What to write when selling your car privately

Private Vehicle Sale

Selling a car privately can be an overwhelming thing to do, but even though it may seem complicated, there are several steps that can simplify the whole process. However, because people don't always sell cars, and in some cases, it may be once in every four or five years, the processes involved may not be easy to remember.

This article aims to simplify the process of selling a car privately and can be your go-to guide, so you don't forget the steps to take. We have covered the different steps involved in selling a car, and the right things to write when selling a car privately, so keep reading to find out more!

Preparing Your Car For Sale

The first thing is to conduct a check and ensure that your car is ready for sale. To do this, you'll need to ensure that you have all the necessary documents, as well as the correct information necessary to advertise and ultimately sell your car. Here's an overview of what you need to do when preparing your car for sale:

Ensure the Car is Roadworthy

In some states, you may need to get a roadworthy certificate to show that the car you intend to sell meets all the legal requirements. Most of the private listing websites won't even accept your listing if you don't present a roadworthy certificate. You only need to take your car to a mechanic for a roadworthy assessment and service to verify that everything is in excellent working condition.

Get Your Paperwork Done

This includes your car finance documents, service book records, and registration papers. You'll need to ensure that you have all these documents, as prospective buyers may require them. You can also go further by getting an official PPSR (Personal Property Securities Register) report to present to your buyers.

Another vital thing is to point out how much CTP (Compulsory Third Party) cover you have left as it is transferred with the vehicle. The need to get your paperwork done cannot be overemphasised, and an essential thing to note is that there are different documents and information that you'll need to get ready before putting your car up for sale. This should also include the following:

• Vehicle details including VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) and car registration

• Safety certificate and roadworthy certificate

• Updated service history for the car

• Financial statement from a loan provider, especially if there's a payment owed on your car

• Proof of ownership documents

• Owner's manual and spare key

• Vehicle history report

Clean and Polish the Car

Before you move on to list your car, you'll need to get it professionally cleaned. A clean car will always attract more buyers than a dirty car because it gives the car a new feel. Even though you'll spend more on this, you can rest assured that it's worth it. You can also clean your car yourself, but you'll need to focus on critical spots, particularly the engine bay, boot openings, car doors, windows, and wheels.

Establishing Your Car's Worth

Get a price comparison from a dealership

Setting a price for your car is also a fun part of the whole process. Although it can get tricky, especially for private sellers, there are a few things you can do to ensure that you get it right. The first thing you might want to do is to get a comparison price from any dealership, and you can request this, either as a straight purchase or a trade-in purchase.

Ensure that you use a dealership of the car brand you want to sell when doing this. For example, if it's a Toyota car, you should ask a Toyota dealership, as a Honda dealership may not be able to provide the information you need.

Get a price comparison from an online wholesaler

Another option is to obtain a price comparison from any online wholesale. However, you should be ready to receive a 15-20% lower price than the actual market price. There are also online price guides that you can use to get a more accurate car valuation. Unfortunately, most of the prices from these car guides tend to be estimated expenses, and there are usually discrepancies with the actual costs.

Compare pricing to other cars similar to yours

In addition to these, you can also compare prices with other similar cars available for sale. You can check different websites for various car ads or even car news. For this, we recommend making a list of the top five similar cars and comparing their prices.

You'll need to ensure that the year, badge, series, model and make are similar to that of your car, and in addition, you'll also need to make sure that they have about the same mileage.

Listing Your Car And Writing The Ad

When listing your car or writing your ad, you need to include all information about the car. The information should include existing warranty information, fuel type, transmission, engine size, mileage, exterior and interior colour, year, make, and model.

Explain Why You're Selling

This is an easy way to give your ad a personal touch and connect with potential buyers. By simply adding your reason for selling, you can show that it is worth buying. Every buyer will want to know why you're selling your car, and as such, you'll have to clearly state this.

An excellent reason to include it is that you need a bigger car for your kids. In addition to the reasons you include, you can also add a personal story of how you have enjoyed the car since you bought it.

