Get the Most for Your 'Old' Car
Prepping Your Vehicle for Sale
Here’s a list of things you’ll want to consider spending money on when prepping the car for sale. Remember to keep all the paperwork and receipts for this stuff, and put it in a folder in your glove box with any previous paperwork or receipts you may have. Keep photocopies to give to prospective buyers.
How much you want to spend on repairs and prep is really up to you. The better the shape your car is in, the easier it’ll be to find a buyer, and the more you’ll be able to ask for it. Dealers usually budget between $800-$1200 to prep a used vehicle for sale.
Depending on the state of your car, you’ll have to come up with a number that seems appropriate to you. Basically you want to put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and decide whether a given improvement will increase the vehicle’s value by more than it costs you to do.
Of course, the asking price of your car is a consideration too. Spending $500 to fix up a $20,000 car could make sense, whereas doing the same work on a $2000 car is unlikely to pay off. Here are some things to consider doing:
First thing to consider is a safety inspection. If you're planning to ask more than, say, $5000 for your car, this is a must. It will cost around $100, and even if you don’t do all the repairs they suggest, you’ll at least be able to give the buyer an honest account of the vehicle’s state. Depending on your budget and the severity of the issues, you’ll probably want to go through with at least some, if not all, of the repairs the mechanics suggest. It may happen that the buyer will want to get another inspection of the car before buying it, but if you do an inspection prior to putting it on the market, you’ll be able to tell the buyer what to expect from the second inspection.
New tires. If your tread is shallower than 1/8th of an inch, you may want to invest in replacement tires. You can even get used ones, just make sure that you mount them in matching pairs, on the same axle, so that handling isn’t compromised. Tires are expensive though, so you'll have to weight how much value they add.
Body repair. Dents or deep scratches probably won’t affect how the vehicle rides, but they’ll definitely have an impact on the buyer’s perception of the car. If it’s in your budget to do so, get ‘em fixed. If you’re the DIY type, small dents can be fixed really easily with a hair dryer and a CO2 air duster.
Change your oil and replace some easy things. An oil change is quick and cheap, and a prospective buyer will be much happier to see nice golden oil than black sludge. Top up the washer fluid while you’re at it. Also replace the wipers if they’re no longer working well, and check for dead light bulbs. Clean your battery terminals if they have built-up corrosion.
Replace broken or missing trim pieces. Glove box lids, door panels, and other odds and ends can be found at your local salvage yard for cheap. You can get them from the dealer’s parts counter too, but you could be paying a lot for them there.
Refrain from doing shoddy repairs. Cheap and quick fixes often do more damage than good. If your vehicle’s got some rust on the body that you don’t want to spend the money to get fixed, just leave it as it is. A little rust looks much better to a potential buyer than a quick and dirty putty job.
If you don’t have your owner’s manual, get a new one. You should be able to find one for relatively cheap off eBay.
VIN Look Ups and History Reports. In our vehicle buying guides, we suggest that anyone interested in buying a vehicle should do a VIN look-up and get a history report so they can have a detailed account of the vehicle’s specifications, how many times the vehicle has switched hands, what has been repaired on it, and if it’s been in any accidents. Having a current VIN check or history report for the buyer to check out can only help the sale. You can get complete history reports from InstaVIN.com for $6.99; it makes you seem much more reliable and professional for very cheap.
If you’re on a really tight budget, there’s no shame in selling a car “as is.” It may be more difficult to sell this way, and you probably won’t be able to fetch as much as you’d like, but you will save some time and effort and still have a chance to beat your trade-in offer. Just make sure to advertise the car “as is” so there aren’t any unexpected surprises that come up for the buyer.
You can also check out our full list of car buying guides and tools.