Are you thinking about buying a new car? If you are, you’ll need to figure out what you’re going to do with the car you’re driving now. Some people opt to simply trade in their vehicles, which is the easiest way to get rid of an old car. The dealership offers you a certain amount of money for your current vehicle and uses that money as a discount toward the price of the new vehicle.

If you really want to get top dollar for your car, though, you’ll want to sell it privately. Selling your own car is certainly more work than trading it to a dealership, but many people find the extra work worthwhile. When you use an online price guide to research the value of your car, you’ll find see the difference between the expected trade-in and private sale values. If the difference between those two prices is the worth the time that you’ll spend preparing your car for sale, then you’ll want to find a private buyer.

Before you can do that, though, you’ll need to give your car a thorough cleaning and detailing. Great photos will help your listing stand out, which is important because anyone who buys a car from a private seller is looking for a deal. The way to get the best possible price for your car is by making sure that it compares favorably to similar cars available in your city. You also need to make sure that your car smells great, because a car that doesn’t smell good is worth about 7.7 percent less than one that smells clean.

Here’s how to make sure that your car looks and smells great before you sell it. Don’t forget that you’ll want to do these things before creating your listing because great pictures will guarantee a higher level of interest from potential buyers.

Detail Your Car’s Exterior

Detailing your car’s exterior is probably the most important part of cleaning your car before selling it because the exterior photos are the ones that potential buyers will see first and will scrutinize most closely. If your car’s exterior doesn’t pass the initial eye test, people won’t bother to look closer.

• Apply touch-up paint to any chips or dings.
• Wash your car thoroughly. If your car hasn’t been given a thorough wash in a while, don’t forget to use many washcloths when scrubbing the car. You want to avoid picking up dirt and pushing it into the paint, which can cause tiny scratches and swirls.
• Apply wax or polish to your car.
• Apply polishing compound to the plastic trim to restore the original color and add shine.
• Apply a shine compound to the tires.
• Consider using headlight restorer if the headlight lenses are cloudy or yellowed.

Clean Your Car’s Interior

You’ll also need to clean your car’s interior thoroughly because a good listing always contains high-resolution pictures of both the outside and the inside of the car. Here’s a general strategy for making sure that your car’s interior is clean and ready for potential buyers to check it out.

• Vacuum all of the nooks and crannies as thoroughly as possible. A good vacuum is probably the single most powerful tool for cleaning your car’s interior. Don’t forget to vacuum the inside of the trunk as well.
• Use a small brush to remove dust from tight spaces.
• Get all of the garbage out of the car and make sure that the glovebox and other storage areas are clean and organized. Ideally, the car’s instruction manual should also be in the glovebox.
• Consider using a steam cleaner on the floors and other upholstery.
• Use a leather cleaning and polishing compound on leather seats and trim.
• Use a plastic cleaning and polishing compound on plastic trim.
• Use a glass cleaner to clean the insides of the windows.

If all of these things sound like too much work – or renting the appropriate equipment would be prohibitively expensive – remember that you can always hire a local detailing company to clean the inside of your car. Simply consider it a cost of selling the car and subtract it from the money you expect to earn.

Make Sure Your Car Smells Great

If you want to get top dollar for your car, an important thing to remember is that people don’t just use their eyes to evaluate a vehicle’s condition; they also use their noses. Here’s how to make sure that your car will smell great to any potential buyer.

• If you smoke in your car, stop right away because the smell of smoke is an enormous turnoff for anyone who doesn’t smoke. Get a Geek Bar Pulse and bring it with you when you’re out and about to ensure that you won’t be tempted to light up.
• Replace your car’s cabin air filter. The filter is usually behind the glove box, and replacement filters are generally around $20-25.
• If your air-conditioning system smells musty, you can rent an ozone generator and run it I your car for an hour or two. Ozone oxidizes organic molecules and can effectively neutralize most unwanted smells.
• Consider spraying the seats and floors with a fabric refresher like Febreze.

Clean the Engine Compartment

When potential buyers come to take a look at your car, they’ll often want to pop the hood to confirm that the engine compartment looks clean. If there’s any sign of an oil leak, a buyer will definitely reduce his or her offer. Cleaning your car’s engine compartment is a fairly complicated process, but you can definitely do it if you’re the type who likes to take care of your own car. Essentially, it comes down to these steps:

• Make sure that the engine is completely cool.
• Remove any plastic trim and cover electronic components with plastic.
• Cover the engine with degreaser. Wait a while for the degreaser to work its magic. You may need to use a nylon scrub brush to remove dirt and oil from the dirtiest areas.
• Rinse the engine with clean water.
• Remove the excess water with a clean rag and let the engine dry in the sun.