Important tips and points to know while selling your car...

So planning to sell your car???

Then read this post to make sure it is a happy experience.



So now you are planning to sell your beloved car? Well that is a crucial decision and one that you need to carefully execute so that your parting memory with your loved car is not a painful or regretful one. 

Through this post we will try to lay out what are the key factors that you should keep in mind and should thoroughly review to ensure that the transaction is smooth and does not cause any regrets later on. 

First up, we will take you through a few simple questions that will help to un-clutter your mind and convince your heart, which will help you to get yourself a good deal.

Do you really want to sell your car?

“Do I really want to sell my car?” – Give this question a good hard thought. In most cases if the answer to that question is NO, you will never get a good deal for your car.

Considering that your answer to the above question was YES, then try answering this question – “Why am I selling my car?” In most cases we have seen trying to answer this question gives you complete clarity and ultimately helps you get the best possible deal for your car.


Consider these answers for the above question –

Reason to sell my car
Alternate & better solution
Need to fund sister’s marriage
Consider a re-finance against your loan. Know more about this.
Need to raise some urgent cash for hospital bills
This time try from friends and family or credit cards. But get an insurance or medi-claim done for your family. Re-finance also might be possible. You can call us to help you decide.
More than 3 years old, might not get good price
Get an extended warranty on your car. All OEMs give that. Ensures good service and good selling price.
More than 6-7 years old.
Better to sell off your car.
Re-locating within India
Take it with you, RTOs and taxes are very smooth nowadays across India.
Re-locating abroad
You have to sell it off.
BSIV to BSVI
Wait for some time before selling. You will get BSIV fuels even after April 2020. BSIV fuels will work in BSIV engines also. You have to sell it, but not now, let the speculations die down. Refer our previous post for most details.
Want to go for the newer version
Better to exchange than sell. Do it with your OEM.
Want to buy a different new car
Sell it off.

So you see that some of the most popular reasons why people want to sell their cars, might not be actually the right reason to sell. There are better alternatives available, which will save you money, time and effort.

For any reason that is not listed here, please comment on this post or on our Facebook page and we will respond back with our suggestions.

Now in case you do decide to sell your car – don’t forget to get it evaluated by our automotive engineers. We will do a thorough inspection and give you the best possible offer. Call us or mail us to get your car sold at the best price and in the safest manner.

I want to sell my car, now what?

Now that you have decided to sell your car, always remember - .


If you want to get the best price, you have to wait for it. But then again if you wait for too long, then the car is getting depreciated. So timing is critical and so is doing a good research.

There are 2 approaches to selling your car –
  1. Doing it all on your own – gets you the maximum price, involves the maximum risks.
  2. Doing it through a dealer – gets you the actual price minus the commissions, involves reduced risks.
If you don’t have enough time and are not so sure about the market, always go for a trusted dealer. How to select a trusted dealer? Click here. 

Preparations for selling my car

Whether you want to do it alone or through a dealer, please make sure that you have taken the following preparations before you put your car on for sale –

Documentation – a car is valuable and expensive piece of machinery, so proper and complete documents make the buyer of the car feel safe and assured. You would also feel the same. See that the following information is clearly available in a neat folder or file, looks professional and gives confidence to the buyer –
  1. Purchase details – tax invoices, accessory bills or invoices.
  2. Registration details – RC copy, Lifetime tax paid.
  3. Insurance details – all insurance copies throughout your ownership of the car. Arrange it in current to first in that order.
  4. Service history – try and gather all service histories from your dealer and service station. Arrange in the order of latest to oldest.
  5. Tyre history – try and have all tyre change or rotation bills or invoices ready. If you have changed tires, that bill is very helpful.
  6. Battery history – see if you can have all the battery purchase and service bills and warranty cards. The latest warranty card is definitely needed.
  7. Accessory warranty cards – all warranty cards for all accessories that you have fitted in the car and are selling it with the car.
  8. PUC certificate – keep a list of the latest 3- 4 PUC certificates handy.
  9. Windshield change – any changes on the windshield, if ever done, please keep the bill / invoice ready.
  10. Any upholstery changes – if you have done up the upholstery in leather or some premium material, for which you want premium price, you need to show the bill / invoice for that.

Car profile – imagine your car wants to have a social media profile and you are preparing it. What would you put inside it –
  1. Photos - take a few nice snaps of the exterior and interior. Not in the garage and there is a water puddle below it. Take it for a spin and then click some photos. Interior photos should no show the odd bottle or chips packet on the back seat or the kids’ slipper on the floor mat.
  2. Basic information – date of purchase, color of the exterior and interior and why you chose that color, KMS done, memories – took my new born baby home in this car, etc, long drives, music system, infotainment system, sun roof and its use.
  3. Vehicle information – registration number, engine number, chassis number, insurance policy number, PUC expiry date.
  4. Reason for selling – write a briefly your reason to sell the car.
  5. Asking price – put down what is your asking price and also the negotiating window.
  6. Time and place to show car – mention that so that potential buyers know about that. 

