A lot of people make mistakes when selling their car; dealers can even make mistakes. However, you don’t have to be a statistic if you take time and do some research. Continue reading to find out what the 5 top car selling mistakes are, so you know how to avoid them.
1. Not Knowing the Car’s Value
You can’t possibly price your vehicle accurately if you don’t know its selling value. You can use any online website that has a tool to precisely calculate the vehicle’s price. Most of the time you can check the private-party and trade-in sale value, to see the differences.
If you want the most specific pricing for your vehicle, make sure you put in its exact condition, options from the manufacturer and its mileage.
If you would prefer to do it a different way, then you should check the marketplace. You can look at what other people are selling that is comparable to your vehicle’s make, model and year. Furthermore, be sure it is close to your mileage and available equipment. Looking online is a great way to know what is being sold in your area for what price.
2. Repairing It Before The Sale
Before selling your vehicle, you don’t need to fix every single mechanical problem. For one reason, you don’t want to lose money selling the car you’re there to make money on.
You want to handle minor collision or body damage the same way. Repairs like these don’t add more value to the vehicle, so in turn, you lose money.
You should have estimates on all the repairs needed on the vehicle. So if someone offers you $4,000 less because of minor cosmetic damage, but it will only cost you (according to your estimate) $3,000, you should just have it fixed so you can make 1,000. Also, make sure you tell a potential buyer about all the problems beforehand.
3. Taking the First Offer
If you want to sell a vehicle, you have to negotiate. If you take a buyer’s first offer, you will lose money by not making a counteroffer. Even if they offer more than you truly wanted, always make a counteroffer.
There are two reasons you should do this:
- If the person doesn’t know what they are looking at, they may pay more than it’s worth. It’s okay to do this if you’ve been completely honest with them about the history and condition of the vehicle.
- If you quickly take the first offer, the buyer may get suspicious about the shape of the vehicle.
If you want to trade-in your car, go to lots of dealers, maybe you’ll get lucky and someone will pay you more.
4. Forgetting to Wash It
A lot of buyers, mostly dealers, will not expect a used vehicle to be flawlessly detailed. With that said, if you don’t clean your vehicle at all, people may think that you don’t care about your car.
You should at least wash and wax the exterior, vacuum the inside, dress the tires and clean the inside of your windows. While you are doing this, you should remove all your personal belongings. Make sure you check places like the seat cushions for items that were left behind. Buyers will think that you maintain the vehicle correctly.
5. Failing to Complete Paperwork
There is one last thing that needs to be done before you transfer the ownership of your car. Make sure you do all the paperwork. Not filing the paperwork correctly can lead to fines or tickets that the new owner receives, but you have to pay.
You need to handle this immediately after the sale. Some DMVs provide you with online resources to make things easier. Make sure you have a copy of every document recording the sale and when it happened.
You also need to get in contact with your auto insurance company so that you are not insuring the vehicle anymore. Obviously, you should only do this when the paperwork has been finalized.
Don’t Make These Car Selling Mistakes
You don’t need to make these mistakes when selling your car. Just make sure you know your cars value, do the repairs under a budget and finalize the paperwork correctly. If you follow these guidelines, you are sure to make no mistakes.
If you would like to earn more on your trade-in, then check out this article: Earn More on Your Trade-In Vehicle
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