Selling used cars is getting much easier nowadays, especially with online platforms' availability; it helps you connect with millions of customers every day. However, not everyone can get the most money out of their used vehicles.
⚠️ If It's Broken, Don't Fix It - Get Paid Cash for Your Vehicle ⚠️
This article provides you with 15 tips for selling your car for the most money. You don't have to have any previous car selling experience to implement these tips. Even if you cannot apply all these 15 tips, we recommend that you apply as many as you can to get the most money out of your used vehicle.
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Always store any maintenance records
Showing the buyer that you maintained regular services for your vehicle indicates that the vehicle was taken care of and everything under the hood is relatively healthy.
Thus, it's very important to keep records of any maintenance and services, especially if you're doing extra upgrades to your vehicle.
For example, you might need to keep copies of new tire receipts, schedules tune-ups, oil changes; it's such well.
Similarly, if you upgraded the stereo system in your vehicle or any other components, it's very important to highlight it and showcase this to the buyer.
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Keep your vehicle clean
When you meet the buyer, it's very important to show him a clean vehicle. Thus, make sure to remove any trash, food leftovers, personal items, etc.
The first impression is the most important part of the car selling process. If the buyer sees that your vehicle is cleaned enough, it indicates to him that you have been taking good care of the vehicle, and you also took good care of other hidden important components in your vehicle.
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Perform any possible repairs
Sometimes investing a little bit in minor repairs can enhance the overall situation in the car selling process.
We're not asking that you do major car repair or parts replacements; we're referring to minor repairs like changing broken mirrors or taking care of your vehicle's tire pressure.
Even if this will take you a little bit of time and effort, it improves the overall first impression in your vehicle, enhancing the chance of receiving a higher offer.
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Understand your vehicle's value
Before you meet with any buyer or even post an ad for your vehicle, it's very important, to be honest with yourself and understand your real value.
You can use either online tools or visit a professional mechanic tool to give you a more accurate view of the maximum and minimum value you should accept.
By having some numbers in the back of your head, you will know immediately when you have a good deal, and you can walk away when the negotiation process gets beyond your desired goal.
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Decide on the car selling platform
Once you have everything ready, it's now time to decide which platform you would like to go with. Are you looking to sell your car offline or online?
When it comes to online platforms, you could either select from classified websites like eBay motor or Craigslist, and you can also choose to sell your car through the Facebook marketplace.
The good thing about online platforms is that there is a lot of demand, and you will be exposed to millions of people looking to buy such vehicles.
However, with this great demand and many people, it can easily slip into scams and get into trouble, so you must be very careful.
The other thing you can try is to sell your used car to junk car buyers' companies. While junk car companies are usually focused on damaged vehicles, there are tons out there who are willing to purchase your used car and pay you the most cash for it.
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Write an appealing advertisement
Assuming that you decided to go with online platforms, you must write an appealing advertisement because that's what people will read, and that's your only chance for people to click on your ad and learn more information.
When you write the advertisement, you don't want to write too much information, and you also want to cover all the necessary details.
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Include high-quality images
A picture is worth 1000 words. That's also applicable to the car selling process. As we mentioned earlier, your advertisement has to be brief and does include too much information but, you want at the same time to include all information about your car. Thus, to do so, you need to include high-quality images.
These images can cover many details without overwhelming the buyer with too much text because people tend to see pictures more than reading text.
Therefore, you must take high-quality images because if you take low-quality images, you're underestimating your car's value, and people can judge your vehicles' overall situation based on these images as the first impression.
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Check yours states standard bill of sale
Some states require certain forms to be used in any car selling process. Thus, we recommend that at this point, you review all your state's regulations and check whether there is a standard bill of sale for your state.
If there is a standard bill of sale, you must get a copy of it and have it ready before meeting with any buyer. The last thing you would want to be in is canceling a meeting with the buyer just because you don't have the paperwork ready.
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Avoid common scams
The online market is filled with scams that you need to avoid, and we've talked about them in a different article.
Some of these scams have to do with the payment methods, while others have to do with buying a new vehicle without seeing it.
We recommend that you visit our article and get more information about what to avoid and to be aware of when it comes to selling your vehicle online.
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Meet the buyer in a public place
One of the most important things you need to be aware of when you're selling your vehicle online or offline is understanding the best location to meet him in.
You want to select an area in public, and it has a lot of people around you. It's also recommended to meet the buyer in a place where there are some cameras. In case something happens, you can request videotaping for the car selling process.
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Use a temporary phone number
It's advised that you never share personal information with your buyer as much as possible. Some experts recommend using a temporary phone number for communication between you and the buyer.
It's important to take advantage of the platform you decided to go with my Craigslist or Facebook marketplace and use their suggested communication method. They might allow you to use texting, so you don't have to share your personal information.
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Request the buyer's information
Any buyer interested in purchasing your vehicle should not have a problem providing you with his first and last name along with his license.
You want to be as safe as possible and provide dealing with criminals as much as you can.
If you felt that the buyer has a problem and not comfortable providing it with his first and last name, you'd better walk away and had a better deal.
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Be smart when negotiating
When you advertise your vehicle and put a number, don't expect that the buyer will come and accept it immediately.
Get ready for a negotiation process, and in some cases, it takes a little bit of time if the buyer has a number set in mind. You need to leave some room for wiggle, but at the same time, you don't want to accept an offer that is beyond your minimum accepted value.
If you felt at any point that you are under pressure, walk away immediately because it's never recommended to make decisions when you're under pressure.
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Ask questions
While you are the buyer, and most likely you will be the one who'd asked the question, it's recommended that you also ask your questions to the buyer.
It won't hurt if you asked him where he lives and his plan to use the car for the preferred payment methods. Please have a good conversation with him and be upfront about any required repairs and tired changes.
Please give him a clear picture of the brake system and other important components that he needs to keep an eye on.
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Only accept certified payments methods
One of the most common scams for selling your car online is the weird payment methods approach. For example, a buyer will come to you and say, OK, we can use this third-party account to have the money until we finish the deal.
However, you will end up knowing that this third account belongs to the buyer, and once he gets the vehicle, he runs away without paying you any money.
It's always recommended that you try getting cash payments as much as you can. However, if you found that the buyer insisted on using checks, ask him to meet with you at the bank account and ensure that that check goes through before you finish the deal.