The car buying site to sell your car

Finding the best site for your car will depend on what your priorities are, whether that’s speed, price, or convenience — and Motorway can deliver on them all! 

• Our car valuations are based on market intelligence and thousands of verified dealers to be accurate and up-to-date.
• Our network of dealers compete to give you their best price.
• Agree a sale in as little as 24 hours.
• Dealers will collect your car right from your home.

There’s more than one way to sell a car, including:

• Selling your car to a private buyer.
• Selling for part exchange.
• Breaking your car down for parts.
• Selling your car for scrap/using a scrappage scheme.

Some methods are faster than others, and some are certainly easier as well. For the perfect balance of convenience, speed and value, try the Motorway. You can agree a sale in as little as 24 hours and our car valuations are based on live industry trends so they are always accurate and fair. 

If you have a used vehicle you no longer want, then the internet can come up with all sorts of ways to sell your car, including:

• Classified car selling sites
• Social media marketplaces
• Instant car buyers

There are pros and cons to them all. For example, a private buyer may be willing to pay more, especially if they happen to be particular fans of the make or model you’re trying to sell, but think of all the extra admin:

• Paying listing fees on selling sites
• Fielding calls, messages and emails
• Dealing with time-wasters
• Arranging viewings
• Welcoming strangers to your home (especially during a pandemic)
• Making sure you have all the insurance in place for test drives
• Finding a mutually agreeable method of payment
• Making sure you get paid

Once you’ve weighed out the extra effort it takes to be your own used car salesman, you might find you’ve certainly earned the extra money you got in asking price, and wish you hadn’t bothered.  So, remove the possibility of seller remorse and choose Motorway instead. You can go from selling to sold in no time! 

There are plenty of car buying websites to choose from, and they all offer different experiences. You can use a social media marketplace or other free advertising site, or a free or cheap car-specific listing site such as AutoTrader – in both of these cases, the platforms help you find interested buyers, and you handle the actual sale of your car yourself, including taking safe payment.

If you prefer to sell very quickly, you can try an instant car buying site. You’ll get an instant quote, and drive your car around to a hub to sell it directly to the company. 

To sell your car online directly to a dealer, use Motorway. You’ll get an instant, free valuation using just your reg and mileage, and if you want to proceed to profile your car for sale, you’ll find that confirming your vehicle’s details and uploading photos are both quick and easy steps. When you get your car in our daily online sale, thousands of verified dealers will compete to give you their best price. This gets sent to you at the end of the sale, and when you approve it, you can expect home collection with instant payment straight into your bank account.

When you sell your car with Motorway, you can use our app (available on the App Store and Google Play Store) for a quick and easy experience. Value and profile your vehicle directly from the app, and use it to take great photos of your car, thanks to templates we’ve designed to help you get the best angles. 

Once your car is profiled, a Motorway agent will confirm a few last details and put your car into the daily online sale. All that’s left to do is wait to hear your best price, at the end of the sale.

In the 2020s so far, used car pricing has been generally high, so it could be a good time to sell your car. For the best insight into changes to your car’s ongoing valuation, try our Car Value Tracker. It’s free to follow the changing values of up to six vehicles, so you can choose the best time to sell.

Used car pricing in the 2020s has been very high in general, due to shortages in the supply chain for new cars, as well as high inflation. Some cars even saw their values increase to higher than original purchase price in 2021 at the height of shortages. 

In 2023, used car prices have largely stayed high. However, bear in mind that there are many variables for car values, so some vehicles may not have benefitted from this trend.

As is always the case, cars that hold their value best – especially within the first few years of ownership, when the default is for prices to dip substantially – are ones with low mileage, good condition, and full service history.

When you’re looking to sell your car 100% online, it’s important to check for home collection. When you sell your car with Motorway, you profile your car on the app, and wait to receive your best price at the end of the daily online sale. When you approve the price, your buyer will organise home collection, and instant payment straight into your bank account.

There are several ways you can sell your car online for free, from a classifieds site or free advertising site to find individual buyers, or an instant car buying company to sell your car for resale.

The safest method of payment when selling your car is having your buyer transfer funds directly into your bank account. You should be able to see these come through instantly, or at least within 24 hours. Read our guides for more information on safe payment, and avoiding scams when selling your car.

Depending on how you find your buyer for your car, it could take days, weeks, or even over a month. Some platforms you can use to sell your car, like Motorway, will use automations to make profiling your car extremely quick and easy. Not to mention, once your car is in our daily online sale, 

However, if you’re looking for an individual buyer on a classifieds site or free advertising site, you’ll more likely have to write out your own original advertisement and list out all the key details about your car, as well as arranging several home visits and test drives, managing negotiations, finalising a sale, and organising safe payment. It can be a lengthy and overwhelming process.