Selling Your Vehicle? Don’t Miss These 7 Important Checks

Estimated read time 4 min read

Planning on selling your vehicle? If so, taking steps to make sure you’re protected is hugely important. Luckily, we’ve outlined seven key factors as follows that can help.

7 Important Steps to Sell Your Car

If you’ve been planning to sell your car, there’s a lot you’ll need to consider. Luckily, the following steps can help.

#1 Start with the Right Documents

Before you can even begin looking to list your car, it’s crucial to start with the right documents. Knowing where these are can help make listing and selling your car much easier; there’s very little point in getting any further until you know these are all in place!

Remember: your buyers can always carry out a vehicle check on your car, so ensuring you’ve got these documents to verify your claims is important. It’s potentially a good idea to carry out a history check before you advertise, too, just to make sure you’re giving the right information.

#2 Check the Prices of Other Similar Vehicles

Let’s face it: none of us want to sell our cars for less than they’re worth. However, it’s also surprisingly easy to price yourself out of the market if you don’t check on value first! Thus, the next vital step you should take is to do a little market research.

Probably the easiest way to go about this is to head to online selling sites and look for cars of a similar make, model, age, and mileage to work out roughly how much you might be able to ask. Make sure you allow a little wriggle room, though!

#3 Give Your Car Some TLC

So, you’re ready to begin listing your vehicle for sale – but before you do so, make sure to give it a little TLC! Cleaning your car thoroughly can help make it look its best and catch attention, making it much easier to sell your vehicle.

#4 Advertise

By now, your car’s looking its best, and you’re all ready to sell! All that’s left to do for now is get pictures of your car and advertise. There are numerous online selling sites that allow you to list your vehicle for sale; however, don’t overlook the value of word of mouth too.

#5 Screen Buyers

After putting your car up for sale, you’ll likely get a lot of contacts (especially if the price is good), but not every buyer will be genuine. Screening interested parties by asking questions such as their contact details and how they intend to pay can help whittle out scammers or time-wasters.

#6 Negotiate on Price

If you’re selling privately, there’s a good chance that the buyer will want to negotiate on the price. Working out the very lowest you’re willing to accept can help with this. There’s no requirement to haggle, of course, but failing could make it harder to sell. A reg check will provide you with a valuation guide on the vehicle, providing you with confidence with the negotiation. 

#7 Close the Sale

Once all parties are happy, all that’s left is to close the sale and hand the keys over. Never let the buyer have the keys to your car until you’re confident the money is safely in your bank account or hand; otherwise, the buyer may be able to steal the vehicle. Providing receipts of purchase for both you and the buyer can also help protect you in this regard.

Final Thoughts

If you’re planning to sell your car, it’s crucial to start out with the right strategy. Fortunately, while many people struggle to know where to begin, this doesn’t have to be a major struggle.