Selling Your Car

Selling your car can be a daunting process so we have created this handy guide to bring you through the process. When thinking about selling your car, you first need to figure out what you car is worth and where you are going to advertise it.

Deciding to Sell

What is my car worth? Use classified websites to work out what value you can get. If trading-in to a dealership, expect the trade-in price to be 15-25% below the sale price.

Where can I advertise it? You can advertise your car in a number of places, including classifieds sites like DoneDeal & Adverts, social media & in some print publications. Choosing the right place to sell will impact the speed & value of your sale.

Private sale or dealer sale - You can sell directly to private sellers via classifieds site or, if you are buying a new or used car from a dealership, you may be able to trade your existing car in against your new purchase. A new way to sell is directly to a trusted dealer via DoneDeal's Instant Offer feature. You can find out more about Instant Offer here.

Prepping for Sale

Before you advertise your car, there are a number of steps you need to take to maximise your sale price and help you sell faster.

Documents

Gather all documents relating to the vehicle.

• NCT Doc

• Log book - The documentation certifying ownership of a vehicle will be in the form of a Vehicle Registration Certificate (VRC) or Vehicle Licensing Certificate (VLC). These documents are also commonly known as the "Logbook". Which document your vehicle will have depends on when the last change of ownership was completed or the age of the vehicle. The Vehicle Registration Certificate (VRC) is the newer document and the Vehicle Licensing Certificate (VLC) is the older form of this ownership document.

• Service History

Preparing Your Car

• Clean outside of car

• Clean inside of car

• Invest in professional valet

• Wipe under bonnet with damp cloth

• Replace any blown bulbs

• Replace floor mats if worn

• Empty storage areas (glove box, boot, under seats)

Preparing Your Ad

Now that your car is ready to be photographed, you can starting creating your ad. Follow our guide below to help you through the process.

Photos

Ensure you have a number of photos showing all angles of the car so the buyer can make an informed decision on whether to contact you. We would recommend the following images:

• Front quarter left

• Front quarter right

• Back quarter left

• Back quarter right

• Wheel / Alloys

• Internal full dash

• Drive view

• Internal from centre

• Passenger looking at driver dash

• View in from open front door

• View in from open back door

• Front

• Back

• Side profiles

• Front interior

• Rear interior

• Engine

• Odometer

• NCT cert

Mistakes - Some tips to avoid common mistakes when taking photos which may make your ad appear unprofessional or untrustworthy

• Multiple cars in photos

• Zooming in too far - give a full view of the car

• Bad quality / bad light

• Not cleaning the car

• Take photos in landscape not portrait

Video

You can enhance your ad by including a video of your car, both the inside and outside. Some rules to follow when creating your video:

• Do a full 360 tour of the outside of the car

• Show the inside - start at the driver's door and show the passenger side & back seat

• Open the boot and show the storage and spare wheel

• Compress the file before uploading

Information to Include in Your Ad

Include as much information as possible in your ad and answer as many potential questions that buyers could have so you only get really keen buyers contacting you.

Essential to include:

• Registration number

• Year

• Mileage

• Service history

• Colour

• Number of owners

• Features / specifications

• Contact information - ensure you include your preferred contact method & time so you can manage buyer expectations and replies

Greenlight

Greenlight your vehicle by inputting the Vehicle Licence Certificate (VLC) number from your vehicle logbook. This will help you to sell your car. For a quick and hassle free car sale, make sure your care has the Greenlight tick. Greenlight, our trust initiative, means as a seller you can opt to provide your logbook reference number to us when listing your ad. This means we can put a green tick next to your ad, indicating that we have checked your Vehicle License Certificate against the car registration number to verify your ad. Potential buyers have a greater sense of trust in verified ads which results in more enquiries for the vehicle you are selling. Find out more here

Happy Selling!

Now that you have completed the steps above, you're ready to sell your car, best of luck!