Nothing splits your emotions like selling your car. On the one hand, you feel like you're betraying an old friend, but on the other you want that next fix of shiny new metal.
To get the best deal when selling, you need to put emotions to one side. Get into this frame of mind and our guide to selling your car will make it a painless and profitable process. In theory...
Still, we're here to help, so read on and find out how best to get rid of your motor with minimum hassle and for maximum cash.
Use the navigation below to flick between the sections - and, even if you do plan to just stick it in the paper and hope for the best, don't forget to check out our guide to writing a decent ad.
Yes, we know this guide is about selling your existing car, but the type of motor you buy next can have a big impact on how you sell the current set of wheels.
If you're looking to buy a brand new or nearly new car from a franchised dealer, your best bet is probably to trade-in. We explain how to get the best part-exchange deal in our guide to buying a new car and it's often the most hassle-free method to get rid of the old jalopy and into the new car.
There are some other factors to consider, though:
- Know how much your car is worth before visiting a dealer. Find out how to get a price from our guide to valuations.
- Do you have the money to buy your next car easily or does it depend heavily on getting a good price for your existing car? If so, selling the car privately may be a better bet to achieve a higher price than a trade-in.
- If you intend to buy your next car privately, will the seller consider a swap or part-exchange? This could reduce the amount of cash you have to fork out.
Stop thinking like an owner and start thinking like a buyer. If you wouldn't want to buy your car, what makes you think anyone else will? This is where you have to be ruthless with yourself and honest with any buyer.
- A good wash and brush-up is essential before anyone comes to look at your car when selling, or when you take it to a dealer's for a trade-in valuation. You wouldn't leave the house without combing your hair and brushing your teeth, so treat your car the same way. And don't forget to clean all the wee nooks and crannies, just like your mum always told you to wash behind your ears.
- Give the interior a thorough clean and scrub. You'll be amazed at how much fresher it will smell. Also, take the time to remove any personal 'touches' from the interior. Just because you think fur seat covers are cool, doesn't mean a potential buyer will.
- Don't go over the top. Covering every plastic surface in silicone 'as new' sprays and polishing the tyres will do nothing to improve its value and may even put off buyers who think you're trying to hide something. Don't bother to steam clean the engine bay either for the same reason, and it may also let moisture into the electrics that cause problems when you least want them.
- Keep it clean. No, we don't mean reigning in the Bernard Manning routine, but we do mean keep your car looking sparkling, so any buyer who turns up at short notice will be impressed. Keep the car in the garage or just give it a quick wipe over every evening to maintain that shine.
- Take the time to touch in any paint chips. If your car's paint has seriously faded, it's unlikely a respray will be cost-effective, so be honest when you describe the car to anyone over the telephone. However, crusty or kerbed alloy wheels may well be worth having smartened to give the car real buyer appeal.
- If the car is three-years old or more, it will need an MoT certificate. If there's only a month or two left to run on the MoT, consider putting the car in for a fresh ticket - buyers will like the idea of not spending any money on the car for another year.
- The same applies to the tax disc. If it's about to run out, tax the car for six months.
Keep all invoices and service records. If a car has a full service history that shows it's been super reliable, a buyer will feel much more willing to part with cash.
If you decide not to trade-in your current car for a new one from a franchised or independent dealer, you're left with selling the car yourself. There are several options, as follows:
- Local newspaper or newsagent's window
These are all very good when you want to offload a pram that's been cluttering up the shed for the past 20 years, but not the most effective way to sell a car. Did you buy your car this way? Probably not, so don't be a cheapskate when selling.
- A classified advert in a specialist magazine
There are several classified ad magazines, such as Autotrader and Exchange & Mart. People buy these magazines when they want to buy a car, so an advert here is targeted at the right sort of person. Many of these magazines also have websites to back them up, which broadens the pool of potential buyers beyond your local area. The only downside is you may continue to receive calls after you've sold the car.
- Online auctions
Ebay is the most obvious online auction site, but there are others, so hunt around the internet. If you set a realistic reserve price, you should have no problems selling a car in an online auction. However, there's a much greater chance of being messed about by virtual tyre kickers who bid on the car but don't stump up when they win the auction. You will also need to provide plenty of good quality digital pictures to entice buyers.
- A good old-fashioned auction
It's quick, easy and you'll get your money in a very short time. If you just want rid of a car, an auction is a painless way to do it. However, you will have to pay a seller's premium, which will be a percentage of the sale price, to the auction company. Auctions are mostly attended by those in the car trade and they won't pay anything near the car's market price, so don't sell at auction expecting to get top dollar. It ain't gonna happen.
- Sell to a friend
In theory, a simple way to go about things. In reality, a recipe for disaster if something goes wrong with the car just after you sell it. This sort of thing can ruin friendships, so avoid it.
- Sell to a dealer for cash
Many dealers will pay cash for your car even if you don't buy another from them. It's simple and hassle-free, but you will get a low price because the dealer will only buy your car if he thinks there's a profit to be made from it.
