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Your best friend in what it's worth

What is your car really worth?

Get an estimate before you walk into a dealership or list your vehicle. Free, no sign-up, and nobody calls you unless you ask us to.

Get my valueKeep or trade?

Value your car

Year, make, model, trim, miles, ZIP and how it presents. A VIN is optional — it just tightens the estimate. Every figure comes from the published Car Dogs model, not from a dealer trying to buy your car.

Value your car

Free, no sign-up, no phone number required to see the range.

Optional, but it makes the estimate much tighter.

Optional. We'll tell you whether you're upside down.

This is a Car Dogs estimate from our published model, not an appraisal or an offer.

Your range shows up here

You'll get a dealer trade-in range, a private-party range, what the difference is worth, and an equity check against your payoff.

Keep or trade

Should you keep it or trade it?

A repair quote is only expensive compared to something. Price a year of keeping your car against a year of replacing it, and let the numbers talk. Sometimes the honest answer is that the car you already own is the best car you can buy.

Price both sides

Every number here is yours. We only do the arithmetic and show our work.

Use the middle of the range from the value tool above.

Enter 0 if it is paid off.

Enter 0 if you have none.

Oil, tires, brakes, fluids — the scheduled stuff.

Quotes you are holding, plus anything you already know is failing.

Most used cars give up somewhere around 10–15% of their value a year.

Out-the-door price of the car you would move into.

What that car would cost you every month.

A comparison, not financial advice. Nobody at Car Dogs gets paid for pushing you either way.

Your comparison shows up here

You will get a full year of keeping the car priced against a full year of replacing it, your equity position, and the reasoning behind the answer — in plain English.

The Car Dogs take

Here's what the numbers mean, before anybody quotes you anything.

Trade-in is the low number on purpose

A dealer has to recondition it, sit on it, and still make money. Trading is faster and simpler than selling it yourself — you are paying for that convenience in dollars.

Private party is more money and more work

Listings, strangers, test drives, and handling the paperwork. If the spread is a few hundred dollars, trading usually wins. If it is a few thousand, it may be worth your weekends.

Retail is not what you will be paid

Retail is what a store would ask for your car on its lot, after reconditioning. It is useful context for the trade number, not a target for your own sale.

Your payoff decides more than the value does

If you owe more than the car is worth, that gap follows you into the next loan. Knowing the number before you sit down is the whole advantage.

One number in writing beats four verbal ones

Ask for the trade figure on the same worksheet as the selling price. Separate conversations are where money quietly moves between the two.

There is no wrong answer here

Keeping a paid-off car is a completely respectable financial move. We are not trying to talk you out of the car you own.

Everything on this page is an estimate built from a published model and the numbers you entered. It is not an appraisal, an offer, or financial advice. A firm number only comes from someone standing in front of the car.

Keep going on value

What's my car worth?The full value report, with the condition deductions itemized.OpenTrade-in calculatorSee how your equity and payoff change the deal in front of you.OpenDepreciationWhat your car gives up every year, and which ones give up the least.OpenOwnership costFuel, insurance, maintenance and depreciation in one monthly number.Open

Ask a Car Dog (AI)

Ask anything about your car decision

Straight answer first, then the reasoning — free, and it remembers what you've already told us.

Rather talk to a person? Chat with a real Car Dog — free, and we'll carry this over.