The advantages of selling your car to a dealer
Selling your car can be stressful and confusing. There’s often a lot of money at stake and it can take up a lot of your precious time. Whether you’re upgrading or downsizing there are different options to choose from.
You can opt for a dealership or have a go selling your car privately. If time is what you value the most, it’s more advisable to go with a dealership. Here are some guidelines to help you compare the two options.
Sell privately
The main benefit of selling your car privately to someone else is the money you will save. This is usually around a 10% difference in what you can get for it, that is 10% more than what you’d get from a dealership. This tends to be because you set the price yourself and can choose to haggle with the buyer if you feel it’s necessary.
What you do lose out on is time. Selling a car privately is a big responsibility and challenge on your own. You will need to ensure that you advertise the car properly in order to get the best price possible. This entails finding the right photo of the car. Make sure it’s a clear photo, which shows the true condition of the car, don’t hide any scratches or other wear and tear as these will be discovered at the eventual viewing.
Do make sure however, that you get it washed inside and out, sort out any minor repairs and give it a fresh paint job if needed, make the car look its best. Be honest about the specs in the ad and include as many accurate details as you can, even about any faults or defects. It is illegal to give misinformation, and this won’t help you come across as a reliable seller.
Opt for a dealership
There are different options when you sell your car at a dealership. One way is to go for a part-exchange which means that you swap your old car as part of the price for your new one, bought from the same dealership. This is in both of your interests and will most likely get you the best price.
The main advantage of going with a dealership it that it’s much quicker and easier, it requires almost zero responsibility and admin on your part. You don’t need to worry about advertising, showing and test driving your car, much less to mention going through necessary checks and paperwork.
Online buying sites are a more typical convention which can take care of all of these things for you. These can also take care of necessary inspections such as your MOT. It’s impossible to sell your car without having these up to date. For the best deal, certain months tend to be lower at dealerships particularly January, March, August and December. For more information click here.
The main question you need to ask yourself is, which is more valuable, your time or your money?
** This is a collaborative post
