Tips to Sell Your Car for a Fair Price in the UAE

Generally, summer is the season during which most people in the UAE decide to sell their cars. This is due to many factors. This is the time when many expats in the country decide to relocate due to the school holidays. This year, Ramadan also falls during the summer and excellent deals are available for both new and used cars. This is indeed the right time to sell your car and upgrade to the car of your dreams, if it is available at a price that is more within your budget.

Matthew Davidson, Head of Motors Services at dubizzle, one of the most well known online platforms in the UAE for the purchase and sale of used cars offers a few tips to get the best price for your car and to differentiate it from other vehicles that are available for sale.

Preparing your car for sale

The key is to put yourself into the shoes of a prospective customer. To you, your vehicle might be the best one of its kind, but a potential buyer would inspect it closely for flaws.

1. Car Condition: The car should be in the best possible condition. It should not just be immaculate externally, but you should also ensure that many minor dings and scratches are taken. The cost to fix such minor issues would be relatively small when compared to the significant difference it can make in the resale value of your car. Take the car in to a garage you trust for a detailing job to ensure that both the interiors and the exteriors are immaculate.

2. Service and Tires : Make sure that the car is uptodate when it comes to services and that the tires are either new or in relatively good condition. The car will have to undergo an inspection before it is registered by the buyer and will be definitely more attractive if it does not need any immediate work.

3. Pricing: If the price of your car is too high, you will not be able to attract any interest from buyers. On the other hand, if it is too low, there will be little room for negotiation and you will not get a fair price. In order to set a reasonable price that will draw interest from buyers, check out what the price of similar models which have approximately the same mileage on websites like dubizzle motors and carmudi. The prices will vary depending on the make, model, trim level, year and mileage.

4. Prepare the Description Carefully: When you place your ad for sale online, make sure that you highlight the best aspects of your car in the description. Examples include special features like a sunroof, fully agency service history and warranty until 2020 and being the first owner of the car. Give a specific time during the day when you can be reached easily so that you are not disturbed by calls while you are at work and you do not lose out any selling opportunities.

Meeting the potential buyer

Give as much information as you can when the prospective buyer first makes contact so that there is less scope for wasting your time and their time if your vehicles does not suit their requirements. When they come for a viewing, emphasize the best aspects of your vehicle and ensure that they have a valid UAE driving license before they take the car for a test drive so that you are covered in case there is an accident. When it comes to price, say you have priced it after taking all the factors into account but leave a little room for negotiation.
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It’s inevitable that the question of price will pop up at some stage. The best answer is to say you’ve priced it at the price you want to sell. If you wanted to sell for less, you would have priced for less. Explain there is a small negotiation for the right buyer and hold your nerve – if they like it and want it they will pay.

After the sale

Transfer the ownership of your car at an authorized RTA traffic center such as Tasjeel, only after you have received payment either in the form of cash or wire transfer. There have been several reports in the leading newspapers about sellers being duped after taking cheques from buyers.
If at the time of transfer the buyer tries to re-negotiate or change the deal in anyway, don’t back down. Prepare Once the transfer is completed take a clear photo of the new registration card or transfer paper (front and back) as you might be able to get a refund of your existing vehicle insurance if there are more than a couple of months left. The insurance company needs to have proof that the vehicle is registered to a new owner before issuing the refund. Before finally handing over the car, remove the existing Salik tag from the car and double check that you have not left any personal items in the car.

For those who do not want to deal with the hassle of pricing their car and negotiating with prospective buyers, dubizzle offers the dubizzle’s Sell It For Me service, which deals with all the aspects of selling a car. In case you need cash quickly, dubizzle offers options for an instant cash price through its Cash It For Me service.