Selling your car with carsales is easy but there are some personal and vehicle safety considerations to keep in mind. We’ve put together a few simple steps which you can follow to protect yourself online and in person through each stage of the car selling process.
Step 1: Creating your ad
- Ensure you choose a secure and unique password for your carsales account.
- Consider using carsales' exclusive Privacy Protect virtual phone number service for your ad. Any potential buyer that rings the virtual number will be redirected to your designated personal number, without the caller ever seeing your actual number.
- Ensure your ad has the correct vehicle information and quality photos. Potential buyers will be suspicious of your ad if the information does not add up.
Step 2: Deciding your selling price
- Do your research to help determine a realistic market price that suits your needs but does not make potential buyers suspicious of your ad.
- Use the carsales PriceAssist tool to help you choose a price that is both consistent with market prices and suits your ideal time to sell.
Step 3: Managing enquiries from buyers
- Use the carsales member messaging function to keep all your communication in the one place. This system will not pass on your phone number or email address.
- Call buyers safely through the carsales app. Instead of sharing your personal number, you can now call buyers directly from the carsales messaging system. Every call clearly shows who you’re speaking to and which car they enquired about, reducing the risk of scams and ensuring a safer experience
- Do not provide a potential buyer with your personal identification details like a copy of your licence, registration details or banking information unless you have a confirmed and legitimate sale.
- Be wary of buyers who offer you much more than the asking price or who ask you to pay for service such as shipping, agent fees or customs charges
- Be alert for any potential scam and phishing email or SMS messages. Remember, carsales will never ask you for your account information or login details by email or SMS.
Step 4: Arranging inspections
- Arrange to meet at a neutral location like a police station car park or service station forecourt and try to take someone with you.
- Make sure you take key information like registration details, vehicle log books and roadworthy certificates with you for the inspection.
- Before anyone takes your car for a test drive, ask to see their licence. Bring a pen and paper so you can make a record, or take a photo with your phone. Use your judgement about whether you should tag along for the ride.
- Ensure that your car insurance covers anyone who may test drive your car.
Step 5: Accepting offers
- Know how much you’re willing to accept and prepare to negotiate to a minimum price
- Do not take your ad down until you’re certain you have received payment from the buyer – it won’t cost you extra to have the ad up for longer.
- Ensure your vehicle transfer paperwork is in order to ensure a smooth sale.
Step 6: Receiving payment
- Do not rely on proof of payment from the buyer. Check with your bank, PayPal or any other provider that the money has been transferred through that it has cleared. Make sure you can see the funds in your account before your car changes hands.
- Give the buyer a receipt to confirm you’ve received their payment.
- Check our security updates regularly for important information.
Any information on this page is provided as a guide only. It is not professional or expert advice and is not a substitute for such advice. The content may not be appropriate, correct or sufficient for your circumstances and should not be relied on as the only reason you do or don’t do anything.