How to sell your Vauxhall – the ultimate guide
Vauxhall is the oldest continuous UK-based car manufacturer, running since 1903 from their site in Luton. Although it was originally the UK branch of US car giant General Motors, it’s always been synonymous with British car manufacturing.
It makes affordable vehicles that consistently win awards from Parkers, WhatVan, AutoBest, The Editors’ Choice Awards, and more. It’s no wonder, then, that they represent the second most common car brand on the road in the UK, making up 9% of all registered vehicles in 2022 Q2 (April to June).
To learn about the best way to sell your Vauxhall, read on.
- Value my Vauxhall
- How long do Vauxhalls last?
- How to sell my Vauxhall?
- Part exchange your Vauxhall
- Sell your Vauxhall to a dealer
- Sell your Vauxhall privately
- Sell your Vauxhall with an instant car buyer
- The best way to sell your Vauxhall
Value my Vauxhall
Vauxhall is a famously ‘mainstream’ car brand – and, indeed, there are few automotive brands that market vehicles to appeal to such a broad range of consumers. Vauxhalls are popular with drivers looking for practical, everyday vehicles; and their cars are so widespread in the UK that they practically define their class.
They offer budget-class cars like the Vauxhall Adam city car and the Viva hatchback. Corsas also sell extremely well in the small car category, but will typically have higher value due to their high-tech additions and superior spec.
The famous medium-sized Astra competes with other top-sellers like the Ford Focus and the VW Golf. Whilst the larger Insignia rivals cars in the same class, like the Ford Mondeo and VW Passat.
The Vauxhall Mokka X sells well in the compact crossover market and has been joined recently by the Crossland X and the brand’s largest SUV, the Vauxhall Grandland X.
Before you sell, you need to know what your Vauxhall is worth. Auto manufacturers, like Vauxhall, that make desirable, reliable, and practical vehicles will typically be in high demand on the used market. However, you should always check individual models from any brand. Examples of Vauxhall cars which depreciate quickly include the Astra GTC 1.6 CDTi 16v ecoTEC Sri and Cascada 2.0 CDTi 170 Elite.
If your Vauxhall is in decent condition, you should expect a good price on the used car 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 to stay aware of changes to the value and market trends.
Vauxhall Astras sold on Motorway on average achieve a very high price when sold early, as can be seen at the two-year point in the graph. Whereas, at this point, Vauxhall Corsas can lose a median amount of 27% of value and Vauxhall Insignias can lose 50%. This high variability can point to the wide range of Vauxhall drivers, from those who use their car sparingly to those who drive every day. It is generally typical for larger cars to drop more value initially than smaller cars skewed towards city driving.
We see a different trend at five years, with the Vauxhall Astra dropping a lot of value to approx. 35% of the median initial purchase price, whereas the Corsa settles at 42% and the Insignia at 29%. These values are low compared to mid-range and high-end cars, which typically keep at least 50% of value after five years, when in good condition.
Finally, Vauxhalls sold on Motorway at ten years old all converge with median selling prices from 16% to 19% of original purchase value. These figures are just a little lower than other brands, which can settle around 20% of original purchase value at this point.
This is based on Motorway’s internal data, and may not be indicative of the value of your Vauxhall vehicle.
To value your Vauxhall for free now, enter your reg and mileage on the Motorway valuation tool.
How long do Vauxhalls last?
Vauxhall is known for producing reliable, affordable vehicles. They recently made the top 10 in the Telegraph newspaper’s top 20 car brands for reliability. They are also improving all the time and are currently even outstripping Honda models in terms of overall reliability.
The British-German (and recently French-owned) brand has also overtaken BMW, Mercedes, Audi, and Volkswagen in terms of reliability. Traditionally a major rival of the Ford brand, Vauxhalls are now regularly being shown to be the more reliable vehicles and are routinely beating them in the UK sales charts.
Modern Vauxhalls are recognised as trustworthy, everyday vehicles. Though not the most dependable car brand on the market, there should be little reason to be concerned about their usability or longevity – and, if you’re selling, any prospective buyers will know this if they have done their homework.
Up against similar class cars by rival brands like Ford and Volkswagen, Vauxhall models now sit comfortably above them in most factors on which reliability is assessed – and models like the Corsa and the Astra are typically seen as leaders of their class.
How to sell my Vauxhall?
Since Vauxhalls are so prevalent in the UK, and known to be practical, everyday vehicles, it might take a bit of extra marketing to get the very best price for your car.
There are several main routes to selling your Vauxhall. You can trade it in at a dealership for a newer model, sell to a dealer, or sell privately. There are pros and cons to all these options, but it really depends on what your priorities are.
Part exchange your Vauxhall
One very quick way to get an unwanted Vauxhall off your hands is to part exchange, or trade-in with a dealer. This is a way of getting a discount on your next vehicle, assuming you’re happy to buy at that same dealership you can trade it in for a newer model. Part exchange has been popular for a long time because it is so easy and convenient – you can drive your Vauxhall into a dealership and then leave soon afterwards with a newer car. However, it rarely offers as good a pay-out as you would get in a separate transaction.
When you part exchange with a dealer, they are not necessarily selecting your existing car for their own forecourt. They might have plans to auction the car instead. Whatever the case, it’s difficult to gauge how the offered discount on the new car actually lines up with the value of your outgoing car.
Sell your Vauxhall to a dealer
You can sell your Vauxhall outright to either a manufacturer-specific dealership, or a dealership that sells a wide variety of car brands. Going directly to dealers is a long-standing method of selling your car, but not necessarily the most rewarding.
Selling your car to a dealer is typically quite easy. All you have to do is to phone some local dealerships, and then once you’ve found a good option, drive over to negotiate a final sale price.
However, it’s notoriously hard to negotiate a good price in this situation, as the dealers are the experts – and they will typically want to dictate your car’s sale 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.
Some sellers report dealers trying to ‘chip down’ prices of cars by actively looking for faults with them. However, most dealers are responsible with their price assessments, and will only cut prices in order to turn a profit. To avoid having your Vauxhall price-chipped, make sure it’s in excellent condition on the outside, inside, and under the bonnet when you take it to dealerships for an inspection.
Sell your Vauxhall 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 directly 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.
Sell your Vauxhall to an instant car buyer
The rise of online car buyers has been meteoric over the last decade.
Part of the reason for this growth is no doubt due to the simplicity of the model. If you’re pushed for time, this is the ultimate method for selling your Vauxhall quickly. It may not always net you the most money, but it is fast.
You might not receive as much as if you sold your car privately. However, the process is designed to be easy and hassle-free. Normally, you just value your car online and then arrange a drop-off appointment.
There will then typically be an inspection, followed by a final price negotiation, and the sale is concluded – with cash in your bank account.
However, in most cases, online car buyers will resell your car at an auction and will therefore give you a lower price than your car’s actual value in order to turn a profit. If you sell your Vauxhall this way, you should be aware that you will usually be sacrificing price for convenience.
Find out more about how to sell a car to a car–buying site here.
The best way to sell your Vauxhall
If you’re thinking about selling your Vauxhall 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 on the homepage 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.