Sell your car

You've got more options than anywhere else at Autotrader to sell your car. You can choose to:

1. Create an advert: You're in full control of your own sale. Create and upload your advert, and the size of our audience means you'll get your car in front of more buyers than on any other site.

2. Auction your car: Our online partner, Dealer Auction, work hard to make sure you get the best possible price at auction. Their network of trusted dealers are ready to compete for your car.

When you sell your car, you'll need to hand over the car's handbook, the service logbook (plus receipts) and, if the car is over three years old, the MOT certificate. Buyers may also appreciate older MOT certificates and maintenance receipts.

After you've sold the car, you'll need a receipt with the date, price, registration number, make and model featured. You'll also need your (and the buyer's) name and address.

You'll need to tell the DVLA the car has been sold. If your car has a V5C (registration document) then fill in the bottom and send this to the DVLA. You'll need to give the top part to the buyer alongside other paperwork.

There are plenty of places to sell your old car.

You could sell it directly to a dealership or auction house, or you can sell it online. If you've got the time to wait for the right buyer, selling your car privately on a site like Autotrader can earn you more money.

There are also options like part-exchange and, sometimes, a scrappage scheme is the right choice for older cars.

Learn more about your options in our guide to selling a car.

If you've sold a car before, you'll know you can get wildly different quotes from competing sites and dealerships.

Autotrader's free car valuation tool gives you the right guide price. We combine data from thousands of live adverts and dealer websites, plus values from car auctions, and ex-fleet and leasing vehicles.

As our guide price represents the entire market and our data is updated daily, your quote is fair, priced to sell, and accurate.

We'll also give you a part-exchange price and a private sale price, so you can decide how you want to sell your car.

You can learn more about our car valuations, and the steps we take to ensure you get a fair and accurate price each time, here.

A car valuation will tell you exactly how much you can sell your car for.

To get the best price for your car, make sure it's clean and in good working order. Scuffs and scratches can knock the price down, so be realistic about the car's condition and see whether it's worth paying for repairs. A full-service history (where you've had a service every year, or within its set mileage) can fetch a higher price too.

Other factors can affect a car's price. Some make models are more desirable than others, and a car's age and mileage will also affect the final offer. Older cars with higher mileage tend to sell for less, though remember the depreciation curve of new cars means they lose most of their value in the first few years.

Another factor is the number of previous owners (the fewer the better, usually). You can find this in the V5C document.

One trick is to sell your car at the right time of year – convertibles are more popular in summer, so make sure you're ready to meet demand! We've got more tips in our guide to the best time to sell your car.

Part-exchanging your car online is easy nowadays.

Once you've found a car you like on our site, simply use our part exchange tool to get an instant valuation on your current car. We'll only need your reg plate and current mileage to give you your quote. If you're happy, you can then get in touch with the dealer to arrange trading your car in.

Part-exchange is a great way to swap your old car for a new one and find some of the cash for a deposit as you go.

We help millions sell their cars every year, and our platform makes it easy for you to list your car and find the right buyer for it. To sell your car, simply follow these steps:

• Prep your car for sale, giving it a clean and fixing it up if needed.
• Price it fairly, using a car valuation.
• Make sure you have the right paperwork.
• Create an eye-catching advert for your car.
• Arrange to meet a potential buyer.
• Arrange a test drive.
• Get paid!

We've plenty more advice on creating an advert, what to do in a test drive, and how to get paid safely online – check it out here.

If you want to sell a car with outstanding finance the finance must be cleared before the buyer can legally own it, because the lender technically owns the vehicle until it's paid off. You can sell it privately as long as the finance is settled first.

If you're selling to a dealer, they may clear the outstanding finance with your lender as part of the transaction and pay you any equity. If the car is worth less than the finance (negative equity), you'll need to cover the shortfall or roll it into another deal.

Voluntary termination could be another option PCP or HP deals if you've already paid 50% of the total amount payable, allowing you to return the car instead of selling it. Learn more here.

If you're struggling to make payments and want to know more about your options, you can contact Moneyhelper for free impartial advice.