Who will collect my car when I sell?
If you’re selling your car from home, “who will collect my car?” will be an important question to consider. After all, the process can be stressful enough, without having to drive for miles to drop your car off at a dealership or drop-off point to complete the sale.
Fortunately these days, many dealers and online car buyers will collect your car and pick it up from your home or work address, usually for free. Find out everything you need to know in this guide to free collection and pick up.
Here at Motorway, you can find your best offer from a nationwide network of 5,000+ verified dealers, with free home collection included. Value your car here and start selling from home today, or read on for a comprehensive guide to your options…
If you’re looking for buyers who can pick up your car, don’t worry, you’ve come to the right place. Here, we take a look at all the available options when having your car collected as part of the sale is a must.
In our who will collect my car guide, we’ll look at:
- Who will collect my car when I sell?
- Online car buying websites
- Which online buyers offer collection when you sell your car?
- Who will collect and scrap my car?
Who will collect my car when I sell?
Private sale
When selling your car privately, the buyer will most likely take the car away with them. They’ll come and view your car, and if you agree a sale, they’ll simply drive off with your car once the money has been paid and the paperwork has been sorted.
Now, this may sound ideal. However, there are many other things to consider before going down this road. If you’re looking for an easy cash sale and want your car collected then it’s quite likely that a private sale may not be for you…
The process can often be long and drawn out, to say the least. You’ll have to advertise the car yourself, often on numerous websites, and show it to strangers (aka potential buyers who may turn up on your doorstep). This will take time, and there are no guarantees of success after all that work.
Although you may find a buyer willing to collect your car, selling privately is a process that can take a while. If you want to know more about this option, our handy guide on selling your car privately is a great place to start.
Will a dealer pick up my car?
Selling a car to a dealer has also been a popular option for many years. However, the traditional method has usually involved driving to your local dealer.
Even large car dealer groups may still require you to take your car to them, rather than the other way around.
However, that’s not to say some dealers won’t offer home or work collection. Nowadays, there are a number of dealers that will be willing to collect your car. Motorway work with over 5,000 dealers who will buy your car, and most of them will collect from home.
No matter where you start on your quest to find a dealer who will collect, you’ll need to do your research to make sure you find the right dealership for you and your car.
This involves making sure the dealer specialises in the make of your car to maximise the price of sale, and obviously need to find one willing to pick it up.
So, if you want to find the right dealer, we might be able to help. Motorway works directly with verified dealers in our nationwide network to find the best offer for our customers.
You can also read our full guide to selling your car to a dealer.
Online car buying websites
Online car buying companies have become an increasingly popular method for many sellers over the last decade or so. They aim to make the process as quick and easy as possible, meaning you’ll always get a fast sale. They’re also likely to offer free home collection.
To make the process as simple as possible, many of them will pick up your car (from home or work), saving you a trip to a local drop-off centre (this can often be quite some way away). Some will be able to do this for free, others will require you to pay a collection fee.
However, not all online car-buying services provide a pick-up service. Many that involve you needing to drive to a branch or drop-off point will simply not pick up your car for you.
Instead, you have to drive to a collection centre to complete the transaction. Not ideal if you want it collected!
Which online buyers offer collection when you sell your car?
So, if some buyers won’t pick up your car, which online car buyers will? And what do we mean by free home collection?
Well, online car buyers have different policies on the issue. A home collection is when they’ll come and pick up your car from an agreed address. This could actually be from your home, or a place of work.
So what are your other options then? Here’s a small list of nationwide online car buyers that will collect your car (some of them for free):
- The Car Buying Group
- Car Take Back
- Money For Your Motors
- Best Car Buyer
The Car Buying Group require you to book an appointment to have your vehicle collected from home. They will then visit your address to collect your car and complete the sale.
This appointment can be arranged at a time to suit you as well, and you won’t have to wait long for the appointment date, it can often be sorted and sold within 24 hours.
Normally, they will give you a price over the phone. Once they have arrived at your chosen destination, they will give the car a quick inspection to confirm everything discussed, before transferring the agreed sale fee. If you choose to accept their offer, you’ll be paid by bank transfer the same day.
This process is similar for most online buyers, but depending on which buyer you choose, the time this will take to reach your account will vary. For some, it’ll take up to 2-3 days to reach your account, though you can normally pay an additional fee to get a same-day payment.
Many online buyers provide free same-day payments on the day of pick up. This means the money is paid before they drive away with your vehicle and the cash should reach your bank account within 15 minutes, though you might have to wait a couple of hours in some circumstances.
It really does vary between buyers. Most instant-buying companies will offer to collect your car from home, but it’s not always free. Do check, as some companies may charge a non-refundable application fee before the agreed collection date. Being non-refundable, you may still have to pay it regardless if you sell to them or not. If you fail to pay the application fee in time, you’ll need to re-book an appointment and pay it.
Thus, when looking into which companies will collect, make sure you weigh up the added cost of any additional charges that may arise. Driving somewhere is always a pain, but the cost-saving may be worth it on some occasions.
Who will collect and scrap my car?
If your car is a complete write-off, you may just want to give up the chase and have it scrapped. Now, there are numerous ways to proceed with this. You could break up your car and sell it as spare parts.
Doing it this way, it might be possible to get buyers to come and collect the spare parts. However, finding buyers will more than likely take a good amount of time and effort. Not to mention a potentially huge amount of time-consuming Gumtreeing or eBaying!
Of course, if you’re looking to get a fair price for your scrap car, but save the effort of selling it for parts, there are companies that could offer you a solution by coming to collect your scrap car.
Scrap buyer Car Take Back will pick up your car for free, ensuring you won’t have to go to any bother in order to get rid of it.
Sell the Motorway way
If you’re thinking about selling your (non-scrap) car quickly and easily – and want completely free collection – at Motorway we offer a simple method of getting the best price when selling, whatever the model.
Just enter your reg and you will be provided with an instant, free valuation based on up-to-the-minute market data. To profile your car on our app or website, all you need to do is answer a few questions by clicking on the correct answer. There’s no need to write out an ad for your car when you sell with Motorway. We’ll also guide you through the photos you need to take to complete your vehicle profile. It can all 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.
Is it time to sell your car?
Want to learn more about owning, maintaining, and selling your car? Check out more of our guides here, covering everything from finding buyers, to negotiating a good price, and completing payment safely.