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When it’s time to part ways with your car, you want to be sure you’re getting the best price for it. This means crafting the perfect advertisement, finding the right place to publish your ad, and giving potential buyers all the information they need to make an informed choice.
Here, we’ll discuss some of the things you need to think about when trying to sell your car, including necessary paperwork, how to work out the value of your vehicle, and the best car sites on which to advertise it.
When you sell your car, you must have the V5C registration document to prove to the buyer that you are the official legal owner of the car and that it is yours to sell as you see fit. MOT certificates for cars that are more than three years old and any receipts for maintenance or repairs are all considered to be vital documents to have on hand when you are planning to sell.
Instilling confidence in the buyer is the best way to make a sale. If you really want to have the best chance of selling, try and keep a detailed service book with stamps from garages that have worked on your car. If you haven’t managed to keep the service book up to date, you can go back to previous garages and ask them to stamp your service book retrospectively (they will more than likely have a record of your service).
There are a few ways to learn the value of your car. There are a number of websites and platforms that offer free valuations on vehicles based on data collected from the registration number. They will look at things like mileage and the number of previous owners, among others, to offer you an up-to-date valuation. Often the website will tell you how much you could get if you were to sell it privately as well as the amount you might be offered if you part exchange.
There are a few things that can affect the value of your car i.e. if it is in a bad condition, wear and tear or deficient parts, are all likely to decrease its value. Gaps in service-history and the lack of an up-to-date MOT are also likely to bring the value down when it comes time to sell.
If you want to try and improve the value of your car, you can take some of these steps:
If you are planning to sell your car privately, you will need to advertise it in the right place. There are a few popular places to put your ad, including:
When putting together your advertisement, you should think of all the information you would wish to receive if you were looking to buy. You must provide the right information to buyers when you sell a vehicle, typically this would include; Registration number
Selling your car privately may take more time and effort than other avenues, but you will save money by doing it yourself as there will be no middle man to pay.
Deciding on the best place to sell your car depends on how much effort you want to put into the process.
If getting the most money is of primary importance to you, then you could look at trying to sell privately. This can net you up to 15% more than if you were to opt for a car selling website or part exchange with a dealer. Although selling your car privately is an option and can give you a better return, it requires a lot of attention and you will need to be in constant contact for enquiries and viewings.
Websites like WeBuyAnyCar.com and Motorway.co.uk are good if you don’t mind selling for a lower price in order to save time and effort. They will often arrange the pick up of your vehicle and organise the sale from start to finish. Whilst selling privately may net you a better return you should always consider part exchange as there will be dealer offers available throughout the year particularly around month-end or with the issuing of the new registrations in March and September.
There is no clear option as there are many sites offering different services and offers for selling your car. Whichever route you choose, you need to know everything there is to know about your vehicle in order to adequately advertise it. If you’re not the original owner of the car, a detailed vehicle check is a great way to discover more about the vehicle so you can be sure you are giving potential buyers all the information they need. It is also a great idea to post some good quality pictures of the car, interior and exterior, as this can help potential buyers to make a better assessment of the overall condition.
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