The Pre-Sale Detail - Preparing Your Car For A Sale

You Only Get One Chance To Make A First Impression - And When It Comes To Selling Your Car, That First Impression Means Everything!

Some say your pride and joy will never look better than the day you buy it and the day you sell it. While we believe in keeping cars looking amazing all the time, there's truth in the sentiment—first impressions matter, and you only get one chance to wow potential buyers. A jaw-dropping first impression can significantly boost your chances of making a sale.

An enhancement detail, combined with the right finishing products, can elevate your car to stand out in a competitive market. To a buyer, a vehicle that looks pampered gives the impression of meticulous care throughout its life—even if that’s not entirely the case. The best part? With just a few pounds’ worth of detailing products, you can add hundreds, if not thousands, to your car’s perceived value. After all, car sales 101 is simple: leave nothing for buyers to haggle over.

Here’s where a little care and attention can make all the difference. Check out our top tips for the ultimate pre-sale detail to ensure your vehicle is market-ready!

Start With The Engine Bay

One detail that 90% of car owners—and even dealers—overlook when selling a vehicle is properly cleaning the engine bay. The truth is, even non-enthusiasts almost always take a look under the bonnet, even if they don’t know exactly what they’re looking at. If it’s dirty, it becomes a bargaining chip. It’s that simple.

The condition of the engine bay often serves as a telltale sign of how well the rest of the vehicle has been maintained. For a buyer, a grimy bay might raise concerns about overall care and servicing. The good news? Modern engine bays are relatively easy to detail and dress, turning what could be a red flag into a key selling point. With just a few minutes of effort using Eradicate Engine Degreaser and Dressle All Purpose Dressing**, you can transform a messy engine into a feature that impresses buyers.

And don’t forget—while you’re under the bonnet, top up any fluids that need it. A clean, well-maintained engine bay could be the final touch that seals the deal!

Clean & Decontaminate Your Wheels

As with any exterior detail, we begin with the wheels. This step is especially crucial when selling your car, as rims covered in baked-on brake dust can suggest a rough life on the road. Occasional decontamination with Iron Out Contaminant Remover is highly recommended, as it’s specifically formulated to break down harmful ferrous metal fallout. Simply spray it on, brush it in, and watch as even the toughest particles dissolve, ready to be rinsed away with your pressure washer.

For tackling brake dust, Imperial Wheel Cleaner is another excellent option. It can be used alone or combined with Revolution Wheel Soap for even more effective cleaning. What's key here is making sure you clean every part of the wheel, including the barrels. Start with the inside of the rim using a Barrel Brush, then move to the faces and spokes with a detailing brush, finishing up with a mitt. If the space between the wheel and caliper is tight, rolling the car forward a few inches can ensure you don’t miss any spots. For a more detailed approach to cleaning all types of wheels, including those with special finishes, be sure to check out our Definitive Guide to Cleaning Alloy Wheels.

Don't Forget Your Tyres!

If your tyres look worn from the start, buyers will quickly start factoring in the cost of replacements, which can raise doubts about the overall condition of your car. Tyres can often appear discoloured due to UV fading, as well as salt and road grime build-up, even if there’s no cracking or worn tread. After all, tyres are the only part of your vehicle in constant contact with the ground.

The good news is that you can easily restore them with Tread Tyre Cleaner and a Rubber Scrubber Tyre Brush. Both are specifically designed to bring your tyres back to life in seconds. Apply Tread generously to the tyre walls, scrub it in, and let the agitation lift away the grime, which can then be rinsed off with a pressure washer. It's a simple yet highly effective solution. This is also the perfect time to clean your plastic arch liners with your pressure washer and give them a quick scrub, as Tread does wonders for removing dirt here, too.

As you finish your detail, a final spray of Dressle under the arches and even on the tyre sidewalls is an excellent touch. While Dressle isn’t specifically a tyre dressing, it does an impressive job and provides a few days of protection. For longer-lasting results, you might want to use Satin Tyre Crème for a natural matte finish or Gloss Tyre Dressing for that high-gloss, show car look.

Once you're done, a handy tip is to drive the car forward a few times and apply the brakes. This helps clear any discolouration left on the discs from water that may have splashed on them during the washing process.

Ensure Your Car Gets the Safest and Most Thorough Wash Possible

When you're preparing your car for sale, it's important to remember that there’s no place to hide any imperfections. Unlike a show where you can close the doors and focus on the exterior, prospective buyers will scrutinize every corner in search of a reason to lower the price. This is why the wash stage is so crucial—it has to be thorough.