State the Positives

Remember to state features that can add value to your vehicle in the ad description. This can include a statement like the car has never been involved in an accident before. You can also specify that you have records for all repairs and maintenance over the years.

If you made any modification to the vehicle, be sure to state that also so that buyers can know the upgrades you made over the years. The modifications include upgraded floor mats, wheels, a trailer hitch, roof rack, window tint, sound system, and more.

Use Concise Language

The language you use is also an important thing you should not overlook, as you wouldn't want your potential buyers to be confused. With that in mind, always ensure that you're not using fluffy sentences or over descriptive sentences. Try not to use any jargon in your description.

Be Honest

When describing your car, try to be as honest as possible in your description because that's what every potential buyer is looking for when buying used cars. If there are dings or scratches on the car's exterior, be sure to include them in your description. This also applies to stains on the interior part of the car. Also, state issues the car has had in recent times.

The aim is to ensure that you don't oversell the car with a false description. No buyer will want to buy your car if they find out that you were dishonest with some of the information you gave in the description.

Include Well Taken Pictures

Presenting your car on the market needs to be done strategically if you want to attract potential buyers faster. As stated earlier, you'll need to thoroughly clean the interior and exterior of your car, with a focus on tricky spots like the bonnet, door openings, and boot openings.

Doing this will help to improve the quality of the photos you take and also allow buyers to appreciate your car more. Remember to take out all your personal items from inside the vehicle.

The next thing you'll want to do is to find a suitable location for the car photos. It doesn't have to be in your garage. The street is an excellent place to take pictures, as you'll have good lighting. Also, the time you take the picture is equally important. It's generally best to take the photos in the late afternoon or early morning.

If you wish to eliminate the need to take the pictures yourself, you can hire an expert photographer to handle the job for you. It is worth mentioning that photos can make or break your listing. Therefore, your only option is to ensure that you do it well.

Consider a Professional Detail

Professional detailing will come in handy for you if your vehicle's paintwork is starting to look old. Remember that first impressions count, and the first thing buyers will see is the painting of your car.

Review the Advert for Mistakes

From the tips we have provided above, you can now write a detailed and honest description of your car and also include some stunning photos. Your ad is now ready to publish. However, the final thing you should do is to review the ad one more time. In addition to knowing what to write when selling your car, it's also vital that you ensure that your ad is flawless.

Before you post your ad for the public to view, you want to carefully read through the ad to ensure that there are no grammar or spelling mistakes. You can employ the use of different writing tools to check for spelling or even get someone to proofread your ad before you publish it. It may seem insignificant, but an ad with typos and errors is a no-no.

Conduct an Inspection and Test Drive

After posting your ad, the next thing will be to wait for a serious buyer to contact you. Most potential buyers will ask to see the car and test drive it before making their offer. It's normal to be paranoid at this point because you risk getting your car damaged during a test drive.

Before the inspection phase, you'll need to get things in order and ensure that the car is ready. Start by checking the tread levels and the tyre pressure of the car. Before releasing the vehicle for a test drive, you'll need to get the buyer's name and phone number.

Guarantee that the information they give is accurate. You can also request a copy of the buyer's driver's licence before the test drive. Make enquiries to be sure that your car insurance policy will provide cover for a different driver other than you, although this cover may be limited to specific age groups. Remember to clean the car thoroughly before meeting the driver.

Avoid asking the buyer to meet you in your home. Always try to use a completely neutral ground for this, and it should be in a region where there are other people. You can also go with a family member or a friend for this purpose. For extra precaution, it's best to go with the buyer as they test drive the car. You wouldn't want to allow them to drive off with your vehicle.

Prepare for Negotiation

After inspecting and test driving the car, and they are satisfied with it, the next phase of the process is the negotiation phase. The buyer will make their offer, and if you priced your car well enough, there should be enough room for negotiations. In addition, also try to have a lower price in mind that you can accept for the car.

