Test drives and hagglingGetting the best price

Make sure you prepare the car – and yourself – properly before test drives and viewings. Give the vehicle some TLC and you're in with a chance of getting top dollar.

Preparation and research are vital before selling a used car – a bit of hard work early on could add hundreds to what you make.

Preparing the car for test drives and viewings

Make sure your car is spotless inside and out

Make sure your car is spotlessly clean inside and out. But don’t paint the tyres or polish every surface to a high gloss. If your car looks too perfect, it may leave buyers wondering what you’re hiding.

Clear out your belongings. Cuddly toys, good-luck charms and change for meters – it all needs to go.

Put the handbook, service records, MoT certificate (if needed), DVLA registration document, warranty books (if applicable), and garage invoices in a smart folder for buyers to inspect. But keep an eye on them during viewings - they are valuable to a thief.

How to handle haggling during test drives and viewings

Keep cool during test drives and viewings, and stay polite. Some people bargain aggressively, but if you keep your tone even and your answers matter-of-fact, you’ll retain the upper hand. If tempers get heated, suggest a brief time-out in which to cool them.

Have a fixed idea of your minimum price, and stick to it.

Use ads from local press or the internet to show that your car is fairly priced. A print-out of the Which? Car Buying Guide price page for your car will help, too.

Once you have agreed a price, repeat the deal, shake hands and write it down. That avoids confusion.

Finally, if the buyer immediately offers the asking price, be on your guard, particularly if he or she appears in a hurry and barely looks at the car. Crooks toting forged banker’s drafts woo sellers this way before stealing their cars.

Which? Car email

To be kept in the loop on all the manufacturer offers and great car deals we spot each week, sign up for our Which? Car email - delivered to your inbox every Friday, and including all our latest news and first drive reviews, too.

All the latest car news

For daily consumer news, subscribe to the Which? news 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/reviews/news.xml . Find out more about RSS in the Which? guide to news feeds.