Every car seller often thinks of the same when giving away their vehicle: “How much would I get? What will be the asking amount?” We know you are also super excited when selling your car. The sole motive of people when selling their vehicle is just to earn money. Whatever price it is, they easily melt to earn cash fast. However, it could be harmful in the long run. This is why we’re here with this blog on 16 precautions while selling a car.
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Precautions While Selling a Car
Here are 12 precautions while selling a car one must consider before entering into a car deal:
1. Precautions While Selling a Car: Keep a Third Party Updated About the Event
The very first thing you need to do is to keep someone updated at all times about the transaction. The person could be your trusted friend, family, or anyone you know well. If you’re putting up ads, generating possible leads, taking up calls from buyers, or even closing a deal with a potential buyer, keeping someone posted regularly is crucial.
2. Never Provide Buyers with Personal Information
It is one of the major Precautions While Selling a Car. One of the very important precautions while selling a car is to never give your personal details to purchasers. If you’re placing sales adverts, putting up blogs, or offering word of mouth through family or friends, please put up the necessary information only and nothing more.
You can create a new email for such business-related purposes rather than using your email address. The same can be also done with your phone number. Simply add a nickname or a made-up identity while interacting with potential clients. When the transaction is confirmed to be closed, you will be required to add your actual name to documents like third-party car insurance. However, kindly do not disclose your identity until that occurs.
3. Precautions While Selling a Car: Be a Trusted Seller
Always be honest at all times of the transaction and never mislead the potential buyers about any information related the the car. Don’t hide from them the condition of your vehicle as it is strictly unlawful and one of the biggest turn-offs for your customer. Be open about everything, ranging from the car insurance to the actual price and features. Highlight all the present issues with the vehicle and what type of maintenance it needs.
4. Precautions While Selling a Car: Always Consider Test Drive
Choose a decent and safe spot when visiting your client for a test drive. It should be a public area and you should have someone with you as well. Precautions while selling a car to consider this time include checking if your third-party motor insurance covers another person performing a test drive through your car. The easiest way to do so is to connect with your third-party motor insurance carrier directly, explain the scene and ask if you’re covered.
5. Precautions While Selling a Car: Take Financial Steps When Closing the Deal
It is scary for the buyers to pay cash and hope that the car is functional. Moreover, it is tough for you also, as a seller, to have to cover the financial areas of the car deal.
You need to determine which payment methods you’ll be accepting. Always prefer to accept a bank cheque as you understand the buyer has essential funds. However, abstain from accepting a personal cheque as you have no idea if it would be clear or not.
6. Take Personal Data Out of the Vehicle
It is one of the most pivotal Precautions While Selling a Car. Make sure to check the car to confirm that there is no personal stuff or documentation inside it before handing it over to the customer. Please ensure that all your personal information has been removed before you hand over the car service record to the buyer. Name, credit or debit cards, mobile numbers, emails, everything should be deleted.
The safest approach is to cover all these details with a black sketch pen or marker after creating copies of these documents.
7. Maintain Paperwork Sequence to Prevent Liabilities
To avoid liability, keep administrative records of the entire transaction from start to finish – the most important element is at the closing. Always check that the transfer paperwork has been completed and that your identity has been removed from anything remotely related to the car, including your car’s liability insurance.
8. Precautions While Selling a Car: Complete Documentation
Documentation is the most important task, and you should start by having all of your documents ready before you begin the selling process. Some of the important documents required during the purchase process include a Registration Certificate (RC), a Valid Insurance Policy, Pollution Control Certificate and No Objection Certificate from the bank.
After selling your car, transferring ownership should be your top priority. Under the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, the seller will remain the owner of the vehicle until the RC is transferred to the buyer’s name.
After the sale, you must immediately apply for RC transfer from the Regional Transport Office (RTO) and submit duly filled-in Forms 29 and 30 and valid address proof along with other documents for the application to be processed.
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9. Precautions While Selling a Car: Vehicle maintenance
A potential buyer may be interested in test-driving your vehicle before making a final purchasing decision. Any mechanical or cosmetic irregularities can prevent a buyer from making a purchasing decision. Even a very small or insignificant defect can contribute to breaking the deal.
So, make sure to take your car to the workshop and have it thoroughly inspected to make sure it doesn’t have any kind of defects. Fill the engine with oil, lubricants and coolant, align/balance the tyres and inflate them to the correct air pressure.
Servicing your car before selling it may not seem appealing, but trust us, it’s a good thing to do and adds to your credibility as a genuine seller. You can also request a service report from the dealer, as buyers often prefer a car with a good service history, and timely maintenance, and are even willing to spend more money to buy such a car.
10. Precautions While Selling a Car: Estimate the value of your car
Don’t overlook these Precautions While Selling a Car. You should have a clear idea of your car’s value before you start negotiating with a buyer. This requires a bit of research, and you can also use car dealerships or various online platforms to estimate the current value of your car.
