How To Get The Best Price For Your Car When Selling

Selling your car can seem like an ambiguous task when you’re unsure how much your car is worth and that will obviously be down to the condition that it’s in. But before you head on down to a dealership to get your car valued or meet up with a private buyer to negotiate prices, we suggest taking a look at these 4 easy ways you can guarantee a higher price for your car.

This might sound blindingly obvious, but you’ll be surprised at some of the cars we’ve seen brought in to be valued. It goes a long way to see a second-hand car being treated with respect and kept in a good, clean condition. Think about it, would you buy a car that’s cluttered or due a clean?

Buyers are much more likely to pay a higher price for a car when it’s squeaky clean, inside and out. So make sure you’ve decluttered your boot, glovebox and other storage compartments as well as hoovered carpets and seats. Give your exterior a good shine and wax and don’t forget your wheels.

Talking of wheels, checking your tyres regularly is good practice for the safety of both you and your car. When selling your car, you’ll want to make sure your tyres are in a safe condition. You’ll want to check the tyre pressure matches the figure suggested by your vehicle’s handbook. A car with deflated or worn out tyres doesn’t really scream “buy me” and potential buyers will think your car hasn’t been given the attention it needs.

You’ll also want to examine the tyre tread. Use the 20p Test to do this:

Simply take a 20 pence coin and place it between the tread marks in your tyre. You shouldn\'t be able to see the border (shown in orange above) of the coin. If the border is visible, your tyre tread is too low and it\'s time to replace them.

An instant way of increasing the value of your car is to make sure it has a valid MOT and Service. If your car’s MOT or Service is due, private buyers may look elsewhere as they don’t wish to pay the extra costs that they may find already included in a different car.

A renewed Service and MOT will likely increase your car\'s selling price as it will be covered for longer.

Note: having less than 3 months remaining on your MOT certificate can reduce the value of your vehicle by quite a lot.

Everything from servicing history to the vehicle’s handbook. The more ‘complete’ your paperwork is, the more it is likely to sell and the more it is likely to sell for. Having all the paperwork for your car gives the impression that it is good as new, and all records are accessible. This is great in terms of transparency and trust with new potential buyers.

Even if there’s nothing wrong with the vehicle itself, a lack of paperwork always comes off suspicious, so try to keep all of your paperwork safe and to hand.

Prefer to sell to a dealer? Luckily, dealers aren’t as fussy as private buyers and as a reputable dealer that buys and sells used cars every day, we would be happy to buy your car whatever the condition. You can also choose to part exchange your car with a different car we have in stock if you\'d prefer.

To find out more about the process and to see how much your car is worth right now, you can use our free and instant car valuation tool by following the link below.

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