What You Must Know Before Selling Your Car

Posted by at 29 March 2017, at 18 : 11 PM

What You Must Know Before Selling Your Car

Everyone at some point in their lives must go through the process of selling their old car. Fortunately, it no longer has to be a drawn-out and time-consuming process. However, these are the things you must know before selling your car.

Check Your Car’s Current Value

In order to know what viable price you can sell your car for, it is best that you find out your car’s current value. To get the best value, you should check out multiple sources, including Kelley Blue Book, your mechanic, and even the value suggested by a dealer. Kelley Blue Book is recognized as one of the most viable sources for the best overall value. In addition, you should also visit a mechanic, who can assess the current shape of your car, as well as ask for the dealership value. Find out through all of these sources what price you may be able to ask for.

Detail Your Car

Before you take photos of your car to post for an advertisement, be sure that you have your car photo-ready. This includes detailing your car. Analyze every nook and cranny of your vehicle. Is it clean? Does it need any repairs? You may also want to include repairing any broken fixtures. Replace a broken visor, windshield wiper, or even a broken air conditioner. Put thought into your car. Otherwise, you may find yourself negotiating for a lower price than you initially wanted.

Set a Competitive Price

Next, you need to analyze your market. Research any local listings that are selling similar cars. Depending on the shape of your car versus theirs, you may be able to fetch a higher price. However, if your car is in poorer shape than theirs is, you may have to negotiate much lower.

Market Your Car

Now, you must market your car. In order to get a wide variety of responses, you must market on several sites. Sites such as Craigslist and Facebook are excellent platforms to reach out to many people at a time. Be sure that in your advertisement you include professional photographs of the car and write out all of the features your car has. As for photographs—the more, the better. Take photos from all sides, such as the front, back, and sides. Be sure that you get good angles on the interior of the car as well. Potential buyers want to see a fleshed-out ad that includes as much detail as possible.

Set Strict Requirements for Candidates

When it comes to finally selling the car, it can become quite difficult for some. The best way to avoid frustration is to set strict requirements that the candidates must follow in order to be in the running to purchase your car. State the terms in your ad so that the process runs smoothly. For example, provide information on how you want them to contact you. Require them to reply to your ad with their full name, home phone number, cell phone, and email so that they can contact you. Also, state how you want to be contacted, whether it be over the phone or in email. Finally, it is also wise to state the payment methods you will accept, so that you do not get coerced into decisions you did not wish to make.

Be Wary of Scams

Unfortunately, there are people out there who are willing to swindle you out of your car. While this does happen, there are many ways to avoid this. For instance, one of the best ways to avoid fraud is to screen candidates over the phone. Ask them particular questions about their ability to pay, and see whether they try to negotiate a different payment method. If they seem to pushy, impatient, or difficult to work with, this may be a red flag that this buyer is not for you. It is advised that for the best results, that you do not accept payment in the form of checks or money orders, because they may be fraudulent.

Remember that if this seems like too much of a hassle to you, you can always sell your car quickly on a site such as http://www.carbuyerusa.com/. A business like this will buy your car quickly, with little to no questions asked. Selling your car does not have to be a draining process. Follow these steps and you will have a more efficient sale.

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