Are there better ways to sell a car than part exchange?

Placing an ad on an online marketplace – like Auto Trader – has become a popular way to sell cars privately over the last few decades. With thousands of cars for sale and around 7 million monthly web visits, the Auto Trader website aims to connect sellers to buyers.

However, as with all private sales, there are no guarantees – and finding the right buyer for you on Auto Trader can still take a long time and be extremely frustrating.

eBay

eBay offers a slightly different way of selling your car privately. As an online auction site, it allows you to create a reserve price and sell your car off to the highest bidder. Theoretically, as long as enough genuine buyers see your listing, the final auction price should reflect something like the car’s true value.

Gumtree

Gumtree is a major destination site, where users can buy or sell practically anything – however, one of its key verticals is used cars.

As long as you’re not a dealer, it’s free to advertise on Gumtree – unlike with AutoTrader and eBay – so there are no overheads when it comes to advertising.

However, Gumtree’s vast size and lack of specialism means that many of the cars are ridiculously overpriced – and, thus, it can be tricky to connect with serious buyers.

Is selling privately online better than part exchanging?

Whilst selling privately online can often get you the best price for your old car, it is far from hassle-free.

Not only do you have to contend with members of the public coming to view your car, you will need to make yourself available for test drives, and organise all the appropriate paperwork.

Also, with many online platforms, such as Auto Trader and eBay, there are charges to list your car.

Selling your car privately offline

Of course, if you’re looking to sell a car privately but don’t want to place an ad online, you still have options.

You could try word of mouth. This might sound old-fashioned, but actually most professional marketers are aware of the power of word-of-mouth advertising – since such recommendations are typically infused with a sense of trust.

So, why not start by asking family and friends if they might like to buy your car? If not, ask them to ask their own personal networks.

There are other things you might try such as placing an advert in the local newspaper or in a shop window?

If these things do succeed it generally hinges on you getting lucky – and, even still, it will probably be a fairly long and drawn-out process.

However, you are likely to get a better price than if you part exchange with a dealer.

Selling with an instant online car buyer

Of course, if you do take your car to a dealership for a part exchange, there’s no guarantee that they’ll do you a deal.

Depending on the make and model of your car, they may not think buying it is a viable option. Whereas, if you use one of the new breed of instant online car-buyers, a sale is practically guaranteed.

Like doing a part exchange, you probably won’t receive as much as if you sold your car privately. However, the process is designed to be completely hassle-free.

The popularity of such companies – like WeBuyAnyCar and The Car Buying Group – is no doubt due to the simplicity of their model.

Normally, you just value your car online, and then arrange a collection or a drop-off appointment. There’s an inspection, followed by a final price negotiation, and the sale is done.

Even simpler than a part exchange, the major hurdle is trying to work out which instant car buyer will give you the best price for your car in such a saturated marketplace.