How to Sell your Car for More at a Dealership

How to Sell your Car for More at a Dealership

Posted on September 14, 2021

If you’re planning on selling your car in the near future, it’s natural to want to get the most cash for it. Whether you’re using the cash as a down payment on another car, or to put towards something else entirely, the more you get for your old car, the more cash you have to put down. There isn’t a great deal you can do to sell your car for more at a dealership but what you can do can make a genuine difference.

Maximize the value of your car

If you’re planning to sell your car for more at a dealership, the idea is to make it look as close to resale condition as possible.

The less time and money the dealer needs to spend on preparing the car for resale, the more they can afford to pay for the car.

If something doesn’t add cash value to the car, it will very likely improve the chances of the dealer buying it. Either way it’s a win!

Clean cars sell better

Clean cars sell better, fact. An appraiser won’t feel positively towards any car that’s filthy. For one, it isn’t a nice experience. Two, they won’t be able to assess the true condition of it under all that dirt.

If you have an older car, give it a thorough clean inside and out. Spend a couple of hours making the car look as good as possible, remove any stains and make that bodywork shine.

If you’re driving a newer car, it may be worth having it detailed. If the car is premium or just a couple of years old, this can be an investment well worth making as showroom condition cars sell well.

Know its value

There are numerous blog posts on here about valuing cars and this is a good time to read one. The more accurate your valuation, the more comfortable you’ll feel about an offer.

Use Carfax, Kelley Blue Book, Auto Trader, eBay, Craigslist and other places that sell cars to assess its value. It will be a ballpark figure but it’s definitely something to go on.

Always compare like for like to get the most accurate value. The same make, model, trim, year and mileage. Get it as close as possible, collect a range of values and pick something in the middle.

That will be useful as a valuation.

Make sure to have all the paperwork

A car’s service history is an indicator of how well it has been looked after. The receipts for oil changes, repairs and maintenance all help build the provenance of your car.

Cars without a service history are an unknown quantity and means the dealership will need to fully service it and perform a more thorough mechanical inspection.

Cars with a service history can be assessed according to that history, which could mean a lot less expense and a higher value.

The more paperwork you can provide, the more complete picture we have of the car, the more relaxed we can be about its condition and how much we might need to spend on it.

That means more money for you when you come to sell the car!

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