We've made this simple guide to help you prepare your car for sale in order to get the best possible price.
41% of the vehicles on New Zealand roads are used-imports (mostly from Japan) and with the NZ dollar rising against the Yen this number looks set to increase.
New Zealand buyers have a greater vehicle selection than ever before. Unfortunately for you selling your car, buyers have more newer vehicles to choose from than ever before.
For the exact same year, model and kms travelled, used-car dealers always seem to get $2-5k more than private individuals selling their cars.
We'll go over a few of the most important things that you can learn from the car dealers to get the best price for your car.
When you're selling the best price is always the highest. We'll teach you how to get the best price for your car.
Appearance: Every car dealer knows that a well-presented car will get the best price. A well-presented car is clean, appears looked after, and most importantly doesn't look like someone else has owned it (so that the buyer can visualise THEMSELVES owning the car). A dirty car casts doubt in the mind of the potential buyer as to whether this car they are looking at is really what they are after.
This is how you put-off buyers. The carpet may be in great condition - but no one can see it under all the mess. A simple vacuum would help.
Fortunately for you, the seller, a lot of negatives can be easily removed. The big ones people look for are stains, scratches, dirty engines. These can all be removed or improved cost effectively with a car groom. Stains can be removed with a wet-shampoo, scratches can be removed with paint correction and engines can be steam cleaned.
An oily engine doesn't look great. These sources of these leaks may have been fixed - but how is anyone to know? A steam clean can fix this.
If you're in Christchurch you can give us a call - otherwise, hop onto google and call around some car groomers - in our experience, the franchise ones that operate out of malls and car parks probably aren't the ones you should be visiting. Call a few dealers and see who they use. Get it cleaned, get it looking good, get the best price.
Condition:
One simple thing that is bound to make the viewing go much better is by simply topping up, or replacing the fluids. No one wants to check the oil to find there is nothing in the engine, nor do they want to see dark black old oil. Equally no one wants to see brown antifreeze that should be green or pink. Pump up your tyres. All of these show that the car has been looked after - you'll earn a bit of trust if they can see for themselves that the car is as good as you say it is. Fix cheap obvious mechanical issues - a $100 fix could take $500 off the sale price of the car. Squealing belts, grinding brakes, flat keyless entry battery - all relatively easy fixes that it's worth at least getting a price on to get fixed.
Check the oil level. Low oil indicates that the engine is either using oil or that the owner neglects servicing.
Ensure that the oil is fresh and clean. Well used oil is dark in appearance - for the price of an oil change you're sending the right signals to aware buyers.
Check the coolant level. Coolant should be topped up (when cold) and be either bright green or pink in colour (depending on your vehicle)
Most private advertisements for cars happen online. If you're in New Zealand Trade Me is where it is at for getting your car out there. You always want to expose your car to the maximum pool of potential buyers - Trade Me has the biggest audience so we think you should go with that. Once you car is nice and clean there is a few simple things you can do to help the sale.
The most important thing you can do is to take good photos - most cameras on smartphones are at least 5mp which is more than adequate for a listing photo. Make sure that the pictures you take are crisp and clean. A blurred image of a red thing isn't much use to anyone.
Take good photos. Good photos help convey an accurate representation of the vehicle.
Most auction sites allow you to list a certain amount of photos for free - use up that allowance. Remove doubt from the potential buyers mind - take photos of everything that matters - tyre tread, engine bay, interior condition, paint damage, the spare wheel, the fancy stereo etc.
Tyre's often aren't cheap to replace. If your car has good tread it's worth showing (a picture of each tyre does help).
If there is damage that's worth mentioning (taking into account the age of the vehicle) take a photo of that too - it saves everyones time by doing this. When the potential buyer is convinced that your photos are an acccurate representation of the condition of the vehicle, they'll be more inclined to bid up the auction or place a better offer.
The listing description tells the potential buyer why your car is unique and worth purchasing - so it shouldn't be ignored or rushed. Dealers are very good at convincing buyers that their cars are the ones they want - that's why they are in business. The first thing that you want to tell the potential buyers are the features of your car - here is a couple you might want to use if applicable: New Zealand New, Full Service History, Always Garaged, Four New Tyres, Great Fuel Economy, you get the idea! Don't be lean on the description if your car has got great selling points. Tell the potential buyer that there is no finance owing on the vehicle - list your registration number on the auction and advise that for you $3 NZD they can text the registration number to 3463 and make sure for themselves that there is no fianace on the vehicle (this service is called TXTB4UBUY and is provided by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment). They can also check CarJam to make sure it's not stolen (this can be done for free).
Be realistic but confident. Browse the market for what other vehicles have gone for - look at the expired listings. Expired listings that have met reserve represent what cars have actually sold for. There no point trying to sell a car for more than anyone is going to pay for it - unless you like waiting while the car depreciates. Once you know what your car is worth you're better equiped to negotiate a deal that works for both you and the buyer.
Viewing:
There are two types of used car buyers: One group are the people that know what they are looking for and want to look over the car themselves. The other group are those who know very little about your car (and often cars in general) and may ask lots of questions and need a bit of a hand as to working out what they are looking at. If you're dealing with the latter group, by all means "demonstrate" the vehicle for them - it's what car salespeople do and it's what helps sell the car. Have them sit in the drivers seat, show them what buttons do, show them unique features, show them everything - even if it is obvious to you, it might not be obvious to them!
Features - not everyone knows about them. If your car has something that others don't - tell the buyer!
Test Driving: The scary part. The first thing you should do is call your insurance company to find out whether your vehicle is insured if someone else drives your car. Secondly, if you are insured, make sure that the person test driving is legally allowed to drive on the roads. Check and record their licence details. If they aren't legal then the odds are insurance isn't going to want to pay out should something happen - no one wants to be repaid at $5 per week for the next 5 years should something go wrong. If you don't feel comfortable with them driving by themselves, go along with them.
Not comfortable with a person test driving by themselves? Go with them. Let them test the car within your boundaries.
If they aren't familiar with the model of your car and you go with them, it's a great time to show off the features of the car - tell them how to turn on cruise control, use bluetooth etc.Great. So it's sold at auction or someones made you a fair offer that you've accepted. Where to now?
Don't hand over the keys before: You have received the price of the vehicle in full - that means waiting until funds have cleared in your bank account or you have the payment in cash. Secondly, before the buyer has changed the ownership into their name. The change of ownership can be done with the registration number and their drivers licence at a number of outlets nationwide (click here to view where they can change ownership). If they don't change the ownership and take the car they can accumulate fines, rob banks, commit a hit-and-runs... all while you as registered owner will get the tickets and the phonecalls.
