Preparing you ride for sale
It’s a known fact in the Automobile trade that by cleaning your car can add value to it.
You may laugh but it wouldn't take you long to find a car for sale that is filthy inside and out and the seller just can't sell it for what its worth. If you want to sell it then clean it! It's simple. If you really can't be bothered or you don't have time then get someone else to do it for you!!
A good Valeter is the best answer. Street Rides have teamed up with Crystal Car Valeting to offer you a fantastic Valet deal to make your car sparkle inside and out and as they are a mobile valeter's you wont even have to move!
The Outside
We have listed below what we would expect a seller to do to the outside of the ride help along the sale.
Your car should be cleaned everywhere outside. It will mean a hefty amount of elbow grease to remove all the grime and bug marks.
Clean inside the door shuts and nooks and crannies you would normally leave out.
Its worth cleaning inside your wheel arches too. They have a tendency to store dirt and as soon as you move off your drive your ride is going to be covered again!
Try to remove any unsightly stone chips from the vehicle. These will put the buyer of especially if they are worthy of a bit of rust. Touch up sticks aren't expensive but you have to be careful when using them. Inexperience can show so it may be worth forking out to have it done professionally. Any good valeters or stone chip removal company will do this and not charge through the roof.
Your wheels get caked in brake dust and really makes a car look awful. On alloy wheels you should use an alloy wheel cleaner but if you have the standard wheel trims on the ride then it's worth replacing them all together. Kerb marks are very common and can be quite expensive to have removed from your alloys so it worth monitoring the situation yourself and deciding if you would rather knock some price off if necessary rather than fork out to have them repaired.
Once you have finished cleaning your ride its always worth giving a good polish and wax to give that 'new car look' there is no easy way out of this, it's a time consuming job and needs to be done properly otherwise the results will show. A good valeter will do this for you if you can't generate the time.
The Inside
The interior is more tricky but listed below is what we would expect a seller to do to the inside of their ride to maximise sell-ability.
Start off with a good hoover of the carpets and seats. Its worth using carpet and upholstery cleaner too, the results will certainly improve the inside of the car.
A nice low-gloss dashboard and trim cleaner will bring your interior back to life. Don't use household polish, it will just look really silly and make the dash board too shiny.
Give the windows a good clean from the inside too. It's worth using a nice chamois or lint free cloth for better results.
Hopefully your interior wont have any holes from Multimedia cradles or holders in it but if it has you will need to get these sorted out. A bodyshop or specialist would be you best answer.
Try and avoid putting an air freshener in your ride. Its off putting to the buyer and sometimes gives the impression you are covering something up. If you smoke than a decent odour neutraliser will do the trick without making your ride smell tacky.
Tears or noticeable imperfections on seats, door cards or your ICE install will give the buyer an excuse to knock you down in price so it worth having it all fixed up to gain maximum sale-ability.
Wiring, If you have wires dangling about or hanging around the interior this will give the buyer an impression of a botch job or careless maintenance on your behalf so its worth having them all tucked away or removed if they are not being used anymore.
It's best to either remove your car mats all together or simply replace them when selling. Don't forget to clean underneath the mats before you replace them too!
The Mechanicals
There is no reason why a buyer wouldn't want to look under the bonnet when buying a new ride so make sure there is nothing that might cause alarm bells to ring in there.
Check to make sure things like your oil, header tank, washer bottles etc are all topped up and everything is the right colours. You may have just had it serviced but it sure pays to double check before your buyer checks!
A good engine bay steam clean can do wonders to a ride's aesthetics. Try to avoid cleaning your engine bay with a jet washer or even a hose pipe. Such a large amount of water will probably mess with your electrics and cause all sorts of engine troubles.
Try and have a tidy up generally, Bundles of wires can look unsightly sort things like that can either be tidied up or removed if they have no purpose. For example if your ride came with a standard factory alarm and you have had an aftermarket one put in place then remove all the alarm system wires that aren't wired up anymore.
