Where To Sell Your Car In The UK

For many people selling their car is in fact taking advantage of the dealers’ trade in price, the easiest and less stressful way. However, there is no guarantee that this will give you the largest return for what is an asset. This is especially important as your vehicle depreciation is likely to be the largest cost factor of ownership. There are more options, if you are prepared to put the time and effort into it. So if you have chosen against a trade in, there are 2 main considerations to sell your car in the UK

Selling Your Car Privately

This is likely to be the most common for of selling a car after trade ins especially if the vehicle is an older model and lower price, that a buyer can pay cash or from savings without finance.

Typical platforms include:

  • Ebay
  • Autotrader
  • Facebook Marketplace
  • Gumtree
  • Jamjar

Some of these platforms a payment is required, and some are free.

In order to get the best price, take some great photos from all angles, including the interior and make sure you market all the positives, such as long MOT, service history, low milage low owners etc. at this point it is worth mentioning that a short MOT period, really does punch down the value of a car, and for the sake of a few pounds a fresh ticket will help with asking price.

If there are some negatives that cannot be fixed, then still mention these but make sure you insist that the faults have been considered with the asking price. It goes without saying that some initial research to how much others are asking for their vehicle should guide the asking price of your car.

Make sure you have planned the payment process, cash only or if a deposit into bank, the money should be there before any keys are handed over. A test drive will be essential, how are you insured for this, where is the best place to go?

There are tyre kickers, dreamers and time wasters in these scenarios so some patience is required, this maybe why so many people choose to trade in their vehicle as they see selling privately as too much hassle.

Sell To An Online Buying Service

The arrival of “We Buy Any Car” changed how many buy and sell cars. These types of services will buy your car at trade price (or just below), then sell on to the trade or auction. However, it has been proven that in some cases the money they offer is still more than a dealership or give you the buyer more power in driving down the windscreen price of a car during negotiation as a cash no trade in buyer.

But some research has to be done first, as there is often an admin charge and not all of these services offer the same price for the same vehicle based on their ability to dispose of it. So, get your price online first, describing the car accurately, then decide whether you are better off, trade in or selling privately.

Other Consideration T Be Considered If No Trade IN

Selling in a different process to buying means you will either have a period without a car or a period with old and new together. That can create issues, such as insurance drive space and financial. If you need to money from the old car to pay for the new, there may be little option but to trade in or sell first.

The opportunity for making the most from the deal, comes from being able to finance the new car whilst trying to sell the old at the best price. And of course, that is a personal think related to each car owner. There is an argument that the first loss is the best loss and every month you have not sold the old car, leads to more depreciation and a desperation to sell. If you need editing car photos, just visit the website.