Five tips that will help you sell your car

Don’t get bogged down with all the trivial details of selling a car.

Before diving into the full guide, here’s a quick checklist to help you stay organised and avoid common selling mistakes.

Here are five simple steps to keep you on track for a fuss-free sale.

Imagine selling your car, only to find you owe more to the finance company than the buyer paid for the car. Nobody wants to be left owing money on a car they no longer own.

It’s important to set a price that will leave enough money to pay any finance owing, and maybe leave a little bit of cash in the pocket as well.

In this scenario, it’s best to repay the balance owing from your own savings or from the sale of another asset.

If there is no finance involved, having a quick sale might feel good in the moment. However, with a hasty sale and a lack of research, you might find out later it was undersold, which can feel frustrating.

To prevent this, check the value of your vehicle against the asking price of similar cars listed for sale online.

In addition, don’t forget to consider costs associated with registration, servicing, and obtaining a roadworthy certificate. If the car's registration or servicing is due soon, do it prior to the sale to make the car more appealing to a prospective buyer.

Assuming that the vehicle you’re selling is mechanically sound and at least reasonably presentable, the first port of call should be the nearest convenient service station or independent workshop to arrange a roadworthy certificate. You may be surprised at how much work is required for the car to pass the test and with the labour and parts comes expense. This expense should be factored into your asking price.

If the car is older and a little wear and tear, the cost of a roadworthy may be more than the value of the car. At that point, you can choose to sell the car without a roadworthy certificate – possibly unregistered, ‘for parts’ – or ask around the wrecking yards to see what they’ll offer for your car.

Once you have your roadworthy, cleaning the car for sale is the next step – when it comes to cars, first impressions definitely count.

If cleaning cars isn’t your schtick, this may mean slinging some money the way of a detailer or bribing the neighbourhood kids to do the grunt work – the cleaning and polishing, vacuuming the interior, and steam-cleaning the engine bay.

Not only should the car be washed properly, you should also ensure you do things such as removing leaves out of the scuttle ahead of the windscreen or the nooks between the boot lid, and the rear quarter panels.

Don’t neglect the door sills either; wipe the road grime away. Use a chemical solution to remove any tar build-up along the lower flanks of the vehicle; spray-on tyre shine will bring up the tyres just right.

Do the alloy wheels need a clean? Dedicated alloy wheel cleaning products are easy to use. If you have gouges or significant marks on your alloy wheels, there are companies that specialise in fixing these marks.

Inside the car dust, vacuum, or wipe down the seats and upholstery. Ensure to get rid of any food stains or drink spills. A fabric stain remover from an aftermarket automotive accessory store can be useful for this purpose.

Don't forget to clean the dashboard top, parcel shelf, centre console, and centre fascia (where climate control and infotainment equipment are located) while paying particular attention to fingerprints on touchscreens.

An aftermarket vinyl cleaning solution is recommended for the squeaky-clean look and feel.

Shift the front seats back and forward to vacuum underneath; clear out anything that has fallen to the floor and rolled under the seats. Check for congealed coffee or soft-drink drips on the centre console, cupholders and bottle holders while the seats are set back as far as they will go. Empty ashtrays, remove everything except the owner’s manual, service booklet and receipts from the glovebox.

Clean the windows, windscreen, and mirrors; wipe off with a material that won’t leave streaks – like a chamois or old bunched-up newspapers. Same for the boot – and why not wipe down the spare wheel and tools while you’re at it?

Leave absolutely nothing unwiped, undusted, unvacuumed, unloved.

It's a fact, clean cars sell quicker.

The car is the star here. You want buyers fall in love with your car just by seeing the online images. So, take a lot of photos. If you don't know how to use a camera or a smartphone effectively, we’ve got you covered with a super intuitive feature in our free carsales app.

Failing that, you could always ask a friendly photography expert for help.

A list of the basic photos you should include is as follows:

Additional detail shots will help too. These include things like the alloy wheels, badgework, headlights, tail lights, front fog lights, or air vents, grille and the like.

Find a background that is attractive but doesn't distract from the car as the subject of the photo.

For example, don't park the car in a loading bay with cyclone-wire fencing, long grass and a dumpster visible behind it.

