Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Vehicle Sale

Your car, truck, or SUV is probably very important to you; for most of us, our vehicles are one of the biggest purchases we make, and they’re something we drive every day. As such, you likely want to get the most money possible for your vehicle when selling it, especially when you bring it to us at Rusty Wallace Honda to sell it or use it as a trade-in. (The things we’ll talk about generally apply to both situations.)

One question many of us are asked most often by our friends and family is, “How can I sell my car for the most money?” This is often followed up by questions about doing repairs or other things to try to make their vehicles worth as much as possible. So today, we’re going to give you some tips on what to do (and not do) to get the most for your vehicle without wasting any extra time or money.

#1. Make Sure It’s Clean and Looks Great

We cannot overstate the importance of this point: you want your vehicle to look as good as possible when you bring it to us to sell it (or use it as a trade-in). If you follow real estate or you like to watch shows about selling/buying homes, then you’ve heard of the importance of “curb appeal” or how a house looks when a potential buyer first sees it. The same is true for cars; it’s incredibly important that they make a great first impression and look good when you drive up and are seen for the first time. Fortunately, this is pretty easy to do.

Before you bring your vehicle to us, make sure you give it a good clean inside and out; you don’t need to pay a professional, just be thorough. Wash and wax the exterior, taking care not to damage the outside at all. Clean out any garbage that you might have inside your vehicle; it’s easy for things to blend in when we see them every day, so be careful not to overlook anything. Vacuum your floor mats and carpets, along with the seats and any other upholstery you can reach, and give the dashboard and windows a quick clean so they look as good as possible. Just pretend your car is going on a first date and you want it to look spiffy.

#2. Follow Your Vehicle’s Service Schedule 

Unfortunately, if you’re looking to sell your vehicle soon, there’s not much you can do about this retroactively, but it’s still important to know. Other than the age and mileage of your vehicle, one of the most important things to us when buying a car from someone is how well it’s been cared for and maintained. While that includes handling any big issues or repairs that have come up while it’s driven, the key factor we look at is routine maintenance. This means the service schedule set by the manufacturer of your vehicle; how well you’ve followed this can make a huge difference in the sort of offer we’ll make for your car.

 Following your vehicle’s service schedule keeps it in great shape and makes it more attractive for us and whoever we might sell it to after buying it from you. It also keeps your vehicle running great while you’re enjoying it, so it’s a win/win situation for you. Just remember to keep documentation for service that’s been done, including a service log that shows when maintenance was performed; receipts can also help illustrate this. If you know how to work on your own vehicle, then receipts for supplies you use to perform service on your car are a great way to show that you’ve taken excellent care of it.

#3. Make Some Minor, Inexpensive Repairs

 We want to stress just how important the words “minor” and “inexpensive” are in this instance; in fact, we’ll kind of repeat this with our next tip. If there are some minor issues with your vehicle that you can easily repair (as long as you know how to do it properly) or that can be repaired by a professional at a low price, then that can be worth doing. This is particularly true for visible things like minor dents, dings, and scratches to your vehicle’s exterior. Properly removing a small dent or applying some touch-up paint to make a scratch disappear can be well worth it and result in a better offer for your vehicle. 

You can also top off your fluid levels to ensure they’re all good, including your motor oil, coolant, windshield wiper fluid, and similar things; just be sure they need it and that you’re not overfilling anything. You can also clean the lenses on your headlights that get foggy over time, adding a bit to that curb appeal we mentioned.

 #4. Don’t Bother With Big Fixes or Repairs

Any repairs or work that needs to be done beyond something very minor, however, is not worth doing or paying a shop to handle. We know it’s tempting to get an issue repaired before selling your vehicle since you assume that the resulting fix will add to the value of your vehicle. In reality, however, we likely won’t even realize you’ve done any work since we weren’t driving your car for months aware of the problem. Even if you have receipts for the work to show it was done, that still won’t make the difference you might expect.

We have a service center here at Rusty Wallace Honda, which means we can handle any major repairs that need to be done to a vehicle before we sell it. More importantly, it will cost us much less to handle these fixes than it will for you to pay a shop to have the work done. At best, the difference it makes will almost certainly not result in an increase to what we’ll pay along the lines of the added cost to you. At worst, it will make no difference and just cost you extra money. You can have some minor, inexpensive things done to spruce up your car a bit, but any bigger repairs or expensive work isn’t worth it.

#5. Have Everything You Need On-Hand

One final note to keep things simple for you: when you bring your vehicle to us, be sure that you’re ready to sell then and there. Once we make you a great offer on your car, the last thing you want to do is have to leave to take care of things before you can sell. For one thing, this just creates more hassle for you. If you end up taking a long time to bring your vehicle back to us, then the situation can change, and your new offer might not be as beneficial to you as the first one.

Even worse, you could always get into a collision or have something else happen that makes your vehicle worth much less than it is right now. So make sure you have your title, any other paperwork you need, and a photo ID so we can buy your car from you when you bring it to us.

We Make Selling Your Car Quick and Easy

By following the tips we’ve provided today, you can help make selling your car to us as simple and rewarding for yourself as possible. We buy and sell vehicles every day, so we know how to keep the process smooth and hassle-free for you. Everything you do to improve the value of your car can also help make it easier for us to make you a fantastic offer quickly and have everything done so you can be on your way. 

Just remember to take great care of your vehicle while you own it, particularly when it comes to routine service so that it retains as much value as possible when you decide to sell it. And then come visit us at Rusty Wallace Honda when it’s time to sell to get a great offer and an easy and rewarding car-selling experience.