When it comes to selling your car, it isn’t as simple as taking a few good photos and listing it online. It would be best if you were auto smart and know that a lot of preparation needs to be done in the lead up to the sale, and the more work and effort you put in now the better the outcome.
If you present a sparkling clean, well looked after car to a prospective buyer, you will get a faster sale and a better price for it. In fact, the difference in the sale could literally be thousands higher.
Does anything need repairing?
Once you have decided to sell your car and have worked out what price you should list it for, it is time to get stuck into the preparation for sale. Visit My Car Price to find the value of your vehicle.
If there is a glaringly obvious problem with the car and the potential buyer knows they will need to get it fixed as soon as they buy it, the value of the car will decrease dramatically. People like to buy things that don’t need any work done (unless they are buying the car purely as a fix-up project). It might be worth your time and a bit of money to have it fixed now so that the value of the car is higher when you’re done.
For example, scratch marks or chips in the paint can look really bad on a car, and make it look more beaten and used than what it might be. You can take the car in for professional repairs, or if the chips are minor, you can buy scratch touch up paints and fix them yourself.
Log it
Make sure you have all of the paperwork ready for a potential buyer to view. This includes the owner’s manual and the service book. The service book should be completely up-to-date so the buyer can see what care has been taken with the car over the years. If you’ve kept receipts for any repairs or parts, keep those with the books so the buyer will have a detailed history of what has been done with the car.
It is also a good idea to note down the answers to the questions you’ll be asked the most when people start calling to enquire. These are questions such as: how many kilometres, how many owners and the accident record. You will get some people who are auto smart and will ask all kinds of questions, so have as many answers as possible listed on a notepad by the phone.
Clean, clean, clean
Keeping your car clean can make a huge difference to a potential buyer’s first impression. Use superior products to get the car sparkling and shiny, and it’s even better if you use a special purpose cleaner for each area of the car.
Autosmart has a huge range of high-quality products you can use for every part of your car. For example, wash the windows with Smart Glass spray-able glass cleaner, wax the body with Mirror Image Luxury wax polish and don’t forget to clean the exterior vinyl, plastic and rubber with the Vinyl and Plastic Rejuvenator.
Don’t forget the leather, the steering wheel, the dashboard and the tyres …. And if you feel confident enough, even give the engine a good clean! All buyers will be checking the engine before they make an offer, and nothing will impress them more than opening the bonnet and finding a sparkling engine. It will give the impression that you have taken great care with this car and haven’t just been letting it get run into the ground.
If you are unsure where to start with your cleaning products, take a look at these value packs that will cover all of your needs.
Let’s go inside
Aside from cleaning the seats, vacuuming the carpets and washing the windows, don’t forget to give the car a general tidy up. Get rid of all rubbish and any knick-knacks you have just lying around in there. It is amazing how fast the inside of a car can become messy – especially if you have kids! – so make sure you stay on top of this daily, so there are no surprises when someone comes around to inspect the car. Don’t forget to check under the front seats for debris, as well as down the sides of all seats. Take a look in the glove box and the centre console for items you may have completely forgotten about, such as CDs and sunglasses. Leave these spaces empty while you are selling the car, except for the car manual and logs. And don’t forget the boot! Take everything out so they can see the size of it without all of your personal items in there. Please give it a good clean and a vacuum and check that the spare tyre, the jack and any other tools for the car are in good condition and secured in their correct place.