How to Improve the Value of your Car

If you’ve decided it’s time to sell your car, then you’ll want to get the most you can for it. Even if you don’t know your way around the mechanics of a car, there are plenty of things you can do to boost the saleability of your car and give you the best chance of achieving a good price when you sell it.

Clean it

First things first, you want to make your car look as appealing as possible, so that means giving it a good clean both inside and out. Do this before you take any photos and if possible, before each viewing you have with a potential buyer.

If you don’t have the time to thoroughly clean both the inside and outside, then it’s worth paying to get your car valeted professionally. It really will boost your chances of selling. No one wants to pay out lots of money for a dirty car!

Have any minor dents and scratches repaired

Potential buyers will be looking at your car closely in order to spot any dents or bits of damage to the bodywork. They may use this to negotiate a better price, or it may put them off buying altogether.

You’ll need to weigh up how much repairs will cost against the value of the car, so if you’re selling a car for £1,000, then it won’t be worth paying out a couple of hundred to get some dents repaired.

You can probably buff out any scratches and even just doing that will boost your chances of selling for the price you’re asking.

Make sure you have all the parts to hand

Serious buyers will want to know that you have everything that originally came with the car ready to hand over. This includes things like the parcel shelf, spare wheel, tool kit and spare key. If you can’t find the spare key, then it’s worth replacing it. It’s really easy to get hold of a key replacement for many Ford models and other popular car manufacturers these days.

Have your paperwork ready

Make sure you have all the paperwork relating to your car ready. Here are a few things you should have:

• MOT certificate
• Vehicle log book (V5C)
• Service history
• Invoices for parts/work carried out

Have it serviced

If it’s been a while since you had the car serviced, or it’s due for a service in the next couple of months, then get this done before you list your car for sale. This will give buyers a little reassurance that the car is likely to be in good condition.

If you want to achieve the best possible price when you sell your secondhand car, then it really is worth just spending a little time and money in order to get your car in tip-top condition before you list it for sale.

*This is a collaborative post.