For someone who has had his own personal transport since 19 years of age, it was a strange realisation when it finally hit home that the shiny new car bought just 3 years ago is simply not getting enough use to justify keeping it.
Being still under factory warranty, my first instinct was to get a quote from the brand dealer whom I bought the car from. Surprise, surprise …. The figure obtained was so low that it would make me want to keep the car. The dealer suggested that I would have to sell the vehicle privately in order to get more for it.
I thought about it and upon googling private sales experiences, I dreaded dealing with potential time wasters, scammers and also having to get a road worthiness certificate (RWC) as part of the private sale process.
In the end, I opted to try online car buyers websites that give an instant quotes for vehicles. After trying a few, I found www.carsales.com.au to be easy to navigate.
I simply input relevant information about the car and chose to get an instant quote (versus the other option of putting up a for sale ad in the portal). The instant quote supplied was valid for a week and being happy with the amount, I accepted the quote. A call from the company came thereafter to fix a time to inspect the vehicle and to fill in the sales contract.
It was particularly convenient that the representative came to my location for the car inspection. I half thought that the money I spent on extras such as dealer fitted dash cameras, factory fitted GPS system and ceramic paint protection would be worth something but nah, I got nothing for them.
If you have custom plates and wish to keep them, do go to VicRoads to purchase a set of “general issue” plates to assign to the vehicle prior to the sale. This way, you can remove & keep the existing custom plates, swap the new general issue plates in and sell the vehicle registered to the new plates. Remember to inform your insurer the moment the vehicle has the new plates.
About a week plus later, the company’s finance staff rang to confirm my bank details before transferring the money to my account that same day. Their preferred towing company also very quickly made an appointment with me to collect the car from my location.
All in all, it was pretty much stress free. Yes, I got slightly less from the sale (compared to selling it myself privately) but the smooth process more than made up for it.
So, if ever you find yourself having to sell your set of wheels, do give www.carsales.com.au a try.
