Should You Sell Your Car Privately or To a Dealership?

Looking to sell your car? If so, there are two ways you can go about it. You can sell your car privately direct to an individual or you can sell your car to a dealership. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages but before you look to sell your car it’s so important you understand both options to get the best deal for your car.

Shop for Cars has put together a quick guide to help you determine if you should sell your car privately or if you should sell your car to a dealership.

Let’s get started.

Selling a Car Privately

Selling a Car Privately gives you one massive advantage… Control. As you are selling your car on your own, you can determine the price you want to sell it for, who to sell it to and where you want to sell it. The benefit of selling a car privately is you can go about selling your car at your own pace. Depending on your situation you can take your time and wait for the right buyer to pay the amount of money you want.

Arguably the biggest benefit for selling your car privately is you will earn more money than you would at a dealership. When you sell your car privately you can charge customers the current market value. However, when you attempt to sell your car to dealer, they need to make a margin off it to be able to trade. Often, dealers value your car 10% to 25% less than current market value as they need to earn a considerable margin on it to cater for their overheads.

On the flip side there are some things you need to take into consideration. If you are looking to sell your car privately there are added expenses such as ongoing petrol for test drives, insurance and most importantly registration. As you are looking to sell your car on your own you need to keep the car well maintained for interested parties. The longer the car sits around waiting for a buyer the more you will need to pay.

Another factor you need to take into consideration when looking to sell your car privately is online advertising costs. Online Vehicle Advertising costs are soaring in Australia. To get your car seen by Car buyers you are going to need to pay money to have your vehicle placed onto car advertising websites. Like maintenance costs, the longer that the car takes to sell the more money you will need to pay.

The last thing you need to consider when selling your car privately is managing interested buyers. There is some organising and management tasks you will need to do when selling privately. For example, you will need to arrange suitable times for both yourself and interested buyers to come and look at the car and undertake a test drive.

Selling to a Dealership

Selling your car to dealership offers you convenience. The process is often much quicker and less stressful than what you would experience selling your car privately. As you are selling direct to a dealer, you don’t need to incur the common costs associated with selling your car privately such as advertising costs, petrol, and maintenance. The dealer will value your car, give you a price and give you money the same day, no hassles!

Another great advantage of selling your car to a dealership is they offer trade ins. If you trade in your vehicle, you will ultimately limit your total costs for the next car you buy. Whatever price you get for your current vehicle you can subtract that amount from the car you are looking to buy. This is extremely helpful as it limits any potential car finance amounts you may need for a new car. The less you need to borrow the more you will save, it’s that simple.

The major negative about selling your car to a dealership is you will receive less than market value. Dealers need to make a margin on the vehicle to stay in business, so in order to do that they need to offer less for vehicles. Sellers who are looking at the option of selling to a dealership should expect to be offered somewhere between 10% to 25% less than the cars market value. However, more popular, and desired models can get better deals as it often results in a quick sale for the dealer.

Final Verdict,

When it comes to selling your car either option provides many great advantages and disadvantages. What often becomes the key deciding factor is personal situation. If you are looking to sell your car as fast as possible the dealer option presents a stress-free fast process. However, if you are looking to get the most amount of money, the private avenue is the way to go. Before you decide what way to sell your car it is highly recommended that you consult with all relevant parties to make the best buying decision.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. To read more articles like this, visit the Shop for Cars latest news page here.

About Shop for Cars

Shop for Cars is Australia’s first car dealership-only online classified. Shop for Cars brings you the best quality new and used vehicles from trusted motor dealers Australia wide. Shop for Cars currently has over 12,500 cars listed for sale all from licensed Motor Vehicle Dealers ONLY.

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DISCLAIMER: This is all based on opinion please research and consult with all relevant parties to make the best decision.