- A word of warning
When you advertise your car, you are likely to receive phone calls from companies offering to put you in touch with hundreds of buyers looking for a car just like yours. All you have to do is pay the company a small amount to register with them. This is plain nonsense and you should not do it. While some of these companies are genuine brokers, the fact is that anyone looking to buy your car will already be scanning the classifieds and internet, so they will spot your car soon enough.
A good advert will have the calls rolling in faster than Terry Wogan on Children in Need night. Here are a few simple rules to follow for the perfect advert:
- Keep it simple. At its most basic, you must tell potential buyers the make, model and engine size of the car, how old it is and what price you're asking. And don't forget to put in a contact telephone number, and maybe even an email address.
- If you're only home in the evenings, put in a daytime contact number too.
- If you have more space in the advert, give relevant information about the car. Tell buyers the mileage and how much MoT is left to run, if the car has just been serviced, and briefly describe the overall condition. Don't say it's a nice little runner because this makes you sound like a shady Arthur Daley type, but saying it's reliable and cheap to run will appeal.
- If a picture is included with the advert, don't waste space describing the car's colour because buyers can see what hue it is.
- List any desirable extras such as air-conditioning, sunroof, alloy wheels or CD player, but don't list things a buyer will expect such as 'Ford Focus, five seats' because it's a waste of space.
- Be scrupulously honest in your descriptions in any advert and when a buyer asks a question. Have the facts at your finger tips so you can tell them when it was serviced, what work was carried out and what the current mileage is. Remember, the law says you must be fair and accurate in your description and that a buyer can seek compensation if you tell a few porky pies.
Any buyer worth their salt, and one who is serious about buying your car, will want to take the car for a test drive.
Nerve-wracking as this is, you can't avoid it - but you can make sure you're covered in case of a shunt. Here's some stuff you should know:
- The onus is on you, the seller, to make sure any buyer is insured to drive your car during a test drive.
- Check with your own insurance company to find out if other drivers are covered, which is unlikely, or if your insurance is invalidated by someone else driving it, which is far more likely.
- Ask to see any buyer's insurance certificate to check they are insured to drive other cars with third-party cover. This is the bare minimum legal requirement and also means if they damage your car you will not see a penny from their insurers.
- If you're not happy with a buyer's credentials for a test drive, politely decline to let them drive and take them for a spin yourself.
- If a buyer is caught by a speed camera when test driving your car, make sure you have their details, and the time and date of every test drive taken so you can pinpoint who was driving. Otherwise, you'll be taking the rap for their offence.
After agreeing a price, getting the money is possibly the trickiest part of any private transaction. If you know the buyer and trust them, there's no problem, but most likely you will be selling to a stranger. There are a variety of ways to get the money and here they are with their pros and cons.:
- Cash
The easiest way to get paid and certainly the most instant. Cash is a common way to pay for used cars at the lower end of the price spectrum, but it's unlikely to be the way you're paid for a used Porsche 911. Count any cash very carefully and check every note is genuine either by yourself or at a bank. If the buyer is for real, they won't mind.
- Cheque
After cash, the next most popular way to pay. If you're happy to accept a cheque, insist that you will not release the car to the buyer until the cheque has cleared and the money is resting in your account. It may take a few days, but again a genuine buyer won't mind and it will give them time to sort out insurance for their new purchase.
- A banker's draft
Much like a cheque, but a banker's draft is guaranteed to clear by the bank. It's a safe option, but beware of counterfeit drafts. If the buyer offers to pay this way, it's best to accompany them to the bank so you can see it's for real and issued by a bank, rather than freshly printed off of some scumbag's computer that morning.
- Cash transfer
With the huge increase in online banking, one of the quickest and safest ways to be paid for your car is over the internet. All the buyer needs is your bank account number and sort code to send money to you through the ether. Do not give any other details of your bank account and if you're not happy about anything, contact your bank to check.
You've shaken hands, settled on the price and the money's been handed over. It's a done deal, so now you need to organise the paperwork to transfer legal ownership of your car to its new owner. It sounds daunting, but is really very simple:
- The registration document is the key piece of paper. Called a V5, the document shows who owns the car. Follow the simple steps given on the V5 to fill in who is the new owner (referred to as the New Keeper) and when you sold the car.
- There's an option to fill in the car's current mileage on the V5 registration document and it's a good idea to fill it in. This helps the DVLA prevent fraud by 'clocking' a car's mileage to show it's covered fewer miles than it really has.
- Section 10 of the Registration Certificate should be retained by the new keeper to show they now own the car until the proper V5 document is sent to them.
- The burden is on you as the seller to send off the V5 document to the DVLA to swap ownership from you to the new keeper.
- If you receive a speeding ticket or parking fine after you have sold the car, inform the police or relevant council immediately and contact the DVLA to check that the new V5 has been issued to the new owner.
- You should also hand over the MoT certificate and the car's service book so the new owner can keep these up to date.
