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Daryl Gurney’s top tips for selling your car!
Tuesday, 07 April 2020
As partners of the PDC, we met with professional darts player Daryl Gurney, A.K.A. Superchin!
For those of you that don’t know, he is currently the #21 darts player in the world. He’s also a former winner of the World Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals.
What you might not know, is he’s also a collector of cars. So he knows a thing or two about how to buy and sell them.
In his collection of cars, he has around 20 old Vauxhalls, which he has bought and repaired, and currently drives a 2011 Vauxhall Insignia.
Daryl's top tips for selling a car
Q. What’s the best website to sell your car on?
A. For me, I would say to use Facebook or Gumtree, because they seem to be best in Northern Ireland where I am based. They’ve got good search engines for Gumtree but on social media there’s loads of ways to search. In England, Auto Trader and Exchange and Mart are probably the most extensive.
Q. How can you make sure you are selling your car for the best price?
A. With so much on social media and so many websites with cars that will be similar to yours, you can’t just do a brief round-up with basic details of your vehicle anymore. If you see cars selling for the same price as yours, and they have with a lot more miles, no service history or some dents etc, you can increase your price. Your car will be worth more than these. Always best to do your research of 10 or 12 cars before you advertise.
Q. How can you make sure you are selling your car for the best price?
A. With so much on social media and so many websites with cars that will be similar to yours, you can’t just do a brief round-up with basic details of your vehicle anymore. If you see cars selling for the same price as yours, and they have with a lot more miles, no service history or some dents etc, you can increase your price. Your car will be worth more than these. Always best to do your research of 10 or 12 cars before you advertise.
Q. What easy things can you do to make sure you get the best price for your car?
A. It needs to be clean, have a nice valet for the pics, and it’s also good to have a service before you sell it so that the buyer doesn’t need to do anything for six months. Also try to keep your service history up to date too. People like to see the engine bay and in and around the wheel arches to see there’s no rust, so it might be an idea to include pictures of that.
Q. What’s the best way to work out what my car is worth?
A. As well as comparing against other similar cars, have a check across a range of websites to see your cars make, model and year, and then decide the condition of your car against others.
Q. How should you get your car ready for sale?
A. Make sure it looks good – that will involve a good clean inside and out, and it’s good to make sure your levels are all topped up. So, oil, washer, brake fluid etc. Finally, a service and, if needed, a MOT.
Q. Where are the best places to advertise the car for sale?
A. I’ve found that social media is good – especially Facebook in Northern Ireland – and Gumtree is pretty effective too.
Q. Should you sell cars privately or through dealers? What are the pros and cons of each?
A. A dealership is always looking for the sale, regardless of the history, so they’ll push to sell to you. Privately, if you go to meet the person then there’s no way for them to mis-sell the car to you. It’s probably cheaper to buy privately too so I’d recommend that.
Q. If you ever do sell a car through a dealer, what makes a good dealer?
A. A good dealer is somebody who’s got a glovebox full of old MOTs, service histories and I’d often recommend that you use a smaller dealership that won’t be pushing the sale to you. Also, use people you trust. If the cars are in good condition and they are selling newer cars, then they’re probably doing business the right way.
Q. How do you create a good advertisement about your car?
A. Because I’m usually selling old Vauxhalls, it’s usually through a Forum for that, or social media and Gumtree. Most car types have their own Forums online so you can sell through those. It’s easier to compare there too and take tips from other adverts.
Q. Is part exchanging your car quicker and easier?
A. It is quicker and easier if your car isn’t as good as you say it is – if it is good, then you can hold out and get more for it. Obviously if you’re trying to get rid of your current car, then yes it probably is!
Q. Is selling at auction a good idea?
A. Auctions are good for people looking for a quick quid and no hassle from private buying – I used to go most Monday nights. If a car drives into the auction then it’s fine, obviously once it leaves there then it’s the buyer’s problem as it’s sold as seen!
Q. What should I do if I need to sell my car quickly?
A. This is all about presentation. I’d say to take loads of pictures of every side, under the bonnet, inside the boot and the interior. The description needs to have all the details, the work that’s been done, servicing, mileage and all that information. You need to include as much information as possible to reduce the number of questions and to draw people in.
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