How to sell my VW – the ultimate guide
From the Beetle to the classic ‘hippie van’ Transporter, Volkswagen produced some of the most instantly recognisable models of the 20th Century. VW has had huge market share for decades, with particular leadership in the hatchback space, thanks to the brand’s extremely popular Golf.
These days, SUVs are taking over the larger car segment, but a high level of trust and fondness for VW estate cars remains. To this day, the VW Golf is the UK’s fifth most popular car model! The smaller Polo isn’t far behind, in eighth place.
Read on for our ultimate guide to selling your VW, and get our tips for a fast, hassle-free sale.
How to sell a Volkswagen?
If you’re ready to sell your VW, from the state of the art Golf GTI to the traditional Sharan minivan and everything in between, we’ve rounded up our suggestions below. Read on to learn how to sell your VW quickly, and how to sell your VW for a great price.
Value my VW
Before you sell, you need to know what your Volkswagen is worth. Along with Audi, BMW and MINI, VW are well-known for retaining their value well, at least in the UK and Europe. Typically, a VW will only lose 50% of its value once it’s driven approx. 35,000 miles, or daily use over 4-5 years. Since VWs are so prevalent and their factories are in nearby Germany, it’s affordable to get your VW serviced and repaired as needed.
As long as your Volkswagen is in good condition, you should expect a good price on the used market. To resist depreciation and keep your car valuable, service it regularly and keep all maintenance documentation. Additionally, it will pay to take great pictures when you sell it, and stay aware of changes to the value over time with mileage and market trends.
To value your VW for free now, enter your reg and mileage on the Motorway valuation tool.
Where to sell my VW
There are several main routes to selling your Volkswagen. You can sell privately, or to a dealer, or you can trade it in at a dealership for your next model. There are pros and cons to all these options, depending on what your priorities are.
VW part-exchange
Volkswagen offer their own direct part-exchange program so you can trade in your VW for a new or approved used car. This is an attractive option if you’re a serialist with your cars — in the case of VW, it’s quite common for owners to be loyal to the brand. Additionally, it can suit some owners to offload their old car and get their next car in just one transaction.
However, in reality, part-exchange (or trade-in) is almost never a good deal financially. The discount you get on your next car will likely be lower than the value of selling your car outright. When you part-exchange your VW, you have almost no negotiating power with the dealership. For more information on part-exchange, check out our definitive guide.
Sell my VW to a dealer
You can sell your VW outright to either a manufacturer-specific Volkswagen dealer, or a dealership that sells a wide variety of car brands. Going directly to dealers has been done since VW were making their first ever Beetles! It’s a long-standing method of selling your car, but not necessarily the most rewarding.
Selling your car to a dealer is typically quite easy. You can call some local dealerships to find suitable options, and then all you have to do is drive over and negotiate a final sale price.
However, it’s notoriously hard to negotiate a good price in this situation; the dealers are the experts and they will set the price. Even if you have a good idea of your car’s value, the dealer’s price will reflect many things outside of your control, such as their audience of buyers and local market trends.
A lot of people have experienced dealers looking for faults with their car, and ‘chipping-down’ the price as a result. Most dealers are responsible with their price assessments, but some will chip prices down unreasonably. To avoid having your VW price-chipped, make sure it’s in excellent condition on the outside, inside, and under the hood when you take it to dealerships for an inspection.
Sell my VW privately
Some car owners find they can get a high price by selling privately to an enthusiastic buyer. However, this can quickly start to seem more trouble than it’s worth.
Unless you are approached with a good price, you’ll have to take out some advertisements — either online or locally. To list your car on a specialist platform, listing site, or notice board usually costs money. You’re required to take lots of pictures and compile all of the key information buyers will need to assess. Then you’ll be responsible for organising viewings and test drives. You have no guarantee that the people who try out your car will make a decent offer. Finally, you have to handle all of the paperwork and logistics if they do!
Even if you do get a higher price this way, you may end up regretting the amount of time it takes to sell your car yourself.
Best way to sell my VW
If you’re thinking about selling your VW quickly and easily, at Motorway we offer a simple — and completely free — method of getting the best price when selling, whatever the model.
Just enter your reg and you will be provided with an instant estimated sale price based on up-to-the-minute market data. We’ll then ask you a few easy questions about your car and guide you through the photos you need to take to complete your vehicle profile. It can be done right from your phone — in a matter of minutes.
If you choose to enter your car into a daily sale, it will be shown to our nationwide network of more than 5,000 verified dealers looking to add to their stock of used cars. Interested dealers will then compete to buy your car, offering you their best price.
In as little as 24 hours you will receive your best offer — and, if you choose to go ahead with the sale, your car will be collected for free by the dealer and the money will be quickly and securely transferred to your bank account.
Thinking of selling?
Want to learn more about selling your car? Check out more of our guides here, covering the most popular cars on the road, from Ford to Ferrari, Audi to Mercedes, and everything in-between.