Are you looking to change up your car? If so, knowing how to sell a vehicle is imperative. However, in many cases, this isn’t always so straightforward, and selling comes with several caveats. To this end, we’ve outlined briefly some of the core steps to help make selling your car simpler.
How to Sell a Car
When selling a car, it’s important to make sure you’ve followed the due process – and the following tips may help make this a little easier overall.
First of all, you’ll need to work out how you want to sell your car. In other words, do you want to sell the vehicle privately or through a dealer? This might seem like a simple decision, but there are pros and cons to each option. As such, it’s worth taking some time to carefully consider which option will lend itself best to your needs.
Next, with your selling method in mind, you’ll need to collect all paperwork for your vehicle. If you don’t have the necessary paperwork, such as your V5c logbook and your own ID, you can’t sell. So, always get everything you’ll need in one place to start with. Keeping your car history report to hand is also a good idea.
Prepping the Car
With all of these documents around, it’s now time to clean and declutter your vehicle to make it more sellable. Of course, this isn’t imperative; however, selling a dirty, grubby car’s a much bigger challenge. Given this, giving the vehicle a spring clean both inside and out can make a huge difference. Not only will this help make the car more sellable, but it could also speed up the process and increase the price you get from the buyer.
With all that out of the way, you can now look at photographing the vehicle for your listings. Try to photograph the car in good, bright weather, both inside and out. The more photos, the better; after all, buyers will want reassurance that you are legitimate. Remember, too, that buyers can check the car’s history with an HPI check tool. So, running one yourself could allow you to identify any potential causes of concern. In doing so, you can get photos of these potential red flags to ease an interested buyer’s mind early.
While uploading photos of your vehicle, be sure to consider value carefully too. Taking a few minutes to do some market research can allow you to set a fair price for the vehicle. After all, if it’s too cheap, buyers may think it’s “too good to be true.” However, a car that’s too expensive simply won’t sell.
Selling a Car Takes Patience
By now, all that’s left to do is wait for offers. If you’re part exchanging your car, the dealer should be pretty quick to get back to you. However, if you’re selling privately, you may have to wait a little longer. Be sure to stay helpful when talking with buyers, too; coming across as cagey, stand-offish, or defensive could make a buyer think you’re not genuine.