The key is to not overlook any areas. Places like door jambs, inner doors, and boot shuts are often noticed during a test drive or inspection. To ensure these areas are spotless, we recommend using a soft Detailing Brush with Citrus Power Bug & Grime Remover or Eradicate Engine Degreaser. Once rinsed, these areas will be clean and ready for any touch-ups or polishing.

Another area frequently missed is the inside edges of the wing mirrors. Although it's easy to overlook while washing the body, this is an area you'll see frequently when driving, so it’s worth paying attention to.

Ultimately, the wash stage is the most vital, and doing it safely is key to achieving the best finish. Swirl marks can be easily created, and while they’re minor defects, they can appear worse than they are. The best approach is to prevent them by starting with a thorough pre-wash using products like Citrus Power or Dynamite Traffic Film Remover, which will break down tough contaminants without dragging them across the paint.

Following this with Avalanche Snow Foam is another great step in preventing damage. It helps to break down grime while providing lubrication, allowing dirt to slip off safely. The foam also reaches panel gaps and recesses for a deep clean.

The secret to using Avalanche is to let it sit on the car for as long as possible without letting it dry. A good trick is to watch the windows, as they’ll dry out first. While waiting, use a soft brush to agitate the foam into hard-to-reach areas like window rubbers, badges, and grilles, ensuring you get the most out of your snow foam.

To finish, using the "two bucket" method is the safest way to ensure your car stays free of grime. One bucket should contain your shampoo solution, while the other holds clean water to rinse the grit and dirt out of your wash mitt after each pass.

For the cleaning agent, we recommend Lather Car Shampoo. Not only is it a powerful cleaner that lifts and dissolves grime from the surface, but it also acts as a lubricant. This creates a slippery layer between the dirt and your paintwork, allowing contaminants to be rinsed away without risking damage to the surface.

Additionally, always wash in straight lines, starting with the cleanest areas of the vehicle to prevent cross-contamination. With these tips, you should achieve a spotless finish with minimal risk of damage.

Decontamination Like A Pro

A full three-stage paintwork decontamination might sound daunting, but with the right products, it's actually a quick and straightforward process that can make a significant difference. This process removes embedded contaminants that washing alone can't tackle, leaving your paintwork smooth and ready for polishing.

The first stage involves using Iron Out Contaminant Remover to chemically dissolve sharp metal particles embedded in the top layer of paint. This is crucial to prevent these particles from being dragged across the surface during polishing. Simply spray it on and rinse it off. You'll know it's time to rinse when the solution turns blood red as it reacts with the metal. If necessary, you can lightly agitate the solution with a Microfibre Work Cloth or Polish Pad.

Next, stage two is using ObliTARate Tar & Glue Remover to target sticky residues like road tar and glue. This powerful solvent quickly melts these contaminants, allowing them to be wiped away with a microfiber cloth, ensuring they won’t interfere with the polishing process. It also tackles other tough residues like traffic cone marks or overspray.

After this, rewash the treated areas with your Lather Shampoo to neutralize the solvents, ensuring they're completely removed before moving to the next step.

Finally, the third stage involves using clay to remove organic contaminants like bird droppings and tree sap. Use a Clay Bar or Handi Puck system with Glide Clay Lube to gently run the clay across the surface, pulling out debris and leaving the paint feeling smooth and glass-like. Be sure to clay the entire vehicle, including headlights, not just the front bumper and bonnet.

Once you've completed the three-stage decontamination, you're ready to dry the car and mask any vulnerable areas before moving on to polishing.

Enhance Your Paintwork

Chances are, you won’t want to spend hours or days on a full multi-stage correction, especially when a simple enhancement can significantly boost the appearance of your car and make it much more appealing to potential buyers.

The goal here is to remove surface oxidation, eliminate light swirl marks, and refine the paintwork to a glossy finish. This can all be achieved in one step with Tripple All-in-One Polish. Its advanced formula contains diminishing abrasives that break down quickly and efficiently, making it ideal for hand polishing with a Microfibre Applicator or Polish Pad, but it also works great with a machine polisher for fast, consistent results.

