If you’re in the market for a new car, you may be wondering what the best way to get rid of your old car is. When you’re buying a car or take out a finance deal at the dealership, the easiest way to get rid of your current car is to hand it over to the dealer. However, there are a lot of concerns around how much money you would get for your part exchange and if you could increase the value of your cars trade in value when selling it privately. If you’re unsure of which route to go down, this guide may be perfect for you!
What does part exchange your car mean?
When you part exchange your car, even if it’s on finance, you hand the car over to the dealer and the value of the car is subtracted for your next deal. This means you can get money off a newer car or use your car as a deposit. If your current car is on finance, part exchanging is possible, but you may need to obtain a settlement figure from the finance company first to see how much you have left to pay.
Advantages of part exchanging your car:
- The main advantage of part exchanging your car is that it’s really easy to do and can be convenient. You can drop your old car off at the same time you pick your new car up so there’s no need to go without a vehicle.
- When you trade in your old car at the dealership it also means that you are guaranteed to get money for it, and you don’t have to worry about how long the car will take to sell or if it will even sell at all.
- You also don’t need to sort the paperwork for the car as you hand all your documents over with the vehicle and the dealer will do all of this for you.
What to consider before part exchange at a dealership:
- The main disadvantage of trading your car in at the dealership is that the dealer will want to make as much money as possible and they may not take it at market value.
- You could make more money selling your car privately as dealers can set a higher valuation and can even factor in the cost of having the car checked over, a valid MOT if it needs one and even cleaning the car.
Should you sell your car privately?
For many people, selling your car privately is the best way to go. It usually always means that you will get a better price than you would at the dealer, and it means there’s more room for negotiation.
Benefits of selling your car yourself:
- In most cases, you will get more money for your car when you sell it privately as you can set the price. You could get a valuation from a dealership first to see how much they would offer and then research similar cars and see how much they go for so you can compare.
- When dealing with private buyers, there is more room for negotiation, and you can always say no if the price you are being offered is unreasonable.
- The second-hand car market is booming and there are more options than ever when it comes to selling your car privately. You can do this by using a number of social media sites, car supermarkets and auction sites.
Disadvantages of selling your car privately:
- What puts people off selling their car privately is the time it will take to do so, and many drivers can’t afford to have two cars at the same time.
- There’s less protection when it comes to selling privately and if something goes wrong you don’t get the same layer of protection as you would with a dealership.
- Once the car is sold, you will have to update the DVLA and sort the paperwork yourself.
- Selling your car privately can be daunting if you’ve never done it before or don’t really know what you’re doing.
