Three ways to sell a car in Ireland: sell it outright to a dealer, trade it in against your next one, or sell it privately. Selling to a dealer is the quickest and the least work. Selling privately usually pays the most and costs the most hours. Trading in sits between the two, and only makes sense if you are buying at the same time. Pick the route by what you value, then get the car and the paperwork ready before anyone sees it.
Which of the three routes suits you?
Sell outright to a dealer when you want the car gone and the money in, without buying anything else. One visit, one figure, one signature. RS Motors buys cars outright, and you do not need to be trading up to do it.
Trade in when you are buying your next car anyway, whether that is one of the premium used cars on the everyday side of RS Motors or something from the premium side. The figure comes off the price, the paperwork on both cars is done together, and you are never without a car.
Sell privately when the car is one private buyers want, when you have the time, and when the gap between the private price and the dealer's figure is wide enough to pay you for the work. On a plain everyday car that gap is often narrower than people think.
What does a dealer purchase involve?
You send the details, the dealer gives a first figure, and if it is in the right area you bring the car in. The dealer inspects it, drives it, checks the history and confirms or adjusts the figure. Agree it and the sale is done there and then, with the ownership paperwork completed and the keys handed over.
What decides the figure is the same everywhere: the condition of the car, its service history, its mileage and how quickly that model sells on. MotorCheck's FAQ on what your car is worth is a fair guide to how those come together. Expect the dealer's figure to sit below what you would advertise the car for, because the dealer has to prepare it, stand over it and sell it.
RS Motors takes cars from sellers across Cork, and a first figure by WhatsApp works the same from Cork city as it does from down the road in Clonakilty.
What should you have ready before anyone sees the car?
Paperwork first:
- The Vehicle Registration Certificate, which is the logbook. Without it the sale stalls.
- The NCT certificate.
- The service book and receipts. Every stamp and every invoice adds weight.
- Both keys, and the locking wheel nut key if there is one.
- A settlement letter from the lender if there is finance on the car.
Then the car itself. Wash it, hoover it, empty the boot and the door pockets. Replace a blown bulb. Top up the washer bottle. None of that changes what the car is, but it changes how the car is read in the first thirty seconds, and the first thirty seconds set the tone of the figure.
Then the photographs, because the first figure comes from them:
- Each corner of the car, from about knee height, in daylight.
- The dashboard with the ignition on, so the mileage and any warning lights are visible.
- The front seats and the back seats.
- The boot.
- Any damage, close up. Hiding it only delays the conversation.
- The tyres, one photo per corner, showing the tread.
How do you get a first figure by WhatsApp?
Send those photos to 086 800 0001 with the registration, the mileage, the fuel type and the gearbox, and a line about the service history and anything wrong with the car. That is enough for a dealer to give you a first figure without seeing it. Be honest in that message. A figure built on a rosy description gets adjusted in stock, and the adjustment is never upwards.
Treat the first figure as a starting point, not a promise. It becomes the real figure once the car has been seen and driven.
What happens on the day the car is sold?
Ownership changes hands. In a dealer sale, the dealer completes the trade section of the paperwork and the car is recorded as having gone into the motor trade, so reminders and anything else stop coming to you. In a private sale, you and the buyer fill in the change of ownership section on the Vehicle Registration Certificate and send it to the Department of Transport, or complete the transfer through the online change of ownership service. Citizens Information's page on change of vehicle ownership walks through both.
Do not let the car leave without the paperwork done. Until the record changes, the car is still yours as far as the State is concerned, and that includes anything it picks up on the way to its new home.
Questions sellers ask
What is the best way to sell my car in Ireland?
The best route is the one that fits what you want. Selling to a dealer is the fastest and the simplest. Trading in suits you if you are buying at the same time. Selling privately usually pays more but takes the most time and carries the most risk, so it suits sellers who have both to spare.
How can I sell my car online in Ireland?
You can list the car on a classified site or an online marketplace and deal with the buyers yourself, or you can send the details and photos to a dealer by WhatsApp and get a figure without listing anything. Listing it yourself reaches more private buyers. Sending it to a dealer is done in one conversation.
Who pays the most to sell my car?
Usually the private buyer who wants that exact car pays the most, because no dealer margin sits between you. That buyer has to be found and dealt with, and the money has to be safely in your account before the car goes. Dealers pay less on paper and take all of that work on.
How to sell a car privately in Ireland?
Photograph the car well, write an honest description, and price it against similar cars on the classified sites. Meet buyers somewhere sensible, check they are insured before any test drive, and never hand over the keys on a promise of payment. Complete the change of ownership with the buyer on the day, not later.
Send the details to RS Motors
WhatsApp the reg, the mileage and your photos to RS Motors on 086 800 0001, or ring the same number Monday to Saturday between 9am and 8pm. The sell my car page lists exactly what to send, and a figure comes back from there.
