Buyers make up their minds fast. Before they ask about mileage or service history, they have already formed an opinion from how the car looks in the photos and how it feels when they open the door. A clean, well-presented car tells a buyer it has been looked after. Here is how to get yours ready.
Why presentation matters when you sell
Detailing cannot change a car’s age or mileage, and we cannot promise a particular sale price. What a proper clean does is remove the reasons for a buyer to doubt the car: stained seats, a grimy engine bay, foggy headlights and dull paint all make a car look more worn than it is. Take those away and the car is easier to trust.
The checklist
- Wash and dry the whole car. Start with a proper wash. A snowfall wash is R200 and includes a deep vacuum.
- Look at the paint in direct sun. If it looks dull, hazy or covered in fine circular scratches, a machine polish (from R900) restores the gloss and makes the car photograph better.
- Check the headlights. Yellow, cloudy lenses make the front of the car look old. Headlight restoration is R400.
- Clean the wheels and tyres, and dress them. Dirty wheels are one of the first things a buyer notices.
- Reset the interior. Take everything out, vacuum deeply, wipe every surface and clean the mats. Stained seats or carpets need an upholstery and carpet deep wash, from R600.
- Clean the engine bay. Buyers who lift the bonnet and find a tidy engine bay read it as a car that has been cared for. Engine bay detailing is R350.
- Clear out personal items. An empty, tidy car looks bigger and cleaner, and lets buyers picture it as theirs.
If you want all of that in one visit, the full valet detail covers the exterior and interior detail, wheels and tyres, and dressing, from R900.
Fix the small things
Replace blown bulbs, top up fluids, and fix anything small that you already know about. Buyers read a pile of minor faults as neglect, even when the car is mechanically fine. Be open about anything you cannot fix, because a buyer who finds it themselves trusts you less.
Take photos that sell
- Photograph the car clean, so detail before the photos, not after.
- Use daylight and a simple, uncluttered background.
- Take the front, rear, both sides, the wheels, the dashboard, the front and back seats, the boot and the engine bay.
- Show honest close-ups of any marks or damage. It builds trust and saves wasted viewings.
Timing
Detail the car just before you take photos and before viewings begin, and keep it tidy while it is on the market. Book a few days ahead so you are not rushed. Because Ace is mobile, the work happens at your home or workplace, so you do not have to arrange lifts or leave the car anywhere.
Which jobs are worth it?
You do not have to do everything. A clean, polished car with clear headlights and a tidy interior goes a long way, and the jobs that show most in photos are usually the paint, the headlights and the interior. Send us photos on WhatsApp and we will tell you what we think is worth doing on your car and what is not.
Common mistakes sellers make
- Cleaning only the outside and ignoring the interior and the engine bay.
- Photographing the car dirty.
- Hiding faults instead of being upfront about them.
- Leaving personal items in the car for viewings.
- Rushing the clean in the hour before a viewing.
To plan what to spend, see our cost guide. And if you are on the other side of the sale, our first-week checklist for a used car shows what buyers do next.
A simple timeline
- A week before: decide which services the car needs and book the detail.
- The day of the detail: the car is cleaned, so keep it that way until the photos are taken.
- Photos next: take them straight after, in good daylight.
- Before each viewing: a quick tidy, vacuum and wipe-down is usually all it needs.
