When it comes to selling your car, an expert has revealed that laying out just £100 will see it’s value soar by thousands with three simple tricks.
Maximising the value of your motor is key to getting the most money in the sale – and it’s not as complicated as you would think.
Colin Boyd, an Auto expert at Finest Car Mats, reckons he has mastered the art of maximising a car’s value. And he said that by investing around £100 your vehicle can move a car from the middle of a price range to the upper-end, translating to thousands of pounds in your pocket.
He has revealed that although it’s important to make sure the outside is freshly washed, it’s the condition of the interior that ‘makes the difference’ when it comes to boosting value.
Colin previously owned a car rental company, and through that has sold and rented hundreds of cars. Each time he sells a car he goes through the same key steps to ensure would-be hagglers have nothing they can leverage to knock down the price.
He makes sure the car is valeted at a cost of around £50. He then buys interior accessories which amount to around £45. And the final thing he does to boost the price is he buys an air freshener.
His favoured one, a Yankee car jar, is just a couple of quid but is crucial.
Colin said he chooses a bronze valet which entails a deep interior clean of the interior as well as a wax clean of the exterior.
He also invests in a phone mount to add a bit of luxury to the car, a car mat with a trim that matches the paintwork for a bit of style – plus new mats are extra plush and feel like carpet – and a strong air freshener to make the car smell nice.
Colin said the Ford Fiesta is an example of a car that is bought and sold on a near-daily basis. A model as recent as the 2023 Fiesta can cost between £14,765 – £20,565.
But if it has grubby-looking door compartments with years of accumulated receipts which have moulded together thanks to a lollipop that was left there accidentally, or sports mud-caked car mats or a vague scent of a dog, it’s not going to pique a buyer’s interest as much if it was spotless.
And that car, no matter how good its MOT or service history is, will find itself selling for closer to the £15,000 mark. Colin has found that a car with identical mileage but with £100 worth of refreshing, will sell for a much higher sum, covering that £100 and more.
“Does a run through the car wash, a new fitted mat made from luxury velour, a valet service, some little luxury items, and an air freshener cost £5,000? No,” Colin says. “But would the meticulous cleaning of your car – inside-and-out – help it reach the higher end of the value range? In my experience, yes.
“Making sure you have a spotless car is important; that’s where these seemingly small luxuries can help you from getting endlessly lowballed by hagglers.”
He added: “It is all well and good to say ‘the car is worth x amount, and that’s what I want’, but that’s a much easier sell when you have a spotless, fresh-smelling, interior.”
Of course, redoing an MOT, having a photographer take great listing pictures are good ideas. But the expert has found that his tried-and-tested method has got him the best return on his investment over the years.
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