5 Important Car Selling Lessons We Learnt After Selling More Than 500 Cars in a Year

Having transacted over 500 cars every year, here are 5 important lessons Otua Singapore have for us to help you sell your car more efficiently.

1. A picture speaks a thousand words

There are more than 10,000 used cars available in car dealerships and car marts in Singapore at any point of time. Most used car listings are given less than 2 seconds to make a lasting impression to the potential buyer. A well-taken photo not only helps you attract more potential buyers, it also enables to properly showcase the excellent condition of your car.

Here are their tried and tested lessons in selling a used car:

1. An eye-catching photo attracts buyers to your listing.

• Drive it to an open area with plenty of sunlight; do not use a multi-storey carpark or enclosed area.
• Get the interiors of the car captured neatly. It is good to take clear shots of your dashboard and seating arrangements. Remember to clear the clutter first to show that your car is always kept in a clean condition.
• Make sure the entire car is within the frame. You should always have clear photos of the front, rear and sides of the car. Avoid cropping the car in the photo as this might imply that there are dents or scratches that you do not want to show. Customers appreciate honesty far more and any well-hidden surprises during viewing will be a deal breaker.
• Lookout for reflections. Avoid shooting with buildings or trees behind you.
• Please take 10 external and 10 internal photos to help you finally choose the best photos.

2. Get your car washed professionally with interior cleaning before viewing.

Ant infestations, cockroaches scurrying across the dashboard, used kleenex tissues, pieces of candy stuck on the car mat — all fine examples of what shouldn’t be in your car. We have seen our fair share of deals lost because the car is dirty or infested with bugs.

Having a dirty car is a total turn-off to customers.

3. Be extra polite with the buyer. The ‘extra’ goes a long way.

Our client advisors at Otua Auto are always available to facilitate and assist your vehicle viewings. However, there may be occasions where you will interact with the buyer or their family members and rude comments might be made about your car.

Stay calm and let us help you handle the pickle. More often than not, it is just a negotiation tactic that the buyer uses to attempt to lower your price. Our client advisors are trained to handle buyer expectations and give a neutral and objective opinion during test drives.

4. Be truthful about what your car has been through

Most buyers will ask if the car was part of any accidents previously or if there are any specific issues to take note of. It is highly recommended that sellers come clean and let buyers know about any potential defects or historical accidents, however minor. In fact, this would be the best time to whip out your servicing records.

Remember that there will be a test drive and a workshop inspection that would reveal the condition of the car to the buyer; so there really is no reason to hide or lie about the car’s condition or history.

5. Leave a squeaky clean car with no surprise hidden gifts for the buyer.

After the viewing process and confirmation, we fix the price and the date of handing over the vehicle. So, do remember to clear out your car!

Some common things that people leave behind carelessly include cash cards, coins, umbrellas CDs or SD cards.

Otua car dealers have tremendous insight into queries such as "ways to sell my car" or "highest price for my car". Consign with Otua to easily sell your car!

Otua Auto is a Singapore based car dealership. Sell your used car or resale motorcycle at the highest possible price.