Whatever the reason may be for you deciding to sell your car, if it’s time to be out with the old and in with the new, then you shouldn’t have any problem in getting rid of your car. Before you do get rid, however, why not try and get as much money for your motor as you can?
There are a number of things that you can do to your vehicle to see it go for a higher price, none of which demand particular mechanic expertise. Here are a few of the things that you can do to sell your car for more:
Boost your car’s ‘curb appeal’
Giving your car’s ‘curb appeal’ a boost is the best way to help potential buyers see themselves owning it. It, therefore, gives you more potential to sell, which in turn, makes you more likely to make more money. To make your car look appealing, quite simply, give it a wash and a wax. Whether you do it yourself, head to an automated car wash or pay the neighbor’s kid to do it, just make sure the end result is the bodywork of your car being shiny enough to use as a mirror.
Defog the headlights
To make your car look newer, and subsequently more appealing to potential buyers, you have to try and fix any problems of wear and tear that have occurred on it over the years. One of the biggest of these areas that you need to be focusing on is your headlights, as they will have (more than likely) gone hazy or yellowed. To sort this problem out, you should get yourself a headlight restoration kit, and you should set about defogging them. They’ll come up looking brand new in the end.
Inflate the tires
If you want to see your car sell for the absolute best price possible, then you need to be inflating its tires before you allow any potential buyers the chance to check it out. You can do this at home or at a gas station, and you should inflate them to a minimum level of safety (but this something that you should be doing anyway!).
Once they are inflated, you should set about giving your tires a quick cleanup. You could use any kind of generic tire cleaner, and they should come up looking almost brand new. However, if you’d rather not fork out on that, then you can make your own. To do so, you should combine baking soda and water to create a paste that you then scrub brush into your tires, leave it for a few minutes before rinsing it off.
Fix up the interior
Potential buyers are going to be just as bothered about what your car is like on the inside as they are about its outside, so make sure you’re fixing the interior up.
To do this, start by giving it a thorough vacuuming, including the trunk, making sure you remove everything from dirt on the floor to any cobwebs that may have appeared. Second, move on to getting rid of any stains that you see. To do this, blot a solution made up of a tablespoon of vinegar, a half teaspoon of dish detergent and a quart of water onto anything that you want gone. Third, make sure the car smells good by investing in a new hanging air freshener and refraining from eating or smoking in it.
Top up all fluids
If you were buying a used car off of somebody else, at the very least, you’d expect for the oil to be topped up. This is what your potential buyers will expect from you, too, so make sure you do it by having your oil topped up or even changed, preferably professionally. While you’re at it, make sure you fill up on gas as well. Coming full in this department will make your car seem far more worthwhile a venture for potential suitors.
Repair your windows
Your car’s windows are a telltale sign of how well the whole vehicle has been looked after and tended to over the years, so you should seek to have them repaired should they be scratched or look in any way worn. More often than not, this will mean getting a window specialist out to do the work for you. The money that you pay them for their service will be worth it in the long run when your car’s asking price skyrockets.
Something that you can do, should you have had your windows tinted, is fix any problems you have in regards to bubbles in window tint. To do this, you should warm the window with something like a hair dryer (not boiling hot water!), before dampening and then flatten the bubbles. Afterward, dry your window, and it’ll be as good as new.
Get your records sorted
Making your car seem more worthwhile of a venture in the eyes of potential buyers means doing more than fixing it up, as you also have to get all of the records associated with it sorted and in order. It means digging out the maintenance history and not hiding anything in regards to it, as this will make buyers feel more secure in regards to knowing the car is roadworthy. It also means getting a vehicle history check sorted. If you have to, you can have such a report ran and compiled by an expert company, which will then reveal everything from past ownership to accident history to warranty information.
Making your car seem like a worthwhile vehicle for potential buyers to be investing their hard-earned money in is important if you want to get the absolute best price possible for it. So, don’t be afraid to put some hard work and some elbow grease into making everything look nice, make sure you’re willing to make any repairs and tops up that are necessary, and make sure you can get all of the important records sorted and in order. If you do all of that, you’ll get the sum you deserve in the end.
