Get a Quick Sale at the Best Price
Selling a car is fraught with difficulty, but by following some simple tips, you can get the best price.
Other than a house, your car is the most expensive thing you are ever likely to purchase. And while buying and selling a house is described as one of the most stressful life experiences going, it is, at least, a defined and regulated process, and you probably won’t do it too often.
When it comes to cars, however, you can feel like you are on your own. The motor trade has a reputation for sharp dealers, ready to take advantage of the unwary. And according to one newspaper article, most of us change our cars more often than our phones!
Here are our top five tips for making the process both painless and profitable.
Smarten it up
Call it shallow, but looks matter, and if your car is looking bruised and battered, potential buyers will go elsewhere. Investing in a thorough clean and a professional valet goes without saying, but look closer. Buyers will home in on those little scratches and scrapes, but auto paint repair is not as complicated or expensive as you might think.
Get those little war wounds sorted out and it will do wonders for the car’s saleability, and will give potential buyers one less thing to haggle over.
Advertise wisely
There are any number of places to list your car online, including traditional classifieds such as AutoTrader, free ads like Gumtree or the world’s largest auction site, eBay.
There are pros and cons to each, but you will not get the best price unless you word your advert correctly. The key is to convey all the relevant information as concisely as possible. Include the trim level, the exact mileage, how much MOT is left and what sort of service history it has.
Omit unnecessary details. If you have a big gallery picture alongside the heading, you don’t need to point out that it is red, for example.
Also, be honest. If there is an engine management light on, or the passenger seat has damage to it, say so. Otherwise, you are just wasting everybody’s time.
Consider a trade in
Conventional wisdom is that you get the best price by selling privately and then turning up at the dealer with cold hard cash to make your next purchase. Sometimes, however, you can get a better price by part exchanging. It also saves you the time and cost of advertising and preparing your car for sale. Well worth considering if you are trading in a clunker that is only worth a few hundred pounds, as the dealer might offer you more than it is worth to shift a new car.
Get the paperwork in order
Go through all your documentation and make sure you have all relevant paperwork. This doesn’t just mean the MOT certificate and service book – also provide receipts for any repairs, new tyres, cambelt change, new battery and so on. They all add value.
Cash is king
Finally, don’t get ripped off. If you are selling a car privately, cash on collection is the safest method. If the buyer uses some other method, such as bank transfer or Paypal, make 100 percent sure the funds are in your possession before you let the car go.