When it’s time to sell your car, your aim is to make a fair sale and dispose of it as fast as possible. However, there are a few amateur mistakes that we make that prevents us from achieving this goal. The good news is that these mistakes can be avoided. We have highlighted them below.
1. Undervaluing or overvaluing your car
If you don’t know what your car is worth, how are you intending to sell it? Knowing the value of your car is going to help you get a fair price for it during a sale. Conduct research and find out how people are selling cars similar to yours on the market. You can then gauge with what you had in mind. We have a price evaluation tool: Cheki True Price that will help you when advertising your car for sale to avoid overcharging or undercharging. Make use of it.
2. Spending too much money on repairs
Yes, carrying out major repairs does improve your car’s resale value. However, sometimes you may end up spending more on repairs than what you will fetch from the car sale. Sometimes all you have to do is write down what you feel needs to be repaired and let the buyer know during the car sale. This way you cut costs on repairs. Be smart about it and have a mechanic do a rough estimate of the costs.
3. Lying about having better offers
As the car owner, you want to make the buyers believe that a lot of people want your car. You also want to make them feel like you are getting more offers. However, this may not be true. If there are no better offers say as much and negotiate candidly with the car buyers. Pretending you have better offers, may potentially lead you to losing out on a great deal. Eventually, you sell your car at a loss.
4. Being in a hurry and taking the first offer
Sometimes you as the seller are hard on cash and want to make a sale and go home. However, it’s not advisable to just settle on the first offer that comes along. Take your time and look at other inquiries coming in. You never know, you may settle for something that is much closer to the price you had initially had.
5. Failing to take care of the car detailing
You have gone through all the processes. Finally, someone is ready to see your car and close the sale. You are ecstatic about this. However, they come and find that your car is dirty, the paint is chirped and even the dents have not been taken care of.
It is impossible to convince a buyer that the car you are selling is good enough to buy if you haven’t taken time to wash it and detail it. It will even be better if you did interior car detailing. A clean and well taken care of car attracts a very handsome amount of money during a sale.
6. Taking low-quality images of the car during advertising
Taking terrible photos of your car also lower your chances of getting a customer. Ensure that all photos you capture are of great quality and show important features of your car. For instance the engine, the cabin, the side view, front view and rare view. If you are unable to take great photos, it is advisable to hire a skilled photographer. It may look expensive but it is worth it.
7. Getting duped in a trade-in offer
There are advantages of selling your car on your own as well as trading in your car. Trade-in is always faster but it doesn’t necessarily mean you will get a better deal. Be wary of dealerships that offer deals that are too good to be true because more often than not, they are too good to be true. Take time to research before you settle for less than you bargained for.
8. Failing to take advantage of all advertising avenues
Sometimes all you need is a ‘for sale’ sign on your car so that you can sell it. However, most people think that when the advert is free, it is not good enough. Take advantage of all the avenues you can get to advertise your car. The more people know you are selling your car, the more likely it is to attract a buyer.
9. Poor description of the car during advertising
When selling a car online, it is important to put forward a good description of the car. Buyers cannot see the car literally but they need to have a virtual image. You can only achieve this by writing a good description. Be honest and give in-depth details.
10. Missing important documentation for your car
When selling your car, you need to put together all the paperwork. Repair receipts, logbooks, clearance and inspection papers all have to be in order to be able to close the sale.
Ensure that you counter check the documents and make copies so as to avoid scammers. Imagine getting a suitable buyer only for you to discover you are missing the cars logbook and can not close the sale. Use an organiser to put all your documents together to avoid losing them.
Summary
These are the 10 most common mistakes that people make when trying to sell their cars. At the end of the day, the goal is to make a great sale. Avoiding such mistakes can make your car selling process easier considering all of them can be avoided.