Planning to sell your car? Here is what you need to do before you go ahead

Everyone wants the best price for their car but if one is thinking of selling it privately, it's not as simple as it may seem

Almost every car owner at one point in life decides to sell his/her vehicle due to innumerable reasons. But the common thing that prevails among all the sellers apart from the sentiments attached to the car is the value they are expecting to receive after selling the vehicle. Everyone wants the best price for their car but if one is thinking of selling it privately, it's not as simple as it may seem; listing the car on a website, taking a few calls, offering a few test drives and finally striking the deal with the buyer followed by the transaction itself – the process can be cumbersome and quite exhausting.

Being absolutely new to the car-selling process can be an unusual experience. This calls for a certain amount of effort to be put in by the seller and making a strategic move at every step to get the maximum value of a car from the buyer. So here are a few things that need to be considered before you let go of your beloved car with the best possible value:

Market Research
Before selling a car, it is crucial to have a thorough knowledge about the condition of the vehicle in terms of its mileage, overall condition, specific features or any development/changes or issues. After that, one must find cars from the specific year, make and model available on various dealer websites and popular online classified ad websites like Truebil, Droom, Cars24, Quikr to determine the average price range for a car in this condition. By investigating on various platforms, sellers can figure out the number of vehicles that are presently available for sale in their area. For an older or unique vehicle, sellers must be aware that it will take longer to sell because potential buyers would be few.

Car Assessment
Find out whether your car is actually ready for sale as many of you try to sell your vehicles with old tires, major scratches or dents, broken headlights or taillights, and other flaws. Buyers usually avoid a car with that kind of problems. The smart thing to do in such cases is to find a person who can give a balanced opinion about your car instead of a biased one. Once the defects and problems are detected, spend some money and time reconditioning your car for sale. Problems like changing the clutch plate, getting the power windows fixed and the dents repaired might turn out to be a bit expensive, but they can also go a long way in terms of getting a good price for your car.

Evaluating the price range of your car
Indians are rapidly opening up to the idea of buying and selling used cars as for every 2 new cars sold, 3 used cars are sold at the same time which indicates the intense competition and high level of customer attrition. Thus, to close the deal quickly, it is crucial to do swift homework and find the best value of the car. Online platforms like Truebil create a detailed inspection report prepared on the basis of the car’s condition, age, mileage, number of kilometers driven etc, after which the seller is given a quote using TruePrice metrics. TruePrice is a proprietary car pricing tool which uses advanced technology to give a data-driven intelligent assessment of the car's current value, based on complex pricing models which account for a vast number of variables. Meanwhile, platforms like Droom have come up with an OBV Premium Report that suggests the fair value of any used car by analyzing all the inputs given by the user. It comes up with the current market price of the vehicle depending upon its overall condition that helps the buyers and sellers come on the same page in terms of pricing.

Collect all the documents
Once the price has been determined, it’s time to focus on the documentation. Yes! You read that right. Documents of your car are necessary for a clean transaction and they are a proof that the data given by you is authentic. The mandatory paperwork includes Insurance papers, Registration certificate, PUC and Bank NOC (only if there is any loan taken for the same). Remember, a fully insured car with zero depreciation has a higher resale value than the one with a basic insurance as it improves your chances of getting shortlisted. So collect all the mentioned paperwork before you decide to sell your car.

Create and Publish Your Ad
They say the first impression is the last impression. And, now that you are well-equipped with all the refurbishing, documentation, and price evaluation, click proper and clear images of the car inside-out and pair them with a compelling description of your vehicle. After all, there might be hundreds of sellers luring your potential buyer in other ads. Make sure you have a striking headline, photographs, and a detailed summary with useful details.

Also Read: Protect your vehicle from the rains: 5 tips that will let you drive safely

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!