When is the best time to sell a car?

Getting ready to sell your car? You better take a look at your calendar first, as getting the timing right can impact how easy your car is to sell and how much money you could get for it. Selling your car at the wrong time certainly won’t do you any favours.

Just like a car's mileage, condition, level of service history and colour, there’s no hard and fast rule for the best time to sell your car, but data does show that certain months of the year can be advantageous. 

The best time to sell a car isn’t universal for all cars, either. Certain types of vehicle like convertibles or SUVs have strong selling months and periods of the year where demand is likely to be lower, while niche sports cars or hot hatchbacks might be desirable all year round.

Below we’ve explained when the best time is to sell your car, plus other factors that might make a difference on how easy it is to sell, from mileage to condition and more.

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When is the best time to sell a car?

The very best month to sell your car is February, followed by January, March, April, May, and August. That’s according to research conducted by our parent company Carwow in 2022.

This skew is influenced by the UK’s new vehicle registration plate launches in March and September. As well as dealers looking to buy stock ahead of high-demand periods in late spring and summer. August features because it’s the month before the new registration in September. 

While you might think the arrival of new car registration plates will mean a flood of used cars on the market, the data suggests they don’t have much influence on the supply and demand equation.

You’ve probably heard nuggets of advice about selling a car, such as listing a convertible in the spring time before the hot summer weather arrives, or selling an SUV in the autumn ahead of the slippery and icy conditions of winter, and there is some truth to this logic.

The data shows that convertible cars sell in the highest volumes in March, and get the highest prices (as a percentage of valuation) in April, ready for summer. 

Estates, hatchbacks, and saloons get the best prices in January (and highest volumes in March), while somewhat predictably, November will get you the most money if you’re selling an SUV, as buyers scrabble to find an all-wheel drive car for winter weather.

When is the worst time to sell a car?

October is the worst month of the year to sell a car, followed by July, September, November, June and December, according to the valuation data analysed by Carwow.

If you’re surprised to see December only the sixth worst (or, if your glass is half full, the seventh best) given that rule of thumb about not trying to sell a car around Christmas, then its proximity to January (second in the list of best times to sell) probably helps. Consider December the early-bird month, with sellers moving cars just ahead of the busiest time of the year.

And of course, while November isn’t a great month for selling in general, it does seem to be the best for SUVs in particular, so don’t be too deterred by the second half of the year if you’ve got a 4x4 or SUV to sell.

What factors should you consider when selling your car?

The time of the year isn’t the only important factor to consider when selling a car. 

Things like the car’s rate of depreciation, mileage, condition, specification and MoT status will all influence how quickly and easy it is to sell, as well as the amount of cash you could get. 

Below we’ve covered some of the main factors that will affect a sale.

Depreciation

Cars depreciate the moment they’re driven off the dealership forecourt, and while there’s no hard and fast rule for depreciation, the rule of thumb in the industry is that there’s a drop in value of around 20 per cent every 20,000 miles, and a slightly steeper drop-off after 60,000, before levelling out past 100,000.

As a result, selling your car before it reaches 60,000 miles will stave off the steepest depreciation, while selling at around 100,000 miles will probably get you similar money even if you put several thousand more miles on the car before it goes to a new owner.

New number plate launch

The months surrounding a new car registration plate change are a great time to sell your car since buyers will be looking to move on from their old cars as car finance deals come to an end.

While it might seem counter-intuitive to sell when plenty of others are doing exactly the same, the data doesn’t lie, perhaps the buzz of new car registrations gets used car buyers onto driveways and forecourts, too.

Car condition

Your car's overall condition will hugely impact how easy it is to sell and how much you could get for it. 

Car buyers are prepared to pay more for a low mileage car which has been looked after and has evidence that it has been well maintained. 

A full service history always looks better to a buyer than a patchy maintenance record, and something as simple as cleaning and vacuuming your car before you sell it will suggest to a buyer that you look after it. 

Unsurprisingly, any obvious damage is also likely to put off buyers, so if you’re thinking of selling your car, it may be worth getting dents, kerbed wheels, and scuffed bumpers repaired first. If your car is due an MoT, getting this done before listing your car for sale or part-exchanging at a dealership will make your car more desirable, too.

Other factors

As well as condition, your car’s specification will also make a difference to what you can expect to sell it for.

Generally speaking, buyers will pay more for a car in a higher trim level, for certain desirable options, and in the right colour (though the best car colour for resale value isn’t necessarily retail-friendly silver, black, or white, as their popularity means plenty of competition on the used market). 

If you have a car which has a strong enthusiast following, like a desirable sportscar or hot hatchback, the best or worst times of the year to sell your car might not apply as buyers may be searching for one all year round.

Best time to sell a car FAQs

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