As we’re sure you would agree, getting the most money for your car when selling is your top priority when making a listing.
Our cars are quite quick to depreciate in value and this means you’ll have to do a little extra work to get that value back up when it’s time to sell. You’ll often need to put in a little extra effort, some elbow grease and maybe even invest a little into repairs for this, though it is typically worth it in the long run.
With that out of the way, here are our top tips for how to maximise your car’s resale value while also spending the least amount of money and time.
Understand the Resale Value First
The first thing you’re going to want to consider is the projected sale value of your vehicle.
If you’re not sure of how much you’ll be able to sell your car for, you run the risk of spending too much money on your repairs, maintenance work or replacing panels and end up losing more money than you’ll earn back.
That in mind, take a look online at similar makes and models being resold in your area and also consider the milage and what these vehicles look like. With this information, you’ll be better able to decide on an asking price — but also figure out what you need to change about your car to get the most resale value.
Taking a look on Facebook or Carsales might be a good place to start.
Get Your Hands on a History Report
A second tip from us is to make sure you’re as transparent with buyers as possible.
What we mean by this is getting a hold of your vehicle’s history report or building one yourself. This should include as many records of services, maintenance tasks, insurance and issues with the car as possible.
Your potential buyers will greatly appreciate this and it reduces their chances of buying into a ‘lemon’ of a car. Often this will dull purchaser anxiety too, and get your buyers to move forward with a higher resale value.
Have the Car Detailed
Once you have all of your information on hand and have determined a resale value for your car — then you can get to work on making alterations.
Whether this includes a professional repaint from body shops like DingGo or having damaged panels replaced, you’ll be on your way to creating a vehicle that is just like new, and going to get you a higher resale value.
Always be sure to go all-out on the internal clean and the exterior repaint or wash as this will hold a lot of value for the least amount of investment. It shows you have taken care of your vehicle and will let buyers know they’re getting a good deal.
Offer Up Professional Photos
As we’re sure you’d have expected, professional photos do a tonne of the heavy lifting when it comes to reselling your car.
You want to show off your vehicle in the best light and that means clear, detailed and well-angled photos are going to do you wonders here. Work to show off all angles of your vehicle and be transparent with any issues here as well.
If your vehicle does have a ding, scratch or any other problem that you’re not going to work on fixing, then take a photo of this issue and label it. This, again, helps to show buyers you’re upfront and not looking to hide potential issues with the car.
Describe the Vehicle in Detail
To go along with your professional-grade photography, also be pedantic and descriptive when it comes to writing up your caption.
This is your chance to go over everything about fuel economy, comfort, how the vehicle is to drive, how reliable it is and much more. Your buyers are looking to invest in a vehicle for a reason, and so be sure to cover as much information in this description as possible and leave no room for interpretation or ambiguity.
As we’re sure you would agree, it’s good to hear as much about a product as possible before you make the leap into buying it, and so go all-out. It may also be worth your while to write small ending paragraph about what you did like the most about the car.
Negotiate and Don’t Back Down
If you have a minimum vehicle resale price in mind, work to stick to it.
When you have potential buyers coming to take a look at your vehicle, work to keep them on the agreed price, or offer a little wiggle room. There is nothing worse when it comes to reselling a car than having to turn everyone away who tries to haggle with you, and so set your price a little higher than your minimum and go from there.
By doing this, you may also be able to score a buyer who is willing to pay above your minimum, earning you back a pretty penny and maximising your car’s resale price.
