Advertising your carHow much is your car worth?

Do your research to make sure your car advert asks buyers for the right amount. If you don't, and you rush into writing a car advert without checking out the car guides and other car adverts, you won't do your car justice.

Research will help you set a fair asking price for your car

Naturally, you want to achieve the best possible price when you sell your car. But, if you ask too much for it, it won’t sell; ask too little and you’re cheating yourself. Here’s how to pitch for the right figure:

Research used-car prices

Researching used-car prices is the key. Once you have done it, you can be confident that the price you’ve set is fair, and that will help no end when negotiating with a buyer.

Check a used-car price guide

Check a used-car price guide. The Which? Car Buying Guide now has dealer, private and part-exchange car prices for cars up to eight years old in good condition and with a range of mileages. All you have to do is to find the price for a car that's nearest to your car's age and mileage.

Look at local car prices

You should also look at prices locally. If you are selling a car yourself, check the small ads in local newspapers to see what other private sellers are asking. They’re your competition: if you want to sell your car quickly, go cheaper.

Also check dealers’ ads. But, remember that their selling prices often include a warranty, so make sure that you ask less if they do. On the web, check the competition advertising on Autotrader and, if you have an eBay account, also look at recent completed sales.

Finally, try ringing a few advertisers who are selling cars like yours about a week after their ads first appear. If most have found buyers, you’ll know their prices were right and can pitch yours to match. If none have gone, you’ll need to ask less.

• For regular cars updates, subscribe to the Which? cars advice RSS feed here. If you have an older web browser you may need to copy and paste this link into your newsreader: http://www.which.co.uk/feeds/advice/cars.xml. Find out more about RSS in the Which? guide to news feeds .