I get this question a lot and I say the same thing to all of my clients – get your car professionally detailed including the engine compartment! Nothing screams look elsewhere than trying to sell a dirty car.
First impressions are everything when it comes to selling a car. Remove all of the junk from under the seats, glove box, center console and trunk. If you have repair and maintenance receipts organize them in a folder, envelope or binder for easy access. Make sure you have checked or better yet changed the oil and topped off all of the fluids.
The appearance of a well maintained car goes along way to building confidence in the potential buyer that means if the check engine light is on you’d better get it fixed or else be prepared to drop the price considerably.
Obviously the more people that see your car for sale the more likely you will find a buyer. That means advertising! You can start off using free listing services like LocalAutosOnline.com, Craigslist and Vehix.com to test the waters. Whenever you list your car online taking quality high res pictures are key. Poor lighting, too far away, blurry pictures and even the wrong background is enough for most people to skip over your ad completely so pay close attention to the details.
Now that you have stirred interest in your car and potential suitors are knocking at your door it’s time to go into selling mode. You would be surprised what a friendly smile and firm handshake can do for turning a shopper into a buyer.
A typical rookie mistake is offering too much information before the person has even seen the car; instead give them a chance to go over the car for a couple of minutes then let them ask you questions or better yet ask them if they have any questions. Answer them without going into too much detail – just enough to get your point across. If you are selling a BMW 325 no body wants to hear about your cousins M3 or your uncles 745iL so remember to stick to the topic of discussion.
The last tip is all about timing – if you can wait sell your convertible in the spring and your 4×4 in the winter. Wait for gas prices to go back to normal levels before trying to dump your Escalade on the already over saturated SUV market.
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