Car Blog

If you’ve never sold a car before, the process can seem daunting. It involves things few people actually enjoy doing, such as cleaning your car, placing the best type of ad in the classified ads, and discussing money with strangers. That said, the time and effort you put into preparing your car for sale will help you quickly sell it for a reasonable price.

IT’S IN THE DETAILS

Take a few minutes to think about a few things on your car. Anything that is going to have an impact on the buyer’s perception of the quality of your vehicle should be taken care of. Does your keyless entry not work? Fix it, if you can. Replace the battery in the key fob before the buyer comes to look at your car. Even if you know it just needs a $5 battery, the buyer doesn’t. When they are sitting at home thinking about all the cars they looked at, something like the keyless entry not working is going to stick out in their mind. If the brakes are bad, you should consider replacing those as well. Obviously, if they just remember that your car squealed every time they came to a stop, this is going to be what sticks out in their minds when they are thinking about all the cars they looked at later.

SOME BIG THINGS TO FIX

You should also fix some of the bigger things that affect your car’s allover appearance. Remember, your car is  not the only one for sale in the classified ads. A huge dent in your car is worth spending $100-200 on to get fixed, because doing so could net you a few more thousand in the sale of your vehicle. New tires will do more than most things to make your car really look good.  There are other issues that, by your spending a couple of hundred dollars or so to fix, will result in commanding one to several thousand in the sales price you get. If you’re unsure about which things will be worth your time and money to fix, ask your mechanic.

PUT ALL YOUR RECORDS TOGETHER

If you can show buyers all your maintenance and service records, that will go a long way towards giving them peace of mind. If you don’t have all of the records, at least write them down, Fix says, and pay for a CarFax report to prove your car was never in an accident.

DECIDE ON A FAIR PRICE

Pricing your car realistically is obviously important Use car pricing sites will help you to find out what your car is worth, and you can check the classified ads to get a general idea of the going asking rates for used vehicles. Put in your car’s complete details and honest assessment of its condition to get an accurate estimate. Then, list your car in a high-traffic location, like the classified ads for the maximum exposure. You should add a couple of hundred dollars to your asking price just to account for people haggling with you.

BE HONEST

Don’t assume that a buyer will know everything about your make and model car. They may not even be specifically looking for your type of car, so a particular feature on your car may be what catches their eye and gets them to read your listing. Make sure you are honest with what you put in your listing. Share the exact mileage and list anything that is wrong with the vehicle so there are no surprises when they come see it. Nothing is worse than seeing a beautiful car in the classified ads and then to go look at it only to find that the owner was able to hide any damage in the pictures shown on the listing. Provide the VIN number so they can run a Carfax report. Even if there is nothing on it, it gives them peace of mind knowing that you aren’t trying to hide a major accident in the vehicle’s history.