6 Key Tips On How To Sell Your Car In Difficult Times
Article by Adam Smith
Many car dealer groups have made hundreds of staff redundant during 2008, some have gone into administration and some have simply closed. One thing is undeniable – the UK car industry has never had it so tough! In this context, how can private individuals expect to succeed where the experts are so evidently failing? To put it bluntly, the answer is “they can’t!”.What the private seller can do, however, is ensure that the elementary basics of selling in a declining market are all established and covered. You might not be able to buck the market, but you can certainly prepare yourself for it more completely….1. Establish a competitive and realistic price for your car. o Thoroughly check the prices of similar cars in popular classified ad magazines or online. o Remember, used cars have depreciated enormously over the past 6 months and therefore the range of “asking prices” has never been wider than it is right now. o Take a trip to your local car auction house to ascertain live and therefore realistically achievable used car prices.o Visit a selection of local used car dealerships to establish what price they will be prepared to pay for your car.o Ensure you price your car as the best value of its kind on the market.2. Ensure your car is fully prepared for sale. o In a market where sellers significantly outnumber buyers, ie a buyer’s market, don’t mislead yourself into thinking you can “buck the market”. Buyers are looking for reasons NOT to buy your car and it’s therefore imperative that you ensure your car is visually the best for its age on the market. o Contact your local “Chips Away” specialist to repair all minor blemishes; contact your insurance company to arrange removal of minor windscreen chips; replace tyres that have less than 4mm remaining tread; if your car has alloy wheels then contact your local alloy wheel refurbishment specialist work his/her magic on them. o When you have done all the above, ask a friend or relative to constructively appraise your car as though they were an interested buyer.3. Have all your car documents and service history available. o If your car is less than 3 years old, a full service history by the franchise main dealer will make a significant difference to the selling price you can expect to achieve.o If your car is more than 3 years old, ensure that all the services undertaken throughout your cars life are recorded in the service history book. If there are stamps missing, try to establish if this means a service was missed or if the stamp is simply missing. Where the latter applies, contact the dealer who conducted the service to retro stamp your service history book.o If another service is due within 4 months or 4000 miles, get this service completed in advance of sale.o If your car is of MOT age, ensure it has at least 10 months remaining MOT.4. Ensure that your interested buyer is insured to test drive your car. o Contact your own insurance company to establish whether your policy has a provision for this.o Ensure you go on any test drive with the interested buyer. 5. Set a time limit within which to sell your car and stick to it.o Every day your car remains unsold has a cost attached to it, be it advertising, depreciation, insurance, time invested or other. o If your car remains sold after 3 months, it might be time to consider alternative options.6. In the event of your car remaining unsold, contact an online car purchasing specialist for a quick sale. o A quick search on the internet will reveal several companies who provide a quick, hassle-free alternative disposal method for your car. Whilst the price offered might be slightly lower than you would ideally have hoped for, money in your bank will increase in value whilst money left in your car will undoubtedly go down in value. o Ensure that the online company to decide to use provide a secure and immediate payment method, whereby the payment is in your account prior to them taking delivery of your car.
About the Author
Adam Smith is a car lover who enjoys riding new cars. He has wide range of information about sell car, sell car today, sell car online in UK and recommends http://www.sellcar-uk.com/