From screening potential buyers to assembling the necessary paperwork, selling your car can be a hassle. But the biggest obstacle to overcome is the car itself. After all, no shopkeeper would put out merchandise with dents, scratches, or dust for sale. Likewise, we must prepare our merchandise. Our tips for preparing your car to sell will help remove some hassle from the process.
Video Overview
Invest in a Tune-Up
If you’re selling your car yourself, then your buyer is likely aware the car is used and isn’t expecting it to be completely new. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore all the imperfections in your car. Before putting up your car up for sale, take the time to have functional and cosmetic repairs made. This will help you get a better price. A few things you should add to your tune-up checklist include:
- Replace balding or worn tires
- Replace windshield wipers
- Top off fluid
- Repair cracks in windows or mirrors
- Do oil changes
- Check brakes
- Replace spark plugs
- Re-paint scratches
Detail It
It’s common sense to at least wash the car before you sell it. But investing in having the car detailed can give you an edge over other people selling used cars. Detailing a car will making it more appealing, even new. You can bring the car to a detailing service, or you can choose to detail the car yourself to save money. With the right products and know-how, you can make your car’s interior look like a professional did the job.
Get an Appraisal
For those new to car sales, it’s easy to over or undervalue your car when you list the price. This can either lead to losing out on profits or not being able to sell the car at all. It’s easy to find out the value of a car. There is the classic standard for car appraisal, the Kelly Blue Book, and other similar resources such as Edmund’s and Carfax. You can also take your car to a dealership to get an estimate. Using multiple resources will give you a good range for how to price your car.
Remove Your Things
This is another common-sense tip for preparing your car for sale, but it’s often overlooked until it is too late. Before you even put the advertisement up on the website or in the local publication, empty the trunk, glove compartment, and double check under the seats.
