CALL US ON
6533 5878

Selling my car to a used car dealer vs Selling my car by consignment

Are you are thinking of changing your car and wondering what to do with your current ride? Should you sell your car to a used car dealer or put it up for consignment? Here we’ll compare these two methods for your consideration.
OneShift Editorial Team
OneShift Editorial Team
22 Mar 2018

Are you are thinking of changing your car and wondering what to do with your current ride? Should you sell your car to a used car dealer or put it up for consignment? Here we’ll compare these two methods for your consideration.

We’ll first look at 3 factors of consideration in selling your car:

$

1. Returns

Before you sell your car, you will have to decide how much you are willing to sell your car for. This takes into account your car’s OMV, ARF, COE, mileage, and the condition of your car.

Read more here: How is my car valuated in Singapore? – 6 tips to improve car valuation

2. Ease of Process

Then, how much effort and hassle are you willing to put in to sell your car? Some of these processes of selling the car involve answering calls and whatsapp messages, driving the car to the workshop, and driving it down to a potential buyer.

🕐

3. Time

Finally, what is the timeframe that you are willing to spare to sell your car? Do you need to sell it at the earliest instance because your new car is coming next week? Or can you afford to wait for at least a month before your car is sold?

With these 3 factors, you will need to choose 2 in which you priortise. For instance, if you priortise time and ease of process, you’ll probably need to forgo a little in terms of the return. If you priortise return and time, the processes in which you’ll need to undergo to sell your car may become more complex.

Scenario A:

Priortising (2) Ease of Process and (3) Time =
Selling to a used car dealer

If you need to sell your car in the shortest time possible, selling it to a used car dealer would be your best bet. Although it may not grant you a huge return of your vehicle, it definitely saves you a lot more time, effort, and hassle as compared to all other ways of selling your car. The reason why a used car dealer often buys your car at a lower price than how much they sell it in the used car market is that they will have to repair and touch-up the car, and earn a decent profit for themselves.

Ever wandered to the used car mart? You’ll see a row of beautiful and shiny BMWs, Porsches, Mercedes, et cetera that hardly ever seem like they were used cars! As much as we want to psycho ourselves to say that we have to look beyond the exterior appearances of a car, the first impressions do help in deciding whether you would want to buy that particular car.

If you still have an outstanding bank loan, the used car dealer will also help to factor that in and help you with that transaction. Save yourself from all that paperwork as the used car dealer will handle them all! At the end of the day, you can expect to get your returns from selling your car in about 3 days.

As a guide, you’ll need to get at least 3 quotations from various used car dealers to compare and get the best deal. Otherwise, you can use Oneshift’s Swiftquote service to help you find the best possible price from our carefully curated network of used car dealers. This saves you more time and hassle to look for those 3 quotations and you can then decide if you would like to proceed with the highest quote to sell your car.

Read more about how to sell your car to a used car dealer.

Quick summary of selling your car to a used car dealer:

Pros:

- Time efficient

- Process efficient

Cons:

- Less returns as compared to selling by consignment

Scenario B:

Priortising (1) Return and (3) Ease of Process =
Sell your car by consignment

If your main priority is getting the most money out of the transaction and you don’t want to spend so much effort on the paperwork and processes of selling your car then selling by consignment is a mid-way hack. Leverage on the knowledge and experience that car consignment dealers have to sell your car. Car consignment dealers will help you with the selling of your car from photographing the car, listing it on portals like Oneshift, and help you with all the necessary paperwork. Because they will sell at the price you want, you can get more returns out of your car as compared to selling to a used car dealer.

That being said, since the car will only be sold off once a buyer is found, this way of selling your car would involve more time as compared to selling your car to a used car dealer. Do also be mindful that you may have to drive your car down to meet potential buyers and that could take up some of your time as well.

Oneshift can also help you to connect with car consignment dealers and give you the highest car consignment quote!

To find out more about consigning a car, read: Everything you need to know about consigning a car.

Quick summary of selling your car by consignment:

Pros:

- Greater returns as compared to selling your car to a used car dealer

- Process efficient

Cons:

- More time involved as the car consignment dealer will need to advertise your vehicle and wait till a potential buyer is found

So there you go, we hope that this helps solve your dilemma on which to choose between these two methods of selling your car. At the end of the day, whichever mode of selling your car depends on your individual needs and wants. Do take everything into consideration before making that judgement call. Happy car selling!

Credits:

Why sell your car with Oneshift?
bullet
Convenient and Hassle-Free

We know that visiting multiple car dealerships can be a real hassle! We’ll help you obtain the highest price for your car within 24 hours from our network of 500+ certified dealers from the comfort of your home.

bullet
Consumer Protection

We say no to unethical dealers. We employ strict quality control when validating the used car dealers in our panel and only work with trusted and reputable LTA-approved partners.

bullet
Transparent Process With No Obligation

We respect our customers and understand that at times, you may have doubts or need more time to decide. Don’t worry—we will never force a sale on you. Our dealer partners will only transact with you when you are satisfied with the final offer.

Sell your car for the best price in Singapore

Get the best price for your used cars from 500+ verified dealers, all within 24 hours

W
William Teng
2 weeks ago
The quote for my car was fast, responsive and the highest. The transaction was fast and explanation was clear. The person who inspected my car was friendly and professional. It was a good experience with OneShift.
W
William Chan
3 weeks ago
The transaction was very smooth from the minute I get on to their website trying to sell my car till the car ownership transferred and have the money paid by Pay Now into my account. It only takes less than 3 days. The person attending to me are very professional, Jon at the phone in their office and Sean Tan who came down to view and test the car. I am very happy to have decided to sell my car through "One Shift By Carousell"