You have two possibilities:

• Make the whole process quicker and simpler by contacting a car dealership or garage which are both ready to take your car as is, and which most often will also take care of all the paperwork. You can even sometimes take advantage of special trade-in deals during certain periods of the year.
• All the same be very careful that the garage doesn’t tie you to an obligation to buy a new car with them. Also, look out for “fake good offers” which can result in a lower discount for the new car.
• Sell your car yourself and in which case continue reading the recommendations below.

It’s very important to know the correct market value otherwise you’ll risk either losing money or just never manage selling the car!

There are several price-quote sites available on the Internet. Then you should view the most popular selling sites such as autoscout24 or Luxauto and look at the prices currently being offered for cars equivalent to yours in terms of mileage, year or other options. Using this information, you should have a very good idea of the price to ask.

If this is for a passenger car, you can ask advice from a Car Expert.

In addition to “word-of-mouth”, use a free Internet site. There are a number of well-designed sites where you can place complete ads. After a while, if you’ve had no luck then try looking into some paying sites.

As to choosing the right time to sell your car, we advise you to just use common sense. If you are selling a convertible then it’s probably smarter to wait until the warmer spring or summer months where you’ll have more views. If it’s an “oldtimer”, take some time to monitor the market as some old cars can have fluctuating prices!

Given the high volume of offers available on the Internet, remember you need to “lure” in a potential buyer in merely a few seconds. For this, make sure your advertisement is eye-catching and stands out from others.

• Wash your car inside and out including polishing the dashboard and shampooing your car mat etc.
• Perhaps consider repairing minor damages (polishing over minor scratches, replacing brake-dust covered wheel trims, touch-up of stone chips using colour repair pens, etc …) giving buyers the image of a well-kept car.
• It’s imperative that you have a good set of photos. This is what potential buyers look at first! Make clearly-focused photos with front and rear three-quarter views, as well as of the inside and any other possibly interesting accessories.
• Accurately determine the contents of your advertisement. Choose the right model, year, mileage, the useful options and mention if it has undergone the annual vehicle safety test. Don’t hesitate to add some free-form comments (name of the 1st owner, non-smoker, maintenance book available, …) which will help draw the attention of interested people!
• Avoid phrases such as “price negotiable” which tend to attract a number of scheming buyers who never offer you what you want.
• Choose a price and try as best possible to stick to it.

A person seems interested and has come to visit you! Some tips from experts:

• Be clear and precise in your explanations. First off present any documents which could give added-value to your car (for example a servicing invoice) and then show them all other necessary papers available.
• Be polite but firm and don’t lower your price each time the potential buyer makes a negative comment about the state of the car or quite simply if the buyer point-blank asks you make a better offer.
• Don’t look like you’re in a hurry as a clever buyer will notice and you’ll lose face. This is a negotiation and both parties must be happy. The sale is no obligation and can easily come to an end if no common ground is reached!

They want a test drive? That’s a good sign and a reasonable request. Accompany them.