Top Gear Advice
Top Gear
How to sell your car: your most-googled questions, answered
You asked the internet, we replied with some (perhaps cursory) advice about trading cars
Where should I sell my car?
Depends on the car. If you’re looking to offload a regular family runabout, head for one of the big online marketplaces, whose scale and reach give you the best chance of finding a potential buyer. If you’re selling something more specialist, you might want to advertise in an enthusiast mag or owner’s forum. If you’re getting rid of a Suzuki Celerio, your only hope is to park it up in the middle of your nearest roundabout with a sign in its window reading FREE TO A GOOD HOME.
Should I clean my car before selling it?
Oh dear Lord, yes. And please, please, not only outside – no, that mould around the doorhandles is not ‘characterful patination’ – but inside, too. Nothing undermines your carefully cultivated impression of ‘diligent, cautious, risk-averse owner’ more quickly than a set of heavily used police issue handcuffs poking out from under the passenger floormat. Please also remember to remove all of your children from the car before getting rid of it, however tempted you might be to leave them in there.
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How do I price my car?
There are plenty of online tools that will provide a good estimate of your car’s value, based on its age, mileage and condition. Standard procedure is to take this estimate, add two grand to it, spend a fortnight getting frustrated no one wants to buy your magnificent car, then knock the two grand off and sell it for exactly the price the website gave you in the first place.
Does it matter if my car doesn’t have a full service history?
Not at all. A patchy service history adds a certain je ne sais quoi, a certain frisson to the buying process. Full service history: dweebish, unadventurous, probably attends seminars on pension management. Almost non-existent service history: mysterious, enigmatic, probably something to do with the secret service.
Should I let a buyer test drive my car?
Ideally not. Have you seen the quality of driving in the UK? If a prospective buyer does insist on test driving your car, firstly check they’re fully insured, and also make sure you accompany them on the drive. Not to make sure they don’t disappear with your car, just so you can feel a whole lot better about your own driving skills.
Should I haggle when selling a car?
As the seller, not really your decision. You set the price, then it’s up to the prospective buyer to quibble with it. They are the haggler, you are the mere hagglee. If your buyer does wish to haggle, you’re going to have to counter haggle. Unless you wish to end up selling your 5,000-mile Porsche Taycan for £1.75 and a Hey Duggee keyring.
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