Selling privately or to a dealer: which is right for you

The trade-off, stated plainly

Selling to a dealer is faster, safer and pays less. Selling privately pays more and costs you time, strangers at your door, and the paperwork.

Sell to a dealer when

• You need the money on a date, not eventually.
• The vehicle needs work you do not want to do or explain.
• You are buying something else from them and can put the difference against it.
• You do not want to handle the transfer yourself.

Sell privately when

• The vehicle is in genuinely good order with the history to show it.
• It is a model people search for by name.
• You can take calls and be available for viewings for a few weeks.

Either way

Do not hand over the vehicle before the money has cleared, and never before Form 29 is signed and you have your copy. A bank transfer that has been initiated is not a bank transfer that has arrived.

Listing on getmycarr is free. If you would rather a dealer handled it, our dealers are listed by city.