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Your car is likely to be one of the most expensive assets that you own. So when it comes to selling it – perhaps in order to purchase another vehicle, or to finance something like a house move or starting a business – you want to ensure that you raise the best possible price. You’ve driven carefully, kept your mileage reasonably low, avoided any major accidents and kept up to date with the servicing and logbook entries. So what are the final flourishes you can do to make sure your vehicle fetches the selling price that you need it to?

Get Waxing 

Sometimes the paint finish of our car can look a little faded and dated. This creates a bad first impression for a buyer. A little like having an overgrown front path and peeling window frames when you’re trying to sell your house – the problems might only be cosmetic, but if it’s looking neglected buyers will often make an assumption that you haven’t been taking care of it, and that there might be hidden problems waiting to cost them big. But you don’t have to spend a fortune on a full respray – a good application of wax can often do wonders in perking the look of your car up. Make sure the areas inside the door frames have a colour match to the rest of the vehicle, or it might give your secret away. A professional pre-sale polish and spruce up from a company like California Group can take the hassle out of adding the sparkle back. Buyers usually make up their minds pretty quickly and this first impression can be hard to shift – so make sure it’s a good one!

Leave A Light On

Dingy headlights with cracked casing or even dud bulbs are not only dangerous, but they can make your vehicle look very worn out. There are lots of specialist headlight cleaning products that can give them a real shine back, or you may choose to replace the casing, which isn’t expensive. Replacing any dead bulbs goes without saying – you can easily replace a car headlight yourself on most models. Having bright, fresh looking lights can go a long way to making your vehicle seem less tired.

Buff Up Your Wheels

Wheels are one of the first areas to show wear and tear, so it’s a good idea to make certain that they are in tip-top condition before listing your car for sale. Buy a proper wheel cleaning brush and clean out all the accumulated dirt, grime and dust that easily builds up. You can also order an alloy retouching pen if there are minor scratches to the surface or even pay for professional alloy repair if you have larger chips. Add a shine product that will leave a protective coat behind as well –  this will make your vehicle appear newer and better cared for. Cash buyers via a private listing tend to be much more hot on these things and many will examine the vehicle in microscopic detail, while if you’re planning on selling to a car buying service or a garage they are likely to have a standard checklist that they run through to assess the condition of your vehicle and try to knock money off the price.