When it comes to selling your car, the process can be a real hassle. It’s never something anyone looks forward to. It’s paperwork at best and dealing with annoying tyre kickers and canvassers at worst.
It seems to be a necessary evil, especially if you have an expensive car that you want the most money for. If you want to sell your range rover or another premium vehicle, sometimes the easiest option will yield the least cash.
Here are 4 methods of selling your car, with pros and cons for each so you can make your decision.
Pros and Cons of Scrapping Your Car
Have you been trying to sell your old car recently? Found that no-one wants to invest their money in that banger of yours? Don’t worry, you could always choose to have it scrapped. The truth is that this may be your only option if your car is in such bad condition that people are not interested in it.
You will find that some car scrapping companies will collect the car for you. However, it’s not all straightforward, as there are various rules and regulations about going through the process of getting rid of your car.
Be caution if someone tries to give you cash in hand for scrapping your old vehicle. Don’t be tempted to take the money, because this is illegal and it is down to you as the owner of the car to ensure it is disposed of in the proper way.
If it’s not scrapped at an Authorised Treatment Facility, the DVLA may fine you. Furthermore, you must receive payment in either the form of a bank transfer or cheque. We’re not going to lie to you, it might not be a lot of money. If you only come away with £150 to £200, you’ve done well.
Pros and Cons of Private Sale and eBay
Another way of getting rid of your car and making some money, especially if you don’t mind doing a bit of work, is selling it privately on sites such as Autotrader, Gumtree or even eBay.
This method can even get you a bit more money and allows you to advertise it in a positive way.
The major downside to this method is that private sales are harder than just trading a car in.
It involves a lot more work – taking pictures, writing the descriptions and dealing with customers are just a few of the tasks involved.
Even after you’ve finished with the advertising side and it’s on the market, so to speak, you could have to meet numerous buyers before you receive an offer that is even close to what you were hoping or expecting for.
Pros and Cons of Webuyanycar
Webuyanycar and other similar services are one of the newest ways to sell your car. They are relatively easy to use. You enter the information about your car on the site and then take it along to your local garage to have it assessed and then you can complete the deal.
The great thing about these kinds of services and the companies that operate them is that they often offer a little bit more for cars than the cost of trading them in, without there being quite as much work involved in the process, as there is when you sell privately.
That doesn’t mean it is a flawless way to sell your car though, as the money you make will almost always be less than you potentially could have made if you sold it privately.
There’s also the fact that you may be tempted by the nice price the website lists, only to find that it dramatically decreases once it has been assessed at a garage.
There are some new companies like WeBuy4x4 who are trying to change the game by offering more thorough valuations and fairer prices.
Not all hope is lost with this method of selling.
Pros and Cons of Part Exchange
It is true that you won’t get as much for your car as other methods mentioned, but part exchanging is still one of the easiest and most hassle-free ways to sell an old vehicle.
You simply pull up to the dealership you want to buy a car from, choose a new car and then the dealer will be able to work out how much money they will buy for your old vehicle..
Obviously, the downside of this method is that you will not get as much for your old car part exchanging it than if you sell it privately.
This is simply down to the fact that the dealer has to prepare your car and make it sellable, which will cost him or her extra money – so you get charged the extra.