Some important parameters often considered when estimating the value of a car include model year, number of kilometres travelled, fuel type (gasoline/diesel/CNG), transmission type (manual/automatic) and accident history.
However, many of the parameters used to determine a car’s value are purely emotional and/or emotional and can vary significantly from person to person. Colour is a sensitive issue and can play an important role in a buyer’s reaction to a car’s value.
And one more thing, when giving estimates, remember that cars are priced based on the segment they belong to, i.e. economy cars are priced differently than luxury cars or classic cars.
11. Precautions while selling car India: Look into the room
They say the first impression is the last and that’s certainly true when it comes to a car. A good first impression will go a long way in establishing the right attitude for the transaction. So, before you start selling, make sure your car is free of any dents, scratches or visual defects, no matter how small.
Refinishing may cost you a few extra dollars, but you can always get it back by offering a higher price for your car. There are many affordable measures you can take to remove small scratches, from applying toothpaste to using fillers and compounds, all of which are commercially available.
Just like the exterior, the interior also plays an equally important role. Dirty upholstery and unpleasant odours can turn off potential buyers and jeopardize the fate of your transaction. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the interior of the car.
Call in a professional service to clean the interior and pay special attention to restoring the shine to the plastic. A good quality wax can help interiors regain their shine while vacuuming the fabric will restore them.
There is no doubt that a beautiful and pleasant atmosphere will breathe new life into the appearance of the car and can certainly help you balance the price in your favour.
12. Precautions while selling car India: Clicking Photos
This is especially important if you plan to sell your car through an online classifieds service. Beautiful pictures will attract more attention and attract real buyers. Selling your car by negotiating directly with the buyer has its advantages. You will probably get the best value for your car, but it will require a strong commitment of time and effort – something that many of us may not have much of.
Apart from using classified services, you can also choose online trading platforms to sell your car. Online car-selling portals are becoming the preferred destination for many car sellers. These platforms provide customers with an effortless selling experience through comprehensive solutions.
CarYanams is one such online platform that provides customers with a seamless car-selling experience. This portal has a rich history in the automotive industry and apart from providing the best value for your car, it will take care of the RC transfer process at no additional cost.
Additionally, you will receive money instantly in your bank account. A smooth and hassle-free transaction experience makes CarYanams the preferred destination to sell your car. You can visit us at CarYanams for more information or queries.
13. Do not sign any transfer documents or return the car without receiving full payment.
This is one of the most overlooked precautions while selling car India. It may seem self-evident, but many people are tricked into selling their cars without receiving the full amount, or in some cases, not receiving any money at all. Do not hand over the car until you have received the full amount in cash or the bank. A cheque or DD is not enough.
Wait until these financial instruments have been redeemed before giving the car keys to the buyer. Another thing is, of course, to sign the transfer documents. If you sign the transfer documents without receiving the cash, the buyer can take your car by threats or actual physical force or simply take it away.
There is nothing you can do other than file a fraud report and wait for the perpetrators to be prosecuted. This has happened before and it can happen again. So, make sure you do not sign anything without receiving the cash.
14. Precautions while selling car India: Inform the RTO within 14 days of selling your car.
Write a letter to the RTO where your car was originally registered within two weeks and attach copies of the documents mentioned in the first point and send the letter and documents to the RTO by registered post. Keep the delivery note in a safe place. Completing this ensures that the RTO knows that the car has been sold/handed over to the buyer.
This ensures that you do not have any legal issues after selling your car.
15. Precautions while selling car India: No Claim Bonus means huge savings when you buy your next car
It is your responsibility to keep a copy of your previous insurance policy and claim the “No Claim Bonus” when you buy insurance for your next car. To claim the No Claim Bonus, you will also need a copy of the RC with the new owner’s name on it and the delivery note to prove to the insurance company that the car has been transferred.
Many people forget this small but important detail when selling a car and end up losing a lot of money on insuring their new car.
16. Precautions while selling a car: If you need to sell your car to a dealer
Typically, you will not receive much documentation apart from the car delivery note and some cash. To ensure you are protected from legal issues, you can request the dealer to sign an ownership transfer form with you as the buyer. If the dealer does not sell your car within a certain period (say 45-60 days), you can submit this form to the RTO later.
You will need to agree with the dealer on when they will sell your car and give you the ownership transfer documents.
Precautions While Selling a Car: CONCLUSION
With this, we conclude our top 16 Precautions While Selling a Car to take in 2024. Overall, the best way to ensure you are protected when selling privately is to be aware of the risks to both you and your customer and ensure you take steps to minimize these this risk. As always, if something seems too perfect to be true, it probably is. We hope these precautions while selling a car will help you make an informed decision.
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