One of the consequences of the government’s lockdown measures during the COVID-19 outbreak was that those of us who were planning to sell our cars couldn’t do so – at least not until the restrictions began to be lifted.
Of course, you can still advertise your car for sale and negotiate a price with a buyer over the phone or on email. The travel restrictions, however, effectively ruled out that buyer coming to take the car away.
Similarly, while many car dealerships remained open ‘virtually’ and continued to respond to enquiries (and in some cases still delivered cars to buyers), they weren’t in a position to buy your car from you, for instance as a part-exchange. As of June 1, though, that all changes. As the government sought to get the economy moving again, car dealerships were allowed to reopen, albeit only if certain preventative measures were put in place. As long as you follow the same guidelines, it is now reasonable to sell your car privately or to a dealership.
Bear in mind, however, that Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland are emerging from their own lockdowns at a different pace to England, which is easing restrictions earlier than the devolved nations.
Why Cleaning Your Car is Important
Social distancing guidelines remain in place, so while handling your old car over it’s important to stay two metres apart where possible, and wear personal protective equipment when it’s not. It’s also important to give your car a thorough clean inside and out before parting ways with it. Research shows that coronavirus particles can live on steel and plastic for up to 72 hours, so it’s advisable to clean and disinfect your car before handing it over to somebody else.
While you may not be experiencing any symptoms, you could still be carrying the virus and it’s very possible that your buyer could contract COVID-19 directly from the vehicle. If you have had symptoms or have been diagnosed with COVID-19, cleaning your car before handing it over is doubly important.
The Case for Advertising
Even during the peak of the lockdown, both CarGurus and its sister website, PistonHeads, remained very active marketplaces in terms of people searching for cars and submitting leads in order to find out more information. Under the revised guidelines, used car buying activity is likely to pick back up again in very short order.
How to Write a Car Advert
As long as prospective buyers couldn’t travel to inspect your car, let alone test drive it or take it away for good, it was more important than ever to write a full and detailed description of it and provide a generous selection of images. Even now, though, those are useful principles to keep in mind so as to maximise your chances of selling your car for a fair price. Be sure to create a full and descriptive advert for your car. While you should respond willingly to any queries that come your way, it's still important to make sure that you and anybody coming to view your car observe social distancing guidelines.