Take a print out of this profile – maybe 1 or 2 pages and keep this as the intro for your car document.

TIP: You might want to make that a PDF and keep it in your mobile to share easily.

TIP: If there are any defects at all in the car, that is still persisting and the buyer should know, please inform upfront and clearly and document that you have informed the buyer.

How to get a dealer to sell your car?

Once your preparation for the sale is done and your documents are all in place. Then find out the dealer most suitable for you. This is assuming you want to sell through a dealer.

Some of the points you need to consider –

How to sell your car on your own?
Today it is also quite possible to sell off your car on your own, there are a lot of online media available using which one can sell their car. Some of the popular platforms to do so are –
  1. OLX
  2. Quikr
  3. Facebook Marketplace
  4. Other classifieds listings. 
NOTE: Apnacar is not recommending or suggesting any of the above mentioned platforms. The reader or seller of the car will do so at his or her own discretion.

10 things that you should take care, while selling online or on your own – 
  1. Putting up the ad: this is usually the 1s step in your journey. You have to register yourself in your chosen platform and get yourself a user name and password. Once you are logged in, you can create an ad for your car sale. 
  2. Making the ad attractive: please make sure the ad is interesting to look and read. Recommended ways of doing so is to add good photos of your car – interior, exterior, on road, etc. Ideally pictures should not have any individuals or family members.
  3. Making the ad informative – try to provide as much information as possible. Most platforms provide ready to enter forms for car details. In the descriptions try to enter some relevant information instead of leaving it blank. 
  4. Prices – mention the price you are looking at. Decide on a price you are happy with, then add a markup to it to accommodate some negotiation. Usually a 15 – 20% markup is ok depending on the car and what is the current market rate for a similar used car. If a buyer does not negotiate, be very careful.
  5. Contact information & timings – make sure you clearly specify your contact information and also specify the timings when you are available to take calls. Otherwise you might calls at odd hours.
  6. Be aware – online platforms are filled with fraudsters. Whenever interacting with anybody from an online platform always be alert. Some tips on online frauds related to car sales are listed in this post here.
  7. Due diligence – ensure that you get some details about the persons who are calling up and showing interest, like asking to see the car or driving it or showing it to a mechanic, etc. Get information related to where they stay, occupation details, email id, phone number. Look them up in Facebook, Google, Linkedin, etc. This helps to keep you informed, safe and probably get a better deal.
  8. Donot rush – this happens to all sellers, when they feel that the deal is about to close, they will tend to rush through and in doing so unmindfully agree to certain conditions which the buyer might put, which otherwise you would not agree to. So whenever a deal is about to close, just pause and reconsider the entire sale process. Are you missing something? Are you agreeing to things you had not decided previously?
  9. Do not take advance – yes, do not take an advance unless you are convinced that the buyer is genuine, will complete the entire payment, will complete RC transfer formalities. If there is any doubt at all, do not take the advance. You will not be able to forfeit the advance in case the deal falls through. Do not invite unwanted headache and problems. That 10k – 25k advance is not what you are looking for.
  10. Avoid cash or netbanking transactions – it’s a no-brainer that cash transactions are strict no-no. Avoid netbanking or wallet based transactions. Ideally cheque should be the mode of payment receipt.
Frauds you should be wary off – 

Online frauds are an ever evolving evil. Everyday new ways of defrauding people are being worked out and hundreds of genuine people falling prey to it and losing their hard earned money and possessions. So we would not say this is a definite list of online frauds, but these are some which have happened and reported in the market. There is nothing worse than falling prey to a prevalent fraud method and your friends coming on and saying “oh you did not know about this??”
  1. Payment frauds – this is usually done by luring you with an advance. The buyer will seek your bank details or Google Pay or Paytm details to transfer the advance. You will receive a genuine looking SMS with a link, which opens a form to enter the OTP. We are so wired to entering OTPs for our transactions, that we by default enter the OTP, without realising that banks donot send or ask for OTPs to credit money to your account. OTP is only required when money is being debited to your account.
    • If do provide the OTP, you will surely have the fraudster wipe out some money from your account.
    • Bottom line since you are about to receive money why should your bank send you an OTP? So be attentive, be aware, be careful.
  2. Car thefts – most buyers will ask for a test drive or ask the car to be shown to a mechanic. This is perfectly genuine. But make sure you go for the test drive. If it has to be a mechanic, let it be somewhere nearby or some reputed garage or the OEM’s workshop. DONOT go with the car to a place decided by the buyer.
  3. RC Frauds – please note that you are not safe from frauds or legal troubles related to your car, even after selling it off, until such time as the RC is not transferred to the buyer or to the dealer you are selling it to. Please note that the buyer might have completed the payment for your car, taken possession and driven off, but what happens if the car is used for some criminal activities, the police will land at your doorstep and you might be held liable.
    • So get the RC transferred compulsorily and quickly to the buyer.

Apnacar wishes you a safe transaction and happy memories of your car.

For any queries or to sell your car - please call us on 9900037612.

Comments

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