How to write a compelling ad for your car

When it came time to sell my first car, it was a bit like giving away part of my identity. My car, a reliable 2001 Toyota Corolla in a dazzling gold colour had been my trusty companion for years.

It was the car I learned to drive in, the car that took me from the country to the city, through three years of uni, to part-time jobs, dates and road trips. And thanks to its unmissable gold hue, everyone recognised it, and it was hard to go anywhere unnoticed.

So when it came time to sell it, I wanted the next owner to love it just as much as I did. So I wrote a heartfelt love letter to ‘Goldie’ as she was affectionately known, detailing why she was such a great car and listed it on carsales.com.au.

And guess what, she sold within five days! Parents who wanted to give their 18-year-old daughter a reliable car that she’d love snapped Goldie up. They said the ad was what sold them!

So when it comes time to sell your car, use these helpful tips to write a compelling ad that helps your car sell itself.

Every car has a story, and many of them have a name too. So share that story with potential buyers. Are you the first or second owner? Has the car been the vehicle for epic summer road trips, or has it just taken you from home and work every day for the past decade?

What do you love about the car? Maybe it’s super cheap to run (very important right now). Or perhaps the air-con works extremely well in summer, or the boot is the perfect size to fit a pram and five bags of shopping? If it’s a unique colour, sell the benefits of it!

If you’re not a confident writer, it can help to use a tone of voice as if you were talking to a friend. Keep it friendly, engaging, honest, and feel free to have some fun with it.

When creating your car ad description on carsales, you will also be assisted with pre-filled talking points to help you explain key features and highlights of your car too if you get a little stuck.

Whatever it is that you love about the car, make sure you highlight its best assets to attract potential buyers.

Of course, you will need to enter all the correct details about your car when creating your ad. This includes, make, model, odometer reading, year, engine size, transmission, rego number, RWC and price.

Once you’ve included those essentials about your car, use the description to mention any other key points. Remember honesty is the best policy, so make sure you detail service history (and ideally you have a service book with the car), any accidents, and of course any damage or non-functioning features. If the car’s tape deck doesn’t work, that’s probably not a dealbreaker, but if the rear window doesn’t go down, it might be worth getting it fixed before you sell it.

Before you put your car up for sale, give it a thorough clean. Then take photographs in the daytime, in a location with a clean background, such as a park or your driveway. Remove any personal items and any pet hair, and take plenty of photos! Make sure you get photos of the dash, stereo, boot size, back seats, tyres and cup holders!

If your car has any scratches or dents, you should include photos of these too so buyers feel like you’re honest.

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Related: Five tips that will help you sell your car

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