Investing in your car for a return

Cars with leather seats are typically more popular with buyers than those with other types of fabric so, particularly when buying extras for your car from new, they are worth spending the money on for a return. Not only do they have an aesthetic appeal, but they are also comfortable and tend to last longer than some other materials.

Metallic paint

Realistically, this is only really a point to consider if you are buying a car from new and selecting its first coat of paint. Otherwise, this could affect your vehicle registration documents. But metallic paint is very useful for ensuring your car keeps its resale value, as drivers tend to expect it on most vehicles these days.

Vehicle valuation specialists CAP say that metallic paint is one of the most common extras that people are willing to pay more for, so it can have a big impact on resale values.

After you have been using your car for some time, however, you may get some dents or scratches. This may not be through any fault of your own but it can happen and this can affect the return that you get on your car if the damage to your car is particularly obvious to potential buyers. Have an expert get the dents and scratches in your paintwork fixed.

Built in Sat Nav

Getting a Sat Nav built into your car is certainly something that will make it more valuable to potential buyers in the future. However, it does tend to cost a lot to have it put into your car in the first place, so whether or not it is worth investing in is tricky to say. It may help you get a bit of a higher return, but not necessarily as much as other investments will when you compare the amount it costs to have it put in.

Bluetooth

It can often be very costly to get Bluetooth put into your car when selecting it as an optional extra when buying your vehicle from new. If, instead, you look to get an aftermarket Bluetooth kit, then this could work out considerably cheaper. This is also a popular feature among car buyers, so it could be useful for attracting interest. Whether or not it can help you get a bigger return is a tricky one to gauge.

Fixing things

When you know you will be selling your car fairly soon, you need to make sure it is in a good enough condition that buyers don't feel they will need to be making some repairs anytime soon. Looking over your car for anything that needs fixing is definitely worth doing.

You should check to make sure that all your lights are working. If not, these are generally pretty cheap and simple to replace. Check for the lights you need, buy some spares from a car parts retailer and you should be able to replace them quickly yourself.

Tyres are also an important thing to get replaced if they are getting a bit worn. Buyers may be keen to look over your tyres to make sure your car is safe to drive on the road. Therefore, if the tread on your tyres is wearing out or is uneven then it is worth changing your tyres. Be sure to change pairs of tyres, as only changing one can affect the balance of your vehicle.

Look out for chips and cracks in your windscreen too and get these repaired quickly, otherwise your potential buyer might be put off.

Getting these simple things repaired might set you back a little, but you should get that back in terms of how much more buyers would be willing to pay for a car that doesn't have these faults.