Selling a Used Vehicle

To maximize your chances at selling your vehicle, the seller must try and get the most amount of exposure for your money. The advertisement suspects are newspapers, magazines and the internet. Consider this: An average newspaper asks $40 for a few lines that will appear over a period of three days. By comparison, a website will charge approximately $15. For this sum, you will be able to submit a larger description of the vehicle and the ad will be online for 3 to 5 months and even include a few pictures. You do the math.

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When you get a phone call or e-mail from someone interested in seeing your vehicle, you can safely assume that they are attracted by what you have to sell. Therefore you will not have to "push your product". You will, on the other hand, have to be patient and expect to answer many questions. Make sure you have all the basic info on hand: Make, model, engine, transmission, mileage, color, general condition, years of ownership, whether accidented or not and asking price.

The best selling points of a car besides the mileage and the condition are maintenance records. A pile of well organized repair and oil change bills always put a potential buyer at ease; he or she will generally prefer to buy a vehicle that has been well kept than a vehicle without any previous records.

Obviously, the way the vehicle looks is important, no one wants to buy something that looks used. If the automobile is dirty, washing the car is the easiest and least expensive action that the seller can take. Same goes for the interior, if calcium deposits are present or the carpet is dirty, an interior vacuum and shampoo can only do some good. The average carpet cleaning costs $125. Depending on the condition of the paint, a good buffering or compound can bring back the car's shine of yore.

Replacing worn tires or fixing important dents and scratches is seldomly a wise thing to do. In the case of the tires, investing $500 or more may not increase the chances of selling the car nor is there a guarantee that you will get your money back. Filling in dents or repainting the hood may only look like the seller has something to hide. This will be especially true if the car is inspected by someone using a paint gauge. There are exceptions of course. Bald tires not only look bad but can be a safety concern.

Yes. Like a new car or a pair of shoes, the potential buyer will always want to take the object of their interest for a spin. To be safe, the seller has the option of verifying the validity of the potential buyer's driver's license. The SAAQ or equivalent governing body that emits permits can confirm that all is in order.

In the case where you decide to trade in your vehicle, a dealer will generally offer you less money than if you were to sell it yourself. The principal advantage will be that you will avoid having to deal with "test-drivers", negotiations and the possibility that the private individual could come back against you in the event that something goes wrong.