GETTING TOP DOLLAR FOR YOUR CAR
As we come closer to summer there are many people who are looking at selling their cars to upgrade to a newer car. Maybe you have a tax refund coming and want to use it to offset the cost of your new or newer used car. Either way here are 6 things you must do to get top dollar when selling your old car.
1. Wash it:
It’s surprising how many vehicles I see for sale where the pictures show a vehicle that hasn’t even been washed. It’s like a dirty vehicle is a badge of some sort. I can understand showing a mud bogging 4×4 truck with mud all over it coming out of a mud hole. Even the ad for a truck like that should have a picture of the truck without mud all over it. Wash it thoroughly and dry it.
2. Clean it out:
Probably one of the easiest things you can do to increase the value of your vehicle when trying to sell it would be to clean it out. Empty if of all the Starbucks cups, dirty napkins, and French fries. Remove all of your personal items and take some time to vacuum it out. This will make all the pictures you take look that much better.
3. Detail it:
If you want to take the cleaning to the next step you can detail your vehicle. Detailing takes your vehicle up a notch from just washing it and cleaning it. You can detail a vehicle yourself, but if you have no experience then it can take a long time. I’ve detailed vehicles myself and I’ve paid to have it done. It depends on if you have the cash to have it done, or if you have the time, patience and attention to details to take on the task yourself.
4. Fix the big issues:
You may be selling your vehicle because there are some big things that you don’t want to deal with. This can lower the value greatly depending on what it is. If it needs engine work, transmission work, or lots of body work then maybe you need to rethink your plan on how to get the most out of this vehicle.
You’ll get more out of a vehicle that doesn’t need any repairs than one that does, so it might be worth your time and money to get the repairs done. Sometimes a $250-500 repair can drop the value of a vehicle by 2-10x the cost of the repair. This is because the buyer has to take the risk that this particular repair is the only thing that might be wrong with the vehicle.
For instance I’ve seen multiple vehicles for sale where the owner claims that the vehicle doesn’t start due to a dead fuel pump. As a buyer, if I can’t start the engine and drive it the vehicle I can’t assess the condition of the engine, transmission, power steering, brakes, suspension, air conditioning and more.
Therefore the $150-250 to replace the fuel pump could drop the price of the vehicle by a couple thousand dollars. Spending the small amount it takes to get the car running will go a long way toward getting top dollar for it.
5. Fix the little details:
When you fix the little details the vehicle shows even better. Sometimes the little details to you are big details to someone else. You might not care that the passenger door handle is broken off because you never use it, but the new owner might need it for their passengers that they carry every day.
You may never use the broken antenna because you always listen to those awesome old fashioned cassettes, but the next owner may be an avid talk radio listener. Fixing the little details also shows the prospective buyer that you’ve taken the time to keep all the features of the car in nice working order. This truly makes the car more appealing to all buyers.
6. Take pictures:
Now that you’ve spent the time to clean it up and fix it so that it’s ready to sell you need to take a bunch of pictures. These days of digital photography bliss I would suggest you to take lots of pictures. You don’t need to take really large pictures, but take good size pictures.
I would start by taking 8 pictures of the outside. One from each side and one from each corner. Take 8-12 pictures of the interior condition as well. Pictures of the seats, the carpets, the headliner and the dash. Don’t stop there. Take 2-6 pictures of the engine from different angles. This last one is optional, but you can take some pictures of the under carriage. This shows the condition of the frame.
Conclusion:
Remember, your competition for selling this vehicle is the guy down the street that doesn’t take these measures and the dealership who has a whole crew just to do these things. If you can get the pictures in your ad to look like the pictures in the dealer’s ads, but your price is way below theirs then yours will sell quicker and that’s the goal. If the ad sits out there and gets stale then it will be harder to sell.