Car selling advice

How to get the best price when selling your car

Cleaning

1. Using a good-quality car shampoo, thoroughly clean the car; do not use washing-up liquid as it can act as a rust accelerant. Start on the roof and work down, cleaning less obvious parts as well (which helps to give that "well cared for" appearance), rinse off well, then dry with a chamois leather. Important don’t leave streaks and water runs on the car.
    
2. Clean the wheels. With alloys, consider buying an alloy wheel cleaner and treat them, and if you've got wheel trims, maybe replace them - especially if they've been kerbed. Damaged alloys can be repaired too, but this is more expensive. If possible use some tyre gel to wipe around the tyre’s clean tyres give an appearance of a cleaner car.
    
3. Where possible, replace missing trims or badges; Breaker yards offer a cheap source of parts.
    
4. Repair stone chips with a touch-up stick to avoid unsightliness as well as rust.
    
5. Finish up with a good wax and polish to create that ‘new car’ shine. Don’t forget windows, use glass cleaner inside and out and mirrors too.

Inside the car

1. Vacuum thoroughly (including the boot) and clean/treat stained carpets or seats, polish dashboards and door trims.
    
2. Windows should be cleaned after the dashboard, to make sure you don't spoil your hard work. Use glass cleaner or damp chamois leather. When cleaning the rear window, use a side-to-side action, thus ensuring you don't damage the heater elements.
    
3. Holes, e.g. from mobile phone holders, can be filled in by specialists, as can damage to dashboards or door trims.
    
4. Avoid dousing the car in air freshener, unless you have smoked in it - in which case, buy an odour neutraliser. Spray the ashtray too, after giving it a good clean.

Faults

Any faults need fixing; even it is just a blown bulb. Replace it prior to any inspections. Remember any fault will promote discussion for negotiation on price, not just the cost of the item but the aggravation of getting it fixed. So a 50p bulb blown could be interpreted as the possibility of fixing the whole light unit at £100, so worth paying 50p.

Paperwork

Paperwork is the biggest failure in selling cars as the lack of paperwork causes immense grief. Ensure you have got the following.

• MOT*
• REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE (V5) OR LOG BOOK**
• SERVICE BOOK STAMPED CORRECTLY OR INVOICES***
• BOOK PACK
• RADIO AND KEY NUMBERS
• LOCKING WHEEL NUT

* MOT the longer the better. It is a sign the car is well maintained and looked after. Consider putting a new MOT on the car prior to sale so buyers can drive away with no worries. Old MOT’s can also be used as mileage verification so keep them.

**LOGBOOK make sure you transfer ownership to new keeper on the new certificate section 6 (GREEN) or if selling to a motor trader section 9 (YELLOW).

***SERVICE BOOK this needs stamping correctly to show excellent service history if a stamp is missing get it stamped or have the invoice to hand to prove the history.

Insurance

When a buyer comes to inspect your car they will want to drive it. Check they have cover from their insurance. Most fully comprehensive policies cover 3rd party on other vehicles but it's worth asking the question.

Payment  

Cash, Bankers Draft or Electronic transfer, are your safest way to accept payment. My preferred method is Bankers Draft. Personal cheques can be taken but be absolutely sure the payment is cleared before releasing the car.

How does part-exchanging work?

It's very simple. The dealer makes you an offer to take your existing car off your hands, provided you buy the new car from him or her. However, the waters can become muddied.

For example:

The car you want to buy has a list price of £15,000.

Your car has a trade-in value of £5,000.

Dealer A says he'll give you £7,000 for your car, which makes you feel good, and offers you a £500 discount on the new car.

Meanwhile, Dealer B bids just £5,000 for your car but will sell you the new car for £13,000.

And Dealer C... you get the idea.

It can be confusing, but it needn't be.

One simple phrase clarifies it - 'cost to change'. This is where we come in. If we can get a better price than the figure the dealer offers on your car's stand in value (SIV) you have maximised your ‘cost to change’.

What is stand in value (SIV) and over allowance?

Stand in value (SIV) is the value the garage has approved for your car as a trade market value.

Over allowance - is the amount of money they are taking from their margin and showing against your car.

So for example, the garage offers you £5,000 for your car. The SIV is £4,000 and the over allowance is £1,000. getmore4your.co.uk needs to know the SIV. In this example, we would offer £4,500 for your car and get the garage to take the over allowance off your new car price.