Tripple works by gently removing a thin layer of paint to smooth out imperfections on a microscopic level. It also includes glazing agents that help fill and hide swirl marks, making them much less noticeable. This allows light to reflect more evenly off the surface, creating the illusion of deeper, glossier paint. While the surface may not actually be flatter, this effect helps the paint appear smoother and more polished.

Additionally, Tripple is packed with deep-cleaning solvents that effectively remove stubborn oxidation, leaving behind a protective layer of carnauba wax. In short, Tripple cleans, refines, and protects all in one application.

After finishing the large panels, don't forget the often-overlooked areas like door jambs and boot shuts. A little Tripple on a microfibre cloth is perfect for cleaning and protecting these spots. It’s also great for gloss plastic trim and even plastic headlights and tail lights—small details that can make a big difference and potentially seal the deal on your sale!

Get Rid Of Swirl Marks

While it's entirely optional, if your car has more significant swirl marks, you may need a bit more cut for removal. Luckily, we've made the swirl correction process simpler than ever with One Step All-in-One Compound.

Unlike traditional compounds, One Step offers an impressive range of cut. It starts as a coarse cutting compound and gradually breaks down into a fine refining polish as it's worked. The diminishing abrasives in One Step begin with larger, coarser particles, acting like a heavy-cut compound initially. As you work it, the abrasives break down, becoming smaller until they refine the paint to a near-flawless finish. This allows One Step to effectively level the paintwork, eliminating even the deepest swirl marks, all without changing the product or pad (we recommend using a medium Revitalise No:2 Pad), unlike traditional multi-stage corrections.

One Step is also designed for use with our DPX and MPX Dual Action Polishers. Since One Step needs to be worked through thoroughly to refine the paint, using a machine polisher is the most efficient method—though it's still possible to do by hand, it requires more effort.

This process may be straightforward, but it can make a huge impact. Swirl marks are often seen as minor defects, but they can make paint appear far worse than it actually is, especially on darker vehicles. Using One Step before or instead of Tripple will remove these defects, enhancing the paint's depth and gloss. While the paint may not actually be deeper, it will appear that way due to the smooth, reflective surface created by the removal of imperfections. For a full guide on how to use One Step to remove swirl marks, check out our How to Remove Swirl Marks guide.

Add Protection

When it comes to protection, it’s not just about creating a barrier that lasts for months (since you’re selling the car, durability isn’t the top priority here), but also about achieving the best possible look for maximum impact.

Of course, you can choose to apply a ceramic protection, and our Caramics Paintwork Protection Kit is designed to be simple and effective, making it a great selling point. However, when it comes to making the best first impression, nothing beats the warm, rich shine of a wax. After all, show cars are almost always treated with wax for a reason.

For the most impressive results, we recommend using a hard wax specifically tailored for your paint type. That’s why we offer a full range of Signature Hard Waxes for everything from vintage paints to metallics and pearlescent finishes.

The reason wax gives such a stunning finish is twofold. First, the application of wax helps level the optical finish, smoothing out microscopic imperfections and creating a perfectly flat surface. This smoothness improves light refraction, allowing light to bounce off the surface uniformly, making the paint appear deeper and glossier.

The second reason waxes are so visually appealing is that, unlike man-made ceramic coatings, they’re not entirely clear. Natural waxes contain slight impurities that add warmth and subtle color tones, making them appear more dynamic and less sterile.

For the best results, we recommend applying one or two additional coats of hard wax to deepen the shine and enhance the wet-look effect. Each coat will also add extra layers of protection. Simply apply the wax as usual, allowing at least three hours between coats for proper curing.

There are also other wax-based protection options if you're pressed for time. Radiance Carnauba Crème is a fantastic choice. While it may not offer the same long-lasting durability as a hard wax (providing up to three months of protection), it delivers similar results in a convenient, easy-on, easy-off cream formula.

Another great option is Glisten Spray Wax, which provides a high-gloss finish with up to a month of protection. This advanced formula is incredibly simple to use—just spray and wipe—and is perfect for tackling hard-to-reach areas. Plus, a little goes a long way, making it the quickest and easiest option for a brilliant shine.

Some Finishing Touches...

We've already covered how to enhance the appearance of your tyres and inner arches with your choice of dressing, but the finishing touches should go beyond that. This is your opportunity to really impress potential buyers and show that extra attention to detail. While the level of effort needed will vary depending on the car, there are still a few great tips to consider.

