How should I prep a used car before selling? Detailing, New Tires, Paint?

This is the first time I'm selling my car. I have a 1999 Honda Accord with 160K miles. It's been in one accident (Front End Rebuilt). Other Issues include: Missing hub cap, cigarette burns on drivers seat, minor scratches, dirty floor mats. Kelly Blue Book Value is $4330 for Fair and $5050 for Good.





Is it worth investing into the car before selling?How should I prep a used car before selling? Detailing, New Tires, Paint?
Have the car professionally detailed! If you can find a hub cap, that will help. You want the car to look as good as possible to the prospective buyer!





Have any required state inspections done, so the buyer knows that they can just go and get tags! If the tires are bad, you may want to put a good set of used tires on the car, but do not spend a lot of money. Bad tires will reduce the value of a vehicle, but new tires add nothing!





Do not spend the money for paint work!





Kelly Blue Book is only a guide, and in this case you have to allow for the high mileage and the prior damage. If I was selling that car at a dealer auction, I most likely would have to announce that it had prior uni-body (frame) damage.





I would think that if you got in the mid to high $3000 range, selling it to a private party, you would be doing well. Of course I have not seen the car, so my price could be high or low!How should I prep a used car before selling? Detailing, New Tires, Paint?
If you can find a matching seat, buy the whole seat and replace it. It is a lot easier than trying to change the cover!!

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Clean the inside as best you can


Wash the engine bay and engine


clean the underside


fill all the fluids


change oil and filter


clean the glass on the inside





And list it for sale.
i am a car dealer don't do anything to it your only spending money for no reason you will get within the same amount for it either way the best thing you can do is ask whats the best price he will let you have what ever car your looking a for and keep the old car to run around in... with the millage if the car was mint perfect you might get 2,000 to 2500 trade in and i would bet he might offer you 1500 and if u ask he would drop that much off the price of his i know i would...
No... you would spend much more than the 720 difference in fixing those problems... new seat covers would already cost more than 720 and if you only had the one with burns fixed it would likely not look quite the same as the others.





The only thing you might consider doing is the tires and only if the tires on the car right now are in very bad shape or are showing wear signs that indicate a possible problem. You might also look for a hub cap at a salvage yard, the floor mats can be washed at a car wash, anything else besides just a good wash wax and inside cleaning would be useless.





I would say try to get the smell of smoke out of the car because that will also lower the price but when you have cigarette burns in the seat I'm guessing that wouldn't even be possible. From what you describe you'll be lucky to get 3,500.

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