Essential Car Detailing Tips to Make Your Used Car Sell Faster
A dirty car is a sign of abandonment. First impression matters and it will be difficult to attract serious buyers if your car looks abandoned. Getting your car ready for sale is not as simple as just putting up an ad. There’s a great deal of preparation that goes into transforming a used car into an attractive piece of machine that will sell. Car detailing is an essential step in the process of selling a vehicle, especially a locally used one.
In this article, we’ll discuss car detailing tips and tricks that will help you sell your car faster.
What is Car Detailing?
Car detailing, as the name suggests, involves giving your car a “detailed” cleaning and restoring damaged components. It involves improving the condition of a vehicle’s interior and exterior appearance. It’s as close to making a car “look new.”
What’s the difference between a car wash and detailing?
Car detailing is an advanced version of a regular car wash. It is more thorough and deeper and focuses not only on cleaning your car but also on light paint and protective coating restoration. Automotive detailing is a cut above regular car wash and helps to rejuvenate your car and keep it looking good.
Some of the benefits of car detailing include:
- Increasing the resale value of your car
- You’ll have a more comfortable ride
- Restoration helps to minimize your maintenance costs
- Underbody and engine cleaning help prevent leaks, increasing your car’s lifespan
Car Detailing Tips to Make Your Used Car Sell Faster
Have you decided to sell your car? The first thing you need to do is make the car shine. This is how you sell fast and get the most money from selling your car. Try to see it through the eyes of a potential buyer. They’re going to be scrutinizing every little flaw and it’s up to you to get your car in the best shape possible. As we’ve mentioned, first impression matters.
These car detailing tips will help you sell your car faster:
1. Get the right products and supplies
Quality supplies produce quality results. The first step to getting the right detailing results is getting the right supplies for the job. This is not a process where you want to look for cheap alternatives, or else you risk discoloring your car. Get yourself a proper wash-mitt and plush microfiber towels instead of traditional cloth wash towels. The latter feels like exfoliating yourself with sandpaper. You wouldn’t want that, would you?
2. Don’t wash your car in direct sunlight
Most detailing products perform poorly in heat or under direct sunlight. The heat also speeds up the drying of the soap and water, leaving stubborn water spots and streaks on your car.
When detailing your car, work in the garage or in the shade. If you’ve been driving out in the sun, wait for the exterior to cool before starting your wash.
3. Watch out for cross-contamination
The detailing process involves using different products and materials at every stage. Cross-contamination occurs when you use the same material or products for different purposes or parts of the vehicle. For example, the chemicals used to scrub the wheels might not be suitable for the seats.
When detailing, don’t use the same items (brushes, towels, etc) for multiple purposes or the same areas of the car. You don’t want to use a dirty microfiber mitt to scrub a relatively clean part of the car or carry a contaminant from one part of the vehicle to another.
4. Use the two-bucket wash approach
The two-bucket method is a safe way of detailing your car and reducing the risk of cross-contamination. The concept is simple. You should have at least two buckets: one for rinsing and one for washing.
By having one bucket for rinse water, and one for soapy water, you create a safe place for dipping that filthy sponge between scrubs. This helps keep that bucket of soapy shampoo free from contaminants.
Learn How to Prepare Your Car for Sale
Getting your car ready for sale is not as simple as putting out an ad. A great deal of work goes into preparing the car for sale, and detailing helps to improve the aesthetic value of your car. If you’re too busy to detail your car yourself or don’t know the right supplies to get for the job, it’s advisable to get professional car detailing services.
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