A DRIVER who made £13,000 more by selling her car online has revealed how to pick up a great deal.
The London-based motorist managed to boost the value of her hybrid Porsche by 23% compared to her original dealership off by listing it on auto trade website Motorway.
GettyA driver has revealed how she boosted the value of her car by £13,000 by selling online[/caption]
The 39-year-old, who works in marketing, was offered £53,000 by her local Mercedes dealership.
Given that it was purchased new just 18 months before and that Porsche’s hybrid range sell for between £79,000 and £81,000, she immediately felt that this was too low.
However, she was amazed when Motorway’s quote was substantially higher than that of the dealership, with the motor eventually selling for £66,585.
Not only was this well above her £61,000 reserve price, it also represented a £13,585 increase on her original valuation.
The seller said: “I was astounded to see the price difference. I perhaps anticipated a couple of thousand more, but £13k was beyond my wildest expectations.
“I’ve always made sure to take good care of any car that’s been in my ownership, and I’ve always felt that this should be reflected in the sale value.
“However, I’ve also been conditioned by the general perspective that you instantaneously lose thousands on your car upon purchase.
“From seeing what I was able to get for my car on Motorway, I know now this isn’t the case. I’ve told all my friends about it – I actually can’t quite believe it.”
For their part, Motorway’s own research found that under a quarter of car owners consult more than one dealer during the sales process and nearly half don’t know how much their own car is worth.
Likewise, their survey saw 3.5 million Brits admitting that they regret selling their car after they lost money in the process.
Alex Buttle, the site’s co-founder, said: “One of the biggest mistakes car owners make when selling their car, is simply not knowing how much their car is worth.
“Previously, a car’s value almost always followed a downward trend, but over the past three years, the industry has experienced unprecedented changes.
“Countless car owners still don’t see their car as an asset and as such, are unaware of the value of their car or how it depreciates – or even goes up in value – over time.”
Alex also shared some handy tips and “easy fixes” that can help you get more bang for your buck during a sale.
He advised cleaning the car thoroughly and replacing worn-out components, particularly visually obvious things like floor mats, as well as putting on alloy wheels.
These sorts of changes are usually very cheap and can help pump up the price of your car.
It comes after a trusted mechanic revealed the three cars that will cost most in repairs due to reliability issues.
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