If the time has come to sell your beloved motor, before you even think about getting people into viewing it, agreeing a price and then arranging for the car transport company to take it away (assuming the buyer is a distance, this is a great idea), you need to make it look as good as possible.

Make your car look as beautiful and fresh as the day it left the factory, and you’ll have no problem at all finding it a new owner.

Here’s our best tips for making your car fit for a fast sale.

Give it the clean of its life

Even if you’re the sort of person who cleans their car every weekend, now is the time to clean it like you’ve never cleaned it before.

This is far more than a quick soaping, jet wash and dry. You need to also clean out all of the accumulated rubbish and every day items and wipe every single visible surface so that it shines as though new. Pay special attention to the interior by hoovering, polishing and cleaning all dash elements, door handles and trim.

Set aside a day for this task. You probably won’t need all of it, but if you earmark it in the diary, you’ll have no excuse not to get your hands dirty and that car clean.

Get it checked out by a mechanic

It’s definitely worth getting your car checked out by a professional mechanic - even if it’s recently been serviced and had its MOT.

The last thing you want is the new owner to call three hours after obtaining the vehicle to tell you it has broken down in a cloud of smoke on the side of the motorway.

If you can afford it and it makes sense for peace of mind and the sale price, get any issues sorted.

Look for minor repairs

Beyond the mechanical stuff, it pays to look for and resolve any cosmetic issues that a potential buyer might spot.

Minor scratches, dings and loose trim may not go down particularly well and should be relatively simple and low cost to get fixed, so make sure you address them if they’re obvious.

Gather all of your paperwork

Do this as early as possible. Get together all the paperwork for the car and keep it somewhere safe.

That means the original instruction manuals, MOT log book, service history, V5 and anything else that the new owner would need.

Don’t forget to find the locking wheel nut key, too, if the car has alloy wheels, along with the second key if it also has one of those.

The last thing you want to be doing at the last minute is scrabbling around looking for this stuff when you’ve got a keen buyer ready to hand over their hard earned cash.

Wrapping up

That’s it! Selling a car is remarkably simple if you take time to do your preparation and make sure the vehicle is fit and ready for its new owner.

Just remember to book your car transportation with us when its time for it to head to its new home!