Once you both reach an agreement, it will be time for them to make payment, but this would depend on the payment methods that are most suitable for you. You can either accept a bank cheque, an online transfer, cash, or direct deposit. These are the safest and most convenient payment options that you can use.

After payment, the last thing to do is to properly document the transaction and ensure that the driver provides you with payment receipts before you give them the keys.

Pros And Cons Of Selling Privately Vs. To A Dealer

Once you've decided to officially sell your car, you can either use a dealer or sell it privately. The first thought for most sellers is the money, and they mostly think that they would likely make more money from a private sale than with a dealer. However, that's not always the case as there are several factors to consider before selling your car.

Even though you can get more money when you sell your vehicle privately, there are still some dealers with really nice offers that are sometimes better than what's obtainable with a private seller. Another crucial thing to consider is the time it will take to sell the car.

Is the extra money you'll get when selling privately worth the time? Especially the time taken to haggle over price, communicate with different buyers, post the car online, meet different buyers, and so on. Selling a car by yourself can be time-consuming but selling it with a dealership is a lot faster. Let's look at a few of the pros and cons of these two options in more detail.

Selling Privately

When you sell your car privately, you are likely to get a slightly higher price for the vehicle. In addition to that, if the vehicle is a specialty car, you have the advantage of selling it for a higher price. However, selling a car privately has its own disadvantages.

The most common is that it generally takes longer to post an ad and also meet a potential buyer. In some cases, meeting a potential buyer to buy your car can be rather unsafe. There is also the tendency to meet unserious buyers that will contact you and end up not showing up on an agreed date.

All of these are factors that can further prolong the sale of the vehicle, and if care is not taken, you might spend weeks to months before you eventually sell off the car. If you're in a rush to sell, this may not be an ideal way to sell your vehicle.

Selling To A Dealer

Unlike selling privately, which can take a while, selling your car to a dealer is a lot faster, especially as they have experience selling different types of vehicles, including classic cars. The fantastic thing is that with this, you won't need to do the paperwork yourself, as the dealer will often handle your paperwork and help you find the ideal buyer within a short time frame.

However, even though selling with your dealer can be fast, one thing you should be ready for is receiving a lower offer for your car compared to if you're selling the car privately.

Practical Car Sale Advice To Follow

Here's an overview of some final car advice to help you when selling your car privately:

• Ensure the car is looking its best: First impressions last, and the best way to create a solid impression about the car is by taking time to clean the vehicle inside and outside. For this, you may need to hire a professional.

• Set the right price: People are often quick to set a price for their car and end up setting outrageous fees, which will only make it harder for you to get the right buyer for your car. When establishing a price, always try to ensure that it's realistic. For this, you'll need to get a car valuation to avoid setting an excessively high price.

• Advertising: This is the most vital thing to do. You need to let the world know that, "Hey, I'm selling my car!" When advertising, you need to ensure that you're doing it right, and we have described how to go about it above.

• Honesty: This is also key when selling your car, especially in your advertising. You need to state everything as it is and avoid trying to sugar-coat the features of your vehicle. This will only send potential buyers away when they discover that you weren't honest with the information about your vehicle.

• Get everything in order: From the repairs to documents and paperwork, you need to ensure that everything is ready before putting the car up for sale. You'll also need to ensure that the vehicle is roadworthy, and for this, you may need to get a roadworthy certificate.

• Receipt: This is also an essential thing to ensure when selling your car. As soon as you and the buyer agree on a price and payment has been made, you'll need to provide a receipt stating that you've sold the car to them and they have made payment for the vehicle.

You're Ready To Sell!

Now that you have a good idea of what to write when selling your car privately, you are on the right track to sell your car more seamlessly. Selling your car online or advertising online is a great way to attract and reach more potential buyers. If selling privately is too much of a hassle for you, don't hesitate to contact a dealership or online platforms that will help you sell your car easily.