Preparing Your Car to Sell

Prepare Your Car for Sale

Are you planning to upsize or downsize to a new car? or need do you need fast cash for your car? There are many reasons for selling a car. But most importantly, you want to get as much cash as possible for it. So you need to make sure it looks its best for prospective buyers. We have put together a list of use tips on how to prepare for selling a car for the best price.

Get Your Car Looking Brand New

Cleaning your car is the first step towards making it look as good as possible. In some cases, a well cleaned car can add up to a €1000 to the valuation. Depending on your budget, you may opt for professional to clean your car for the best results. This type of service usually costs between €50 to €150 in Dublin and most other areas in Ireland. Just make sure you go somewhere with a good history of quality car valeting.

Again, depending on budget, it might make more sense to clean the car yourself. See the following on cleaning the interior and exterior.

Clean Your Car’s Exterior

Make a great first impression by making your car exterior shine. After all, the outside of the car is the first thing your car buyer will see. So you want it to look great. At the very least, you should wash the car before meeting the buyer. You can put it through a car washer or do it yourself.

If your doing the job yourself, you should buy a good car paint cleaner. As using household cleaning products may damage the oils and waxes from your cars paint, it's worth investing in a proper cleaning kit.

Clean Your Car's Interior

A clean interior will improve the car's overall look and feel when the buyer sits in. To do this job, you'll want to make sure to clean it out well, and give the carpet and seats a good hoovering. Even buy some nice clean mats and seat covers if necessary. More so, make sure to dust and polish the dash and the rest of the car's interiors. Also, don’t forget to clean the car’s windows from the inside as this is something often neglected. Finally, get a nice smelling air freshener, especially if you smoke. Doing all of these things will help you raise the cash for your car.

Check The Electrics

It is important that you check all of the electrics in your car. Even if you are not going to fix any problems, make sure to take note of faults and report them to your potential buyers. This will make them feel like the car is properly taken care of and maintained - plus, honesty is the best policy when it comes to building trust.

Check all of the lighting, widows, car wipers, mirrors, air conditioning, the battery, USB and AUX sockets. Also check the car's fuses, bulbs, and radio aerial, these are often cheap items worth repairing.

Check The Mechanicals

Look out for any warning lights on the dashboard. If the water, oil, or washer fluid is low, fill them up. If there are any more warning lights signalling a problem with the car, you should bring it to a mechanic. You have to evaluate the cost of repairs and what value they will add to the car. And make up your mind if they are worth doing.

When inspecting your car, you need to treat it like it is going for an NCT. If it is due for an NCT, you should consider getting a new one as this is a hugely attractive feature when it comes to selling.

Organise Your Paperwork

Make sure you keep all service history reports, any work carried out, car manual, NCT reports, and the vehicles registration certificate. Being able to present all of this paper work to your prospective buyers will increase their trust and confidence in buying from you.

Value Your Car

You’ll want to get the right valuation for you car. Most importantly, the price needs to be competitive. You can refer to a few resources online such as adverts.ie, buy and sell pages, and other car selling sites. These will give you a good idea of what your car is worth. You could also take your car to a dealer to see what price they would give for it. But keep in mind, they will always give you the lowest price as they need to make profit for it themselves. Another option is cash for cars websites like ourselves here at Used Car Buyer.

Too Much Work

It takes a lot of time to do all of these things when getting your car ready to sell. Then comes the hard part – Selling Your Car. This often involves a lot of calls, arranging meetings, no shows, as well as avoiding scam buyers. You can take the hassle out of buying buy getting in touch with ourselves at Used Car Buyers. We offer fast cash for cars in Dublin, and nationwide.

Our buying process works in three easy steps – Inspection, car valuation, and a cash offer. Get in touch with us today for a free car valuation.