Top Tips for Selling Your Car

Top Tips for Selling Your Car

The days of placing a piece of cardboard with a for sale sign on your car are long gone. Nowadays, if you're serious about selling your car, you have to be a bit more professional in going about it, as well as being aware of the various scams that try to dispossess you of your vehicle. Talking about scams is the subject for another article. In the meantime, here are the top 5 tips to sell your car:

1. Have a clean and presentable car - Nobody wants to buy a beat-up car, unless the intention is to salvage it for parts. Remember that you only get one chance to make a good impression, and that first impression will be how your car looks. Going to a detailer is best, but if you have the patience to do a few hours of cleaning yourself, you will save some money. Just make sure to clean the car as thoroughly as you can, including the trunk and engine bay. Remember to vacuum the carpet thoroughly and spend time removing the grit from little nooks and crannies like the aircon vents. Wax your car as a final step to restore some of the paint's gloss. If you happen to read other articles with selling advice, you will find that cleaning your car is one of the top 5 tips to sell your car.

2. Make sure your car is in sound mechanical condition - address any clunks, rattles and strange noises emanating from the engine, drivetrain or suspension. These may be just minor things that a bushing change or an adjustment will eliminate. Unexplainable noises will turn off a buyer pretty quickly, or be a chance for the buyer to ask for an unreasonable drop in price. Change the engine oil 1 week before you put your car up for sale, top up coolant and washer fluid reservoirs as well as the brake/clutch fluid containers. This will give the impression that you have maintained the car well and that no major trouble is lurking around the corner for the new owner.

3. Take advantage of free online ads and other forms of exposure - now that your car is spic and span, take plenty of clear pictures. Use a decent camera, not the one on your phone. Buyers will think that if you can't take the time to take proper pictures, then you most probably didn't care for your car in the same way. Your pictures don't need to be professional-quality shots. Buyers only want to see the condition of the car, so take pictures of the interior, seats, trunk, engine bay, door panels and of the entire car from several angles. Take pictures of dents and major scratches, if any, and post these on your ad too. The buyer will then know the condition of the car before the actual viewing.

While print ads, word of mouth and for sale signs on the car still work, you will get the most exposure from an online ad. There are a lot of sites where you can sell your car for free or for a minimal amount. The number of viewers who can see the vehicle you are selling number in the thousands. Always be accurate and truthful in your description of the vehicle. A significant omission always turns off the buyer and you will have wasted each other's time.

4. Have proof of ownership, service records, registration and other pertinent records on hand - if you don't have ownership documents in order, don't bother selling your car just yet. It will also help a lot if you have a few months left in the motor vehicle's registration. Show as complete a maintenance record as you can and if you don't have service records or receipts, even a maintenance journal will help.

5. A reasonable selling price - many factors come into play in pricing the vehicle. Remember that many car owners usually price their cars higher than it is actually worth. The biggest price determinant will be the mileage of the vehicle compared to the same make and model from the same year. A good starting point would be to check the high and low prices for the same year and model of car you are selling. Starting at the middle of the range, add or subtract to the selling price of your car depending on the features, defects and overall condition of the vehicle you are selling.

In conjunction with a clean car, a reasonable price is also one of the top 5 tips to sell your car. Just bear in mind that seasonality (don't sell a convertible in winter), seasonality, type of vehicle (family sedans are always steady sellers) and state of the economy are also factors that affect the price of a vehicle.



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