How do I get rid of my old car?

You've made the decision to move on. A new car has caught your eye and it has the lot – everything you could ever want, at an affordable price.

Problem though, you have to ditch your old bucket of bolts first.

The question is... how?

Those contemplating the purchase of replacement wheels may be in that position because the current car has been stolen, or has burnt to the ground or met its demise in a violent act of negligence by one or more drivers.

We don't recommend choreographing one or other of these scenarios – it's illegal and a custodial sentence can be an inconvenient lifestyle.

But if, through no fault of your own – or at least no premeditated fault of your own – those are the cards you've been dealt, the insurer will settle your claim with a smile.

You may not be smiling, however, when you realise that the current market value – the amount for which the insurer may settle the claim – is well below what you paid for the car back in 1975 or whenever.

Bear in mind though that you are free to negotiate with the claims assessor, but for any argument to stick, it has to be convincing. Your car has to be in better than average condition, and by a considerable margin.

An automotive parts dismantler may offer you a handful of cash for the aggregate value of your car's parts.

A sob story may persuade a dismantler with a heart of gold to pay you an amount sufficient to cover the cost of hiring the tilt-tray truck that brought your used car to the premises.

This is a hassle-free service provided by carsales.com.au, offering customers a quick-and-easy means of disposing a vehicle and receiving some money back.

There are terms and conditions, of course. The vehicle must be under 10 years old and won't be considered if it has travelled more than 150,000km.

It works like this: the owner supplies carsales.com.au with the vehicle details and waits for an offer in response, proposing a transaction price for the sale of the vehicle. If the owner is willing to accept that amount, he or she arranges an inspection.

All being well, the offered sum of money will be confirmed. The owner delivers the vehicle to a nominated location or pays a small sum to have it picked up and taken away.

For many owners this is the default means of offloading an old car. It doesn't reap the same cash rewards as a private sale, but it's generally believed to be a more convenient way to step out of one car and into another.

The process is simple and sales staff will happily take all the decision making out of your hands. You simply park your decrepit old machine outside the dealership, wander in and ask about purchasing a newer car.

Talk up your current car; it still has decades of working life in it yet and it has never let you down. In performance, comfort, safety and reliability terms it's beyond reproach. Then ask what they will offer for it.

At this point, as likely as not, a valuer will accept your keys and whisk away your car to give it the once over. Meantime, you'll be offered a cup of coffee, a point-by-point breakdown of where Cricket Australia is getting their selection process wrong and maybe you'll be offered a test drive of the car you would like to purchase.

After the valuer has checked your car the sales team (possibly including the F&I guy if there's a suspicion you need finance and/or insurance), will offer you a change-over price – the price of the new car on the road, less the value of your current car to the dealership.

Chances are you'll be insulted by the trade-in value, but that's when you make the choice – walk or talk.

Selling privately, through an online site like carsales.com.au for instance, is the fastest, most convenient way to let serious buyers know your vehicle is for sale. And selling privately is also your best hope for realising a good price when you sell.

Offsetting the convenience factor is the set-up: cleaning/detailing, obtaining a roadworthy – both of which should be done for a trade-in as well – and such things as taking pictures and writing a spiel for the advertisement. Then of course there’s fielding the enquires.

But there are additional advantages in selling the car privately through carsales.com.au. If the vehicle is advertised for less than $5000, it will cost the owner nothing to place the ad.

At the other end of the scale, and assuming you're prepared to pay a little more for a quicker sale – or a higher transaction price – there's always the ultimate ad, which bundles together a history report, prime position as a featured vehicle for 30 days and privacy protect, which is basically a virtual phone number for added security.

There are numerous auction houses around, selling your vehicle on consignment. Some of the vehicles sold at auction are ex-government fleet, or they've been repossessed by a financier or they're being 'wholesaled' to retail dealers.

But the high-profile auctions – the sort where someone pays an obscene amount of money for a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO – are specifically catering to the well-heeled who happen to own classic motor cars. This can be a very effective way to sell – although if you own a 250 GTO, why would you?