzone (Free)	€2,950	€9,550
DoneDeal (Free)	€2,669	€10,360
CarsIreland (Free)	€3,350	€10,850
Cartell (Free)	€3,350	€10,850
MotorCheck (Paid)	€2,084	€12,994
MyWheels (Paid)	€2,300	€13,300

Where both a retail and trade-in value were given, we used the retail price. Where there were several options given for the condition of the car (e.g. excellent, good or fair), we chose the value for the car in good condition.

Most of the providers gave just one value, but DoneDeal presents the car valuation as a range between two figures. For the purposes of this test, we chose a midpoint between the two values.

These are the two real cars we used for this valuation test: a 2019 Ford Fiesta and a 2010 Nissan Qashqai.

Which Car Valuation Tool Is Right for You?

The valuations for the 2010 Nissan Qashqai and the 2019 Ford Fiesta show notable differences across free and paid tools.

For the Qashqai, free tools provide higher estimates (€2,669–€3,350), while paid tools offer significantly lower values (€2,084–€2,300).

In contrast, the Fiesta shows the opposite pattern: paid tools give much higher valuations (€12,994–€13,300) compared to free tools (€9,550–€10,850).

Overall, the same car can be given very different values depending on which tool you use. Free tools often sit closer to advertised prices, while paid tools can land higher or lower.

How to Use Online Car Valuation Tools

If you’re just looking for a rough idea of what your car might be worth, starting with a free valuation tool is usually enough. These tools are quick to use and give a good sense of what similar cars are being advertised for online.

If your car is very old, very new, or you’re making an important decision such as selling or trading in, it’s worth checking more than one tool. In these cases, a paid valuation can be useful as a second opinion, particularly where prices vary widely.

Most importantly, avoid relying on a single figure. Looking at a few valuations together will give you a more balanced picture of your car’s value.

Alternative Ways To Value A Car

Aside from online car valuation tools, there are other methods of valuing your car.

The most obvious way is to check car sales websites yourself for the same make and model. Check the listings for cars with the same year of registration, trim level and similar mileage to yours to work out the most accurate market value.

But bear in mind that these are retail prices. When you trade the car in with a dealer, they will likely offer you less than the retail price because they cover the preparation, warranty and resale risk of selling it on. On the plus side, it saves you the hassle of trying to sell the car yourself, which will require more time, viewings and paperwork.

You can also bring your car to a local dealer and ask for a trade-in valuation to find out what your car is worth.

What Affects A Car’s Value

There are factors that can both negatively and positively affect the value of your car. For example, high mileage, lots of previous owners, a poorly kept car, incomplete service history, no valid NCT, or faults with the car’s mechanicals or electronics, can all lower the value of a car.

On the flip side, if a car is low mileage, well-maintained with a full service history and presented well, with perhaps attractive options like upgraded alloy wheels, reversing camera or sunroof, then it can command a higher price. Some colours are also more desirable than others. There’s a reason why the most popular new car colours in Ireland are grey and black. They are seen as safe when it comes to reselling a car.

Top 3 Tips To Increase The Value Of Your Car

Here are a few tips to get the best price for your car when you go to sell it, whether that’s privately or as a trade-in.

1. Keep It Clean And Well-Presented

Clean it inside and out, paying special attention to the tyres and wheels, and make sure it’s free of any foul odours. Consider repairing any stone chips to the bodywork or damage to alloy wheels.

2. Paperwork

Have all the documentation ready to go, including previous NCT certs and the service history, plus receipts for any significant repair work done on the vehicle. Don’t put off the NCT, as having a fresh NCT cert is a big bonus when selling a car.

3. Good Working Condition

Keep on top of servicing and repairs, ensuring that when the time comes to sell there are no obvious failings with the car like warning lights on the dashboard, faulty air con, or any mechanical/electrical issues.

Our Final Take

If you’re selling your car, online valuation tools can quickly give you an indication of what your car is worth before you go about selling it privately or trading it in with a dealer.

However as we’ve discovered, there’s a lot of variability between the different tools. Reliance on a single tool could lead to overvaluation or undervaluation.

Free tools like Carzone, DoneDeal, CarsIreland and Cartell are useful for getting a general sense of advertised prices. Paid tools like MotorCheck and MyWheels can be useful as a second opinion, especially for very old or newer cars.

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