Selling your Car: Writing The Advertisement To sell Your Car In Australia.

June 26, 2019

You often see guides written that relate to overseas markets.

This guide is designed to assist you when Selling your car in Australia.

When writing advertising to help sell your car, you need to decide where to place the advertisement:

Do you take a paid placement on a website that sells cars like carsles.com.au?

Do you place an advertisement on Gumtree, ebay or Facebook Market Place?

Newspapers, magazines and other offline hardcopy publications usually charge by the number of words, the number of lines or the space you take.

Your advertisement needs to be clear and concise, as it’s important to give as clear a picture as possible in as few words as possible and make the wording appropriate to selling your car in Australia.

If you advertise online, you can often be more descriptive and have a larger number of words and there can often be room for photos.

You need to keep in mind that people have short attention spans and often just scan when they read online.

The copy or the description, if it is too long and overly detailed can work against you.

It is best to avoid phrases like, “best available” “unique” “first to see will buy” “pristine”  “no time wasters” as they add nothing to the description of your vehicle, increase the cost of printed ads and may turn some people off looking at your advertisement.

At all times be truthful and do not make unsubstantiated claims about your car.

Provide an honest assessment of your cars condition. This will save you time in the long run.

Details that should be included any advertisement selling your car in Australia:

• The make, e.g. Ford Falcon The model, e.g. XR 6 Turbo The Body Type, Sedan
• Date the vehicle was first licensed, this will be in your logbooks.
• The actual build date. This will be stamped on your car’s ID plate with other identifying information. Usually found under the bonnet in the engine bay or sometimes inside the drivers or passenger door pillar.
• The number of kilometres the car has travelled. This is usually one of the first questions asked by prospective buyers.
• Engine size. This can be in CC’s or Litres. E.g. A 1600 cc motor equates to 1.6 litres. Some cars engine sizes are measured in cubic inches. Cubic inches are usually used for V8 and high- performance cars. E.g. 351 or 350 V8 motor.
• Transmission type. Automatic, manual, CVT or continuously variable transmission (another type of automatic). DSG or Direct shift Gearbox.
• Condition: don’t over sell the condition of your car. Tell it how it is.
• List any accessories, options or special features. Air conditioning, Power steering, sunroof etc.
• Any special features, e.g. one owner, always-garaged etc.
• The date the registration expires.
• How much you want to sell the car for. The asking price.
• How to get in touch with you. Phone number and email. Best time for contacting you.
• Highlight any benefits like balance of warranty, good fuel consumption.
• Mention service and maintenance records. This lets people know that you have cared for your car.
• Include photos where possible. Advertisements with photos
• sell much quicker than those without photos.
• Don’t over price your car. Be realistic with your pricing. Check online with similar cars in the market.
• Don’t list your car in different places with different prices.