While buying a car can often be quite exciting, selling a car can be quite daunting. There’s a lot of preparation that is required. Fail to prepare properly, and it could cost you. Below are a few examples of mistakes that many people make when selling their car – and what you should be doing instead.
Ignoring online selling platforms
The easiest way to sell a car is often to part-exchange it at a dealership. But you can often get a much better deal by selling your car privately. This is because dealerships will typically only accept a low price so that they can sell your car for a profit. Selling your car privately allows you to get away with a higher price and you can do this by advertising your car on online selling platforms. Creating a listing on many of these sites is free and you can advertise on multiple sites at once.
Setting the price too high/low
It’s important to not overprice or underprice your vehicle. Overprice it and you will struggle to attract buyers. Underprice it and you’ll end up cheating yourself out of money. To accurately value your vehicle, consider searching for online listings of similar models for sale and compare pricing to work out the average price. Alternatively, you could consider using a vehicle appraisal service – this involves asking professionals to inspect your vehicle and assign a value.
Taking bad photos
When advertising your car online, the quality of the photos you provide can greatly affect how many buyers you are likely to attract. A single blurry photo from a bad angle is not going to get you a lot of interest. Instead, provide multiple clear photos from different angles (including the photos of the interior). This will make potential buyers more trusting and will encourage more of them to reach out to you.
Failing to invest in small value-boosting fixes
It’s possible that there may be small repairs you can make that will boost the value of your car. This could include repairing scratches or replacing missing hubcaps. This could allow you to make more money out of the sale. Of course, the key is to spend as little money as possible while adding as much value – you may not make a return on all repairs, so you need to think wisely about which parts you choose to fix.
Not disclosing vehicle issues
Did you know that failing to disclose issues with your vehicle could be classed as fraud? A buyer could sue you if they take home your car and uncover an issue that you clearly knew about before selling the car to them. This is why it’s important to be honest about all issues with your car. You do not need to advertise them all – but you should mention them all to the buyer before they commit to a purchase. Usually it’s a good idea to disclose all the biggest faults in your listing. Making some repairs before selling might be worthwhile if your vehicle has a lot of issues.
