Selling a car in the Philippines: Trade it in or sell it privately?

Updated Oct 29, 2022

You can reap up to 25% more when selling a car privately instead of trading it in.

While selling a car privately should get you a bigger return on your investment, it will also cost you more in terms of effort, hassle and time than trading it in to a dealer. This article on Philkotse.com will help you consider the pros and cons of each selling method.

parking lot of a car - trade in or sell privately

Selling a car in the Philippines: Trade it in or sell it privately?

1. Selling a car in the Philippines: Pros & cons of trading it in to a dealer

First of all, it is recommended that you should trade in your car if you are in the rush of disposing it quickly for a new one. By trading in your car to a dealership, you are actually buying convenience and comfort. However, according to actual experiences shared by some sellers, the price quoted by the dealerships will be usually P50,000 to even P100,000 lower than the actual market price of your car.

car trade in the Philippines - buyers in a car for sale parking lot

By trading in your car to a dealership, you are actually buying convenience and comfort

Our advice is to estimate accurately the resale value of your car and ask yourself if the convenience and comfort are really worth the money you are paying them for.

Well, if your answer is ‘No’, then let’s consider selling the car yourself.

2. Selling a car in the Philippines: Pros & cons of selling it privately

As mentioned earlier, selling a car personally in the Philippines can help you reap up to 25% more than the price quoted by dealerships. In contrast with trading in, selling the car yourself should be taken into account when you are not in a hurry or tight on cash flow.

a car buyer talking to a private car seller

The whole process to eventually have your car sent to new owner will take from 6 to 10 weeks or even longer

However, note that selling a car privately means that you will have to do a lot of work yourself. The whole process from listing the car, meeting with potential buyers and negotiating price to handling necessary paperwork to close the deal normally takes from 6 to 10 weeks or even longer if your car has damage.

a landing page on philkotse.com for listing a car - best platform for car trade in the Philippines

Philkotse.com is currently offering unlimited free listings for all car sellers

All in all, if you do want to sell the vehicle privately, consider reliable websites to buy and sell cars in the Philippines. For your information, Philkotse.com is currently offering unlimited free listings for all car sellers so as to allow selling a car on your own to be hassle-free and more quickly.

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