Fundamentals for selling your own car

1. Research

Your mission to sell your car always starts with research. Ifyou've had it for some time the price could have changedsignificantly. You need to bring yourself up to speed with thecurrent market for your vehicle. This is the key to developing arealistic selling price. Many people sell their cars too cheaplyor try to sell them for too much and are disappointed.

2. Have a plan

The least stressful way of selling your car is to have plan. Itdoesn't have to be long and involved but it does need to be inthe right sequence. It's like moving houses - you pack thingsaway, call the removalist and then unpack them in your newhouse. If you call the removalist before you've packed there isbedlam.

3. Put Yourself In The Buyer's Shoes

If you can imagine yourself in the shoes of the buyer then youwill understand how to present your car. It is amazing how manypeople try to sell a dirty car. They may succeed but theultimate test is the final price.

4. Don't Mislead The Buyer

Even though it may be tempting to disguise faults, there are verygood reasons why you should not. You will have a difficult timeselling it if you are hiding something major and will have fixedattention on the sale thereafter. If you want to sleep well atnight, be upfront. Cars get old and things go wrong with them -it's a fact of life. I have always found that being upfrontwas better, including financially. It's oneof those funny things - you seem to lose a few hundred on thecar but you gain it somewhere else.

There are many buyers who will buy a vehicle with faults becausethey have the expertise and inclination to fix it.

This may seem controversial but having sold many cars I canattest that it is the way to go.