Getting your car ready to sell

What a buyer actually reads

Nobody buying a used car believes the advert. What they believe is the evidence, and the condition of the car is the evidence they trust most. A spotless interior says the previous owner cared; a filthy one makes them wonder what else was neglected.

This works hardest at the photograph stage, because that is where most cars are eliminated. A dirty car in a listing does not get a viewing, and a car that does not get a viewing does not get an offer.

The parts worth paying for

The interior, first and always. It is where the buyer sits, and it is the thing that most changes the impression of a car. A proper interior clean — seats and carpets extracted rather than vacuumed, trim cleaned for what it actually is, glass streak-free — is the best money you will spend before selling.

A safe exterior wash and a sealant, second. The gloss photographs well and it lasts through the viewing period.

Wheels and tyres, third, and disproportionately. Clean wheels and dressed tyres make a car look looked-after in a way that is out of all proportion to what it costs.

The parts usually not worth it

A full paint correction, unless the car is genuinely valuable or you are selling privately at the top of the market. On a £6,000 hatchback, £300 of machine polishing does not come back in the price. On a £30,000 performance car it often does.

A ceramic coating, almost never. It costs hundreds and no buyer has ever paid more because a car was coated.

Anything that hides a fault rather than fixing it. Buyers find it, and it costs you the sale and your credibility at the same time.

Photographing it once it is clean

Shoot in the hour after sunrise or before sunset. Midday sun blows out the highlights and puts hard shadows across the panels; overcast is better than bright.

Find a plain background — a wall, a hedge, an empty car park. A car photographed on a cluttered drive looks like a car being got rid of.

Take the three-quarter front, the three-quarter rear, both profiles, the interior from both front doors, the boot, the dashboard with the mileage showing, and the wheels. Then photograph the faults honestly and close up. Declared faults build trust; discovered ones destroy it.

When to book it

A few days before the photographs, not the morning of the first viewing. A sealant wants a day to settle, and you want time to notice anything the clean has revealed.

Most sellers book the Full Valet. If the outside is already fine and it is the cabin that has had a hard life, the Interior Reset on its own does the job for less.