Tips for Selling Your Used Car
Selling your used car involves more that just putting an
advertisement in the newspaper or posting a notice in the nearest convenience store. If
you want to get the best price for your used car, there are a few things you need to do.
Repair Or Replace Minor Items
Put yourself in the shoes of a prospective buyer. What minor items
that are either broken or faulty would cause a few protests from a prospective buyer? If
you are selling an expensive used car, the "investment" spent to replace such
small items can be recovered a few times over through a better selling price. Apart from
tightening up all rattling parts, some of the things that you should consider replacing or
fixing are:
- cracked windscreen
- faulty radio / CD player
- broken headlights or signal light
- cracked or torn upholstery
- plastic decorative strips
- windscreen wipers with rubber peeling off
Wash And Polish It
Many prospective buyers are impressed or turned off by a car’s
appearance. So give your used car a good wash and wax followed by a vacuum. If necessary,
deodorize the inside of the car to get rid of any odor. Don’t forget that the boot
and the engine are infamous places for giving prospective buyer a few yelps. Clean the
engine if necessary, especially if leaking gaskets have left oil traces here and there.
If necessary, top up the brake fluid and water level in the battery so
as not to give an impression of neglect.
Place Your Advertisement
There are many ways of advertising, a few of which are free. If you
are not in a rush to sell, you can just display a "For Sale" sign on top of the
car’s roof (or wherever) with your phone number.
Another way to advertise free is post a notice in the nearest
convenience store. If you plan to advertise in the Classifieds of a newspaper, be sure to
state the type, model, year, mileage, asking price, phone number, and best contact hours.
Plus selling points should also be included such as "road tax valid for 10
months" or "turbo installed 3 months ago" or "driven only by
lady". By listing your asking price, you can save much time by avoiding bargain
hunters.
Be Prepared To Deal With Offers
Be mentally prepared that prospective buyers will try to slice off
at least five to ten percent of your asking price; at the same time, many will also
pretend to be shocked at minor faults in the car. Also, have the following documents ready
to show to prospective buyers: car registration, service book, receipts of parts replaced
or repairs.
Take down the prospective buyer’s phone number if the offer price is
below your asking price so that you can call him or her should you change your mind later.
If a prospective buy wants to take the car for a spin, make sure you tag along. On
rare instances, conmen have merely driven off with the seller’s cars!
Finally may the best price be yours.