At Regit, we want to make sure our motorists can manage everything to do with their vehicle in the simplest and most efficient way while getting a great deal, whether that’s related to buying, selling or aftersales.
We wouldn’t put forward suggested products or services to our readers if we don’t believe they offered good value and our Auto Experts are often asked by people who they’re helping how they should sell their car.
Well, there are numerous ways and there isn’t one golden bullet that’s best for everyone but we’ll touch on the three main routes in this piece and explain a little about each using a real-life example from one of the team’s cars last week.
Selling privately
Most of us will be very familiar with the way the likes of Auto Trader work, you take your pictures, upload a little bit of info, pay a fee and place the advert for your car online – hopefully then waiting for the phone to ring.
If you have time this could be the best route for you but be prepared to wait at least a few weeks if not months while your car is listed privately. Our research shows people are typically less comfortable than they were buying peer-to-peer as there are no guarantees, warranties or aftersales support that can be called upon should something go wrong – feeding into the fact that you may need patience if you go down this route.
Trading In
If your car is in good condition and fairly modern, almost everybody in the car business will want to buy it from you. Practically every car is an opportunity to make money for a dealer, but they will only offer you the market rate – the wholesale price, in other words.
So, while this option is great for moving a car on quickly and not having to put up with the general frustrations of selling it yourself, you will get less money than if you sold it privately.
Online offerings
Now if you really don’t have time, options like WeBuyAnyCar prove to be popular but for us, this route doesn’t make any sense at the minute.
We’d expect the likes of WeBuyAnyCar and other similar firms to typically offer a low price so they can then resell for a profit - a better alternative would be our partners at Motorway.
As a real life example, a Regit team member was selling their Nissan Juke last week and got quotes from WeBuyAnyCar (£6,585), a dealer (£6,500) and then Motorway (£7,100).
All three options offer quick payment and you’d likely have your money from any of the three firms listed within a few days of committing to the sale.
We recommend Motorway though as its business model is different from the other two options.
Motorway uses its network of over 5,000 dealers to hold a live auction on your car, using the estimated price as a reserve. Fortunately for this team member, their Juke was well kept and clearly an attractive buy for a few dealers as bidding pushed the final sale price up to over £8,000.
How does Motorway work?
Simply enter your reg and mileage for an instant, free valuation. This will be based on Motorway’s smart valuation tech that uses live market data for vehicles just like yours to ensure your online estimate is as accurate as possible. Assuming your vehicle is in good condition, this will give you an accurate valuation for your car's current market price.
If you decide to sell your car, you then profile it with Motorway’s app. This involves answering some basic questions about the vehicle’s spec and condition, and uploading photos of your car from several different angles.
The in-app camera lays templates on the screen so you can snap your car from all its key angles, and upload a comprehensive range of professional standard photos.
Unlike traditional car-selling methods, which require a lot of time spent handling admin, communications, and logistics, the platform is designed to make the whole process as seamless as possible – it will take around 5 to 10 minutes to complete.
Something that sets Motorway apart from other car-selling platforms is that it never takes any fees or commissions. When you get your best price from your buying dealer, based on the condition of your car as described, that’s the money you can expect to see paid straight into your bank account when the car is collected.
If you have any questions on the process, drop them in the comments box and we’ll do our best to answer.