Selling a Car

Practical Guide to Selling Your Car

You have decided you want to sell, but how do you know what it is worth, where is the best place to sell it – should you choose a dealer or advertise it the good old classified section of your local newspaper or Auto Trader or if it’s more prestigious perhaps the Sunday Times or one of the Top Marques publications or maybe an auction is more suitable.

Find out how much your car is worth?

There are several good website which allow you to enter your cars details and will come up with an approximate value of what your car might be worth.  Three good ones to try - Glass’s guide http://www.glass.co.uk/index.php  Parkers - www.parkers.co.uk or what Car http://www.whatcar.com/valuations.aspx  

It’s also worth checking the local newspapers and other magazines for similar models to see what they are price they are being sold for.  The value depends on the mileage, the condition, how many owners, how many extras the car has.  For example if you have a petrol 4x4 it won’t be worth anything like the diesel version because of the running costs. 
It is much harder to sell a convertible in the winter than in the summer for the obvious reason – you can’t take the top down, so you can get a better price in the summer as this is when they are in demand, so it pays to sell at the right time.

Dealer

This is the simplest and quickest way to sell your car is by part exchanging when you buy your next one.  This takes all the hassle away.  All you have to do is pay the extra sum of money between the two cars, then on the day when yours is ready to collect, just turn up with the relevant documentation and before you know it you are driving off in your new car. 

The downside is you will not achieve the best price doing it this way.

Classified advertising

So you are thinking about selling it yourself.  This isn’t the easy option, but you are likely to get a much better price. These are the things to consider:
a)     Decide what paper best suits your car.
b)     Make the price competitive to those being advertised.
c)     Write an advert – keep it concise, preferably with a picture and include the following information - the make, the year registered, model, engine size, number of owners, extras (i.e. leather, air con, etc), MOT if any remains, the condition (but only if its genuinely good), the price and your contact details.
d)     Make sure you have all your paperwork in a folder ready, with relevant service history etc.
e)     If someone wants to make an appointment to see your car, make sure you take a name, address and telephone number, to check they are genuine.  Arrange the appointment at your home and have someone there with you.  Never agree to meet in a car park or unknown location.
f)       On viewing the car, never hand over the keys, if they need to hear the engine running or want to go for a test drive make sure you are in the driver’s seat and once again take someone with you.  Always be alert to the fact that they may attack you, so take the necessary precautions. 
g)     Be prepared to negotiate potential buyers will be looking for a bargain so you will need to be ready to haggle over the price.
e)     There are Car Seller's Contracts that are available. Click here for a copy of the AA Car Buyer’s Contract


Auction

This is one sure way of you selling your car but this is at a cost. Auctions usually charge 10% of the hammer price, plus VAT and they usually sell for trade value.  This tends to be one of the most expensive ways to sell a car. 

They will give you all the information you will need such as when to bring your car in, an explanation of their fee and the sale process.  You can put a reserve figure on your car and if the bids do not meet this then the car will not be sold, also they will not let you put an unrealistic reserve price on your car as this could waste everyone’s time as it probably won’t sell.  You should only consider a car auction if you want to sell your car in a hurry and price is not the major factor.  For more information on auctions check out the Society of Motor Auctions website www.rmif.co.uk