How long does it take to sell your car privately?

By Lawrence Minnie 

Buying a car is an exciting yet sometimes daunting experience. Deciding not to trade your car in this process and opting to sell it yourself to get a better price is a bold choice. How long will it take to sell?

Selling your car privately

Going through the process of buying your next car can be a daunting, yet exciting process.

Many people who find themselves on this journey might opt to try and sell their car privately instead of trading it in on the new deal.

Opting to sell your car privately is fraught with many a pitfall, least of which being how long it will take to sell.

In order to figure this out you will need to know quite a bit about the market you are entering and the product you are wanting to sell.

The time that your car will spend for sale depends entirely on the type of vehicle, the price you are asking, condition of the car and the current market for that vehicle.

As an example, if you had a white, two-year-old Volkswagen Polo with no damage, a full-service history and had it posted at a market related price in could be snapped up in as short as a few hours from the time your advert goes live.

If you, however, had a 5-year-old, metallic blue, Peugeot 308 with a broken headlight, and a sketchy service history and you posted it with a sales price equivalent too or higher than market value, it may take months to sell.

This may not always be true when it comes to collector’s cars or rare models but these don’t go up for sale very often and when they do they are snapped up by other collectors rather quickly.

In short, know what the market demands are, know the actual value of the vehicle and price accordingly and be patient.