China Used-Car Price Estimator — Brand × Age × Mileage × Condition with 4S Trade-in / Private / Auction Net Comparison

Real-world use cases

• Decide whether to sell now or wait two more years

  You bought a Toyota Corolla 3 years ago at ¥130,000. Mileage 5万. Mainstream color. The tool returns a mid estimate around ¥85,000. You flip to the depreciation curve and see that in 2 more years (year 5) the same car drops to about ¥70,000 — a ¥15k loss for the privilege of driving it two more years. Annualised, that's ¥7,500/year of pure depreciation, on top of fuel + insurance + maintenance. If your usage is mostly weekend errands and the public transit alternative costs less than ¥8k/year, the chart just told you to sell now and ride subway/网约车.

• Counter a 4S dealer trade-in lowball

  The 4S salesperson offers you ¥62,000 trade-in on your 5-year-old BBA C-class with 8万公里 to push a new car. You plug the same car into this tool: mid estimate ¥185,000, private sale ≈ ¥176,000, 4S trade-in benchmark ≈ ¥144,000. The dealer's ¥62,000 is more than 50% below the trade-in benchmark. You take a screenshot of the scenario card, walk back to the desk, and the trade-in offer mysteriously improves by ¥80k in 10 minutes — because they know you now have the number.

• Sanity check a Dongchedi listing before you buy

  Found a 2022 NIO ES6 on Dongchedi listed at ¥230,000. Plug the same car into this tool (4y BEV, 6万公里, good condition, mainstream color). The tool returns mid estimate ¥168,000, auction buy-in ¥131,000. The seller is asking ¥62,000 above the mid estimate. Either there's a story (low-mileage, premium trim, recent battery replacement) that justifies it, or the listing is overpriced. You have a concrete number to negotiate against, not a vibe.

• Pick the right channel based on how fast you need the cash

  You're moving cities in 3 weeks and need to sell a Wuling Hongguang. The tool shows private ¥21,000, 4S trade-in ¥17,200, dealer buy ¥15,900. Private maximises money but takes 4-8 weeks on average; 4S trade-in only works if you're also buying a new car from them; dealer buy is instant cash but eats ¥5,100. Knowing the spread upfront lets you decide: take the dealer hit because the move date is fixed, or delay the move by 2 weeks and net an extra ¥5k.

• Compare a BBA vs domestic-top buy before signing

  Deciding between a ¥350,000 BBA C-class and a ¥350,000 domestic flagship sedan. Run both at year 5 / 7.5万公里 / good condition. The BBA holds about ¥145,000 of value; the domestic-top holds about ¥97,000. The ¥48,000 gap is your "brand insurance premium" — what you pay for the ability to recover more money in 5 years. If your time horizon is 10+ years (you'll drive it until the wheels fall off), the gap shrinks and the domestic-flagship feature stack starts to win. If it's 3-5 years, the BBA pays you back.

Common pitfalls

• Treating the mid estimate as a firm offer. It's an anchor for negotiation built on public industry rules of thumb, not an appraisal. Always cross-check the actual same-trim listing on Guazi / Dongchedi for your city before signing.

• Forgetting that condition (优 / 良 / 一般 / 差) is the single biggest swing factor — a 'poor' rating (accident history or non-first owner) cuts the price by 35% vs 'excellent'. Be honest about it; the buyer will find out from the maintenance records anyway.

• Putting battery-replacement BEVs into the tool with the default 0.92 powertrain factor. If the battery was replaced under warranty in the last 12 months, the real-world discount the next buyer demands is much smaller. The tool doesn't model that lever — handle it in the listing description, not in the estimator.

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