5 Tips on How to Sell Your Car at a Higher Price

The main advice that can be given to a person who wants to sell a car at a higher price is to evaluate its appearance, other conditions, and carry out some pre-sale preparations. This will not only raise the price of a car but also accelerate the deal.

First of all, you need to decide if pre-sale preparation would be beneficial for you. If you want to sell your junk car for cash, it is completely inexpedient to clean it much. However, when we talk about a fairly fresh car, its appearance just needs to be addressed. Otherwise, you won’t get the expected amount of money for the car.

1. Invest in the body

When the body is launched and there are foci of frank rust, you will have to talk not about pointing gloss, but about normal body repair. In the vast majority of cases, everything doesn’t look so scary. When you regularly use your car, chips from flying stones, all kinds of scuffs and scratches appear on the paint. Often a windshield and bumpers have a crack.

All these damages have absolutely no effect on how the car is driven. But they make a repulsive impression on the potential buyer. External defects should be eliminated in advance. This is much more profitable than lowering the price later in the bidding process. Replace cracked glass and plastic bumpers. Moldings and arch extensions are fixed in a specialized car service. After that, it’s high time to polish the body. And don’t forget about the wheels. Battered and gnawed by corrosion wheels can easily spoil the whole view. 

2. Clean the interior

You can clean the interior of your car with car chemicals for skin, plastic, and fabric that are available on the market. It is important to clean the trunk as well. This option is preferable due to the fact that some extraneous smell (that you don’t notice because you’re used to it) can “live” in the vehicle. A potential buyer is sure to notice it it is better to remove such a nuisance with the help of dry cleaning. As for the torn car seats, there is no other way but to disguise them with covers.

3. Don’t touch the odometer

Some sellers twist the odometer, reducing the mileage of the car to more presentable figures. This procedure may be completely meaningless. For example, if the buyer requires a car check in an official service station, it will surely turn out there that the last time your car went to maintenance with a mileage of 110,000 miles. And on the odometer, it will show off 60,000 miles. It is also pointless to twist the odometer if you are selling a fairly battered car. If by its appearance and by its year of manufacture everything is already clear, the twisted mileage will only convince the buyer that the car hides many more unpleasant surprises. 

4. Don’t wash the engine

If the engine compartment isn’t dirty or the engine is not full of oil drops and antifreeze, there is no need to wash them. Washing the engine compartment can cause moisture to get into some kind of electrical circuit with consequences in the form of “bugs” or even the complete inability to start a car. The experienced driver can suspect something like serious engine malfunctions that you eliminated with the help of a car wash. If the engine is simply dusty, the question “ to wash or not to wash” goes into the category of personal preferences and ideas about the potential buyer of your car.

5. Check and repair the suspension

What you should pay attention to is the suspension. If there are any worn-out components, they should be replaced. And adjust the alignment as well. The buyer will not be happy if the car would “roar” and move to the side. In general, you don’t need to completely change the suspension. However, it is simply necessary to remove the flaws, that can interfere with comfort and safety.