How to Sell My Car: A Step by Step UK Guide
Use the instant valuation tool to see what we will pay. Reg, mileage, a few photos, and the figure is locked. If you want the background on the process before you start, this guide walks through every route in order.
Get your valuation instantly:
No sign up. No email. No phone details until you decide to go ahead.
Choose how you want to sell
There are four main routes:
- Online car buying service like SellCarInstant or WeBuyAnyCar. Fastest. Quote, photos, collection or drop off, money in your account the same day.
- Privately, through Autotrader, Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree or eBay. Usually the highest price, but you handle the photos, the listing, the strangers, the test drives and the payment.
- Part exchange at a dealership. Convenient if you are buying a car at the same time, but the figure is built into a wider deal so you rarely see what your car was actually worth.
- At auction. Suitable for unusual or specialist cars. Slow on payment, fees deducted from your sale, no guarantee the car sells.
Get your paperwork ready
Before you list, value or hand over the car, get the paperwork in one place. You will need:
- V5C logbook
- Driving licence or passport
- Recent utility bill or bank statement, dated within three months
- Service history if you have it
- Both sets of keys
- Settlement letter from your finance company if there is finance on the car
If your V5C is missing, apply for a replacement at GOV.UK before you start. It costs £25 and arrives within five working days. Most car buyers will not buy a car without one.
Clean and prepare the car
Light prep makes a real difference. Clean inside and out, vacuum the carpets, hoover the boot. Take a few honest photos in daylight from different angles, including the interior.
Buyers and online valuation tools that use photos want to see the car as it actually is, not styled and not hiding anything. If there is small damage, declare it. The figure you get will be more reliable if everything is on the table at the start.
Get an honest valuation
Use a free online valuation to get a starting figure. Most sites pull data from Auto Trader, Glass's, or live retail data. The figure on screen at the quote stage is what most buyers will work from.
Some buyers like SellCarInstant use retail backwards pricing rather than starting from the trade auction figure. That means the valuation is built from what your car would sell for on a forecourt and worked down to a fair offer, rather than starting low and going lower.
If you upload photos at the quote stage with SellCarInstant, the figure is locked. We will not reduce it on collection day for anything you have already declared and photographed.
Selling to an online car buyer
This is the route most people now take, because it removes the hassle of selling privately and the time of negotiating with dealers.
The process is the same across most online buyers:
- Enter your registration number
- Confirm your mileage
- See an instant valuation
- Upload a few photos (with SellCarInstant this locks the price)
- Choose collection or drop off
- Get paid the day the car is collected or dropped off
Watch the small print on admin fees. WeBuyAnyCar charged £49.99 to £124.99 depending on the price band, taken from your final figure (correct on their site, May 2026). SellCarInstant does not charge admin fees. The figure on screen is the figure that hits your bank.
Selling privately
Selling privately can get you more money, especially on cars that are easy to find buyers for. Be ready for the work involved:
- Take a full set of clean photos in daylight
- Write a clear listing covering make, model, mileage, MOT, service history and condition
- List on Autotrader, Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree or eBay
- Be ready for time wasters, no shows and lowball offers
- Insist on cleared funds before you hand over the keys
- Never accept a deposit and let the buyer drive the car away
It is illegal in the UK to sell a car privately if there is outstanding finance on it. The car is owned by the lender until the finance is settled.
Part exchange at a dealership
Part exchange suits people buying their next car at the same time. The dealer takes your old car, you put the value toward your next one, and the paperwork is handled in a single transaction. The trade off is that the figure is built into a wider deal, which usually means it is lower than what you would get from an online buyer or a private sale.
Notify the DVLA
The day the car is sold, tell the DVLA. You can do it online at GOV.UK using the reference number on your V5C. This stops you being responsible for the car after it leaves your hands. If you forget, you can be liable for any tax, fines or speeding tickets the next driver collects.
If you sell to SellCarInstant, we handle the DVLA notification for you.
Instant valuation
Ready to sell your car?
Type your reg, add the mileage, see your figure. Two minutes, no sign up, no email until you decide to go ahead.
Get your valuation instantly:
No sign up. No email. No phone details until you decide to go ahead.