Glass’s Guide reveals top five used car turn-offs

The top five most simple-to-avoid used car turn-offs have been released by the editors of Glass’s Guide. The advice is aimed at private sellers who may be wiping hundreds of pounds off the value of their cars by failing to take a few simple steps before they put them up for sale.

Rupert Pontin, Head of Valuations, said: “Preparing your car for sale is important if you want to get the best price and to move it on quickly yet private buyers often make silly errors. It is a question of looking at your car with fresh eyes and seeing it as a potential buyer sees it. What are the things about it that might make them walk away immediately? This advice represents the accumulated wisdom of our used car experts. Evidence of smoking and pets tops our list of turn-offs but, basically, buyers are looking for evidence that a car has been well-cared-for.”

1. Smoking

People spend a lot of time in their car and a lingering smell of tobacco is a definite turn-off for most. This can easily wipe 15% off the value of your car. It’s not a simple job to remove the smell but thoroughly cleaning the car’s interior throughout plus using specialist products and odour removers can help.

2. Pet smells and hairs

Pet smells are almost as unpopular as tobacco and hairs can also get into the weave of seat fabric and carpet, and be difficult to remove. Again, the only solution is elbow grease alongside a selection of appropriate cleaning products from your local car accessory retailer.

3. Sticker and decals

Your other car may be a Porsche and you may be a Chelsea fan until you die but these are unlikely to be sentiments shared by the car’s next potential owner. Remove stickers carefully and gently to ensure that the tackiness is gone too, all without damaging the paintwork or glass.

4. Fixing holes

These are much less common than just a few years ago but any kind of drilling into the dashboard or other parts of the car interior leaves an untidy look. Specialist repair kits are available, are not difficult to use and will make the interior look much more presentable.

5. General grubbiness

Very few people want to buy a car that is full of sandwich wrappers, empty coffee cups and old items of clothing and who knows what else. Spending a morning cleaning your car or £20 on a mini valet at your local car wash will make it much easier to sell.