Five Great Tips for Private Test Drives

If you’ve decided to sell your car privately (rather than trade it in, use an online car buying service or take it to an auction, which are your other options) there are a few things you should be aware of before offering a test drive to a perfect stranger. Follow these five great tips and you should breeze through your sale.

🚗 Get Some Details
Don’t just take their word for it, ask to see the buyers driving license and take a photo of it.  Make sure it’s a full license, not provisional. And take a photo of them before you get in the car, send that and the license to a family member.  If the buyer is on the up-and-up they won’t mind.

🚗 Are They Covered?
Insurance companies are fickle so make sure either you are covered to allow someone to drive your car, or that the person taking the test drive has adequate insurance to cover them in another person’s vehicle. It’s not enough to assume. You need to check.

🚗 Safety First
Take someone with you, preferably someone burly and scary. And UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES let the buyer take the car out by themselves. Sadly we have to err on the side of caution and although we might like to believe the best in people, we also have to remember that there are some unscrupulous humans out there who will drive off with your car, or damage it while you’re not looking to get the price down.

Test driving at a showroom?  Got you covered!

🚗 Don’t be Distracted
Selling a car can be daunting but if you are prepared and know everything about your vehicle you (hopefully) won’t fall foul and lose out on your list price. Do your research but remember that most listed prices are for the generic model. You might have lots of lovely extras on yours that will pump up the price. Keep a note of what these are so when the buyer tries to beat you down on price (and they will) you are armed with valuable info to justify your selling price.  Know your mileage, know your service history – just know everything about your car so you can confidently sell it.  Tell the buyer you’ll answer questions after the test drive so they are not distracted while driving, and you have access to your facts.

🚗 Be on Home Turf
Make your buyer come to you – DO NOT take your car to them and then allow a test drive. For starters you might end up stranded, but also you want the safety of your neighbours, friends and family nearby.

Remember, the buyer is not your friend. They don’t have to like you, they just have to like your car.

Money Money Money
So you’ve had a safe and successful test drive and a sale is on the cards. Now what?  DO NOT hand over the keys or any paper work until you have the money. Whether that’s a bank transfer, cash in your hand or a cheque (not many of those around today, but if you get one then don’t hand over anything until it clears into your account – or just don’t accept one!) it’s important that you don’t sign any paperwork or give anything over until you actually have the cash.  Then, provide a written receipt and take a copy of it.

We don’t mean to scare you when you plan on selling your car yourself – after all it’s usually how you’ll get the best price. BUT we do want you to be cautious and have a safe sale.

Getting your car ready to sell privately?  Head on over to any of our branches and stock up on lots of lovely cleaning products to show off your car and get that sale! 🚗