Here’s another tip regarding backgrounds:

Don’t shy away from photographing and revealing panel damage or worn upholstery if that neutralises any bargaining grenades the buyer might lob at you after inspecting the car. A buyer can’t complain about the condition of a car if that’s fully documented in the ad...

If you or someone you know can present a 30-second video (recorded using a smartphone if nothing else is available), that will tell the buyer more about the car.

For the comment section of the advertisement, channel your inner copy writer (or just use AI) to pen words that describe the car fully. Go with strong wording at the start. Get to the point.

Highlight the car's positive aspects so that the ad leaps out at the prospective buyer.

If the car has unrepaired panel damage or there's some other bad news, admit that in the text, but not before you've already mentioned all the car's strong points. If the car has a high-kilometre reading on the odometer, acknowledge that, but also state that the car has been a carefully maintained country car – if that's true – and has spent much of its time on the open road.

Think about what YOU have always liked about the car. The buyer will probably be attracted to your car by the same things you like about it.

Use humour sparingly and appropriately. Even self-deprecating humour can work against you on occasion.

Additionally, adding a personality and story to the car. A memorable ad from years ago was written by the man selling his dog’s Daihatsu Charade, since the dog had passed on and no longer needed it. It was a sad ad, but memorable – even years later.

Letting someone take your vehicle out for a test drive boil down to trust. You need to be clear-eyed about this and make a sensible assessment of the situation.

Does a young bloke on his probationary licence want to take your WRX for a spin? The answer to that would be a polite but firm ‘no’. It’s unlikely someone like this would be legally permitted to drive such a high performance car, so they won’t buy it from you anyway. They just want to go for a burn at no expense to themselves.

You should be equally careful of other prospective buyers. Make a fair judgement on whether they seem suspicious. Don’t just hand over the keys if the car is worth anything to you.

The buyer – assuming they pass the first test – is reasonably entitled to test your vehicle without you sitting in the car with them. But this is a personal preference. The flip side of the coin is that offering back-seat driving tips or glaring every time they rev the engine beyond 4500rpm could be deal-breakers.

If a buyer and their expert mate want to take your car for a drive, they should be happy to leave something of value with you to ensure they don’t abscond. The item of value could be the keys to the car that they brought with them.

Asking for and holding on to someone’s driver licence is a reasonable request. Note the address details on the licence for further reference, if needed. Take a moment to check that the licence is valid and the picture matches the face.

Selling your car is a business transaction, not a fight to the death. You don’t have to go all ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ to make the sale. However, it’s a good idea to understand what the buyer’s expectations might be, as a starting point.

Be friendly when you welcome the buyer to your home or wherever the car is located for inspection and hand-over. Talk the buyer through the car, pointing out all the car has to offer, and pointing out any blemishes – such as stone chips – that might be missed by the buyer. They will appreciate your honesty.

If the buyer asks why you're selling the car, it's good to have thoughtful answer ready.

The buyer will almost certainly try to haggle you down on the price. Don't take it personally, that's the culture in which we live. Be flexible if you feel you have a serious buyer on the hook, but don't give up too much ground.

If the buyer tells you they have seen other examples of your model of car going for lower prices or fitted with more equipment, don't cave into that pressure. After all, they're negotiating with YOU, not the owners of the other cars.

Be polite, and don't try to second-guess the buyer, their agenda, and the existence or otherwise of vehicles that might present better value. Tell them something that you're comfortable saying, such as: “Look, I think the car's priced right; did you want to have a think about it and get back to me?”.

Alternatively, if you are a bit desperate to offload the car, go straight to negotiating mode: tell the buyer that you are 'firm' at X dollars, because that's what you need for a deposit on a new home, or the cost of a ticket to Europe to see Nanna, or pay out the loan on the car, or for whatever reason you need the money from the proceeds of the sale.

Stay calm and friendly but be resolute if that is what’s required.

If the buyer's offer doesn't suit, say so, but do it politely. The buyer may come back to you with a counteroffer or ask you for the lowest price you’re prepared to let the car go. Have that number already worked out in your mind before meeting the buyer. Don't go below it.

As a final word, stay sane when selling your car. If the buyer isn’t offering you what you want, you’re always free to walk away... or if it’s your home, send them on their way.

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