Restoring faded plastic trim is an easy yet impactful task that can dramatically improve the perceived age and care of your vehicle. For this, we recommend Revive Trim Dressing, a water-resistant silicone-based gel that restores and darkens matte plastics. It’s simple to apply—just use a sponge applicator, allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes, then buff away any excess. Revive leaves a natural satin finish that’s dry to the touch and creates a UV-resistant barrier to protect against future fading. Plus, it won’t wash off in the rain, making it a reliable solution for a clean, refreshed look.

A simple yet highly effective finishing touch that shouldn't be overlooked is making your exhaust tip shine with Mercury Metal Polish. This polish uses mild abrasives to tackle stubborn oxidation, gently removing a thin layer of the surface to reveal the clean, fresh metal beneath. Mercury is perfect for revitalizing exhausts, brightwork, bare metal wheel lips, and engine parts. It can be worked into surfaces with medium pressure using a microfibre cloth or Microfibre Applicator. After wiping away the residue, you'll instantly notice the transformation Mercury brings to the final details. For tougher jobs, try Mercury Xtreme, which contains slightly more abrasive particles, offering extra cutting power for challenging metal restoration—think of it as a metal-specific cutting compound.

A common question we get asked is how to achieve the best finish on both exterior and interior window rubbers, especially from those who may have gotten a bit carried away with their machine polisher! It's a great question, because, like any detail, it's the imperfections that tend to stand out the most.

The simple solution is to use some neat Verso All Purpose Cleaner on a cloth, then work it back and forth over the surface with moderate pressure. In essence, this acts like a polishing technique, gently removing a thin layer of the rubber to reveal a fresh, clean finish underneath. It's a small step, but it makes a big difference to the overall look!

Make Your Glass Shine

We've said it before and we'll say it again: nothing spoils a great detail like streaky or smeary glass, which is why it deserves its own attention—it’s that important. Vehicle glass is often the first thing a potential buyer notices. Think about it: if you're viewing a car and the test drive feels like it's in crisp 4K HD, you're going to be far more impressed than if you're struggling to look through streaky, cloudy windows. Clean glass not only enhances the vehicle's appearance but also makes the rest of the car seem cleaner and more appealing.

Start by assessing the condition of your glass. In most cases, a quick chemical clean with Crystal Glass Cleaner will do the trick. This formula uses mild distilled solvents to break down greasy residue and grime, allowing it to be easily wiped off and buffed to a crystal-clear shine.

For older vehicles or glass with stubborn stains and heavy contamination, Vision Glass Polish is the solution. Similar to an abrasive polish for your paintwork, Vision is designed to physically scrub away tough stains and even light scratches, restoring clarity. Its special blend of light abrasives and deep-cleaning agents effectively breaks down stains and brings back that pristine glass finish.

A great tip when selling your car is to use a few spritzes of our Caramics Glass Cleaner on the outside. Much like Crystal, it quickly dissolves residues and films, but it also adds a hydrophobic layer of protection. So, if it happens to rain during the test drive, you can leave the wipers off and impress potential buyers as the water effortlessly beads off the glass.

Here are a couple of extra glass cleaning tips: buff the cleaner one way on the inside and the other way on the outside. This makes it easier to spot any smears or residues. Also, after completing your interior detail (the next step), always revisit your glass to check for fingerprints, marks, or overspray from interior cleaning products. Glass takes mere seconds to clean and can make a big difference in leaving a great first impression. For more tips, check out our guide on "How to Clean, Protect, and Achieve a Sparkling, Smear-Free Finish."

Deep Clean & Sanitise The Interior

Cleaning the interior of your car is truly an art, as you may already know from our Ultimate Interior Cleaning Guide. However, as a seller, the key factors to consider are cleanliness, odour, and what these elements say about how you've used the car.

Think of it this way: the exterior gives the initial impression, but the interior—where the driver spends the most time—is often the deciding factor. Ensuring the inside is clean, organised, and free of unpleasant smells is essential. Most buyers will overlook a few footprints on the carpets or fingerprints on the touchscreen (though, of course, we’ll clean those to give the best possible impression), but mouldy vents, stained seats, old food, and sticky steering wheels are huge turn-offs. If it looks like they might catch something, they’ll likely walk away, and rightfully so.

Start with a thorough vacuuming. Don’t just focus on the obvious spots—get under the seats and between the fabric folds. Leaving no area untouched ensures there are no unpleasant surprises for your potential buyer.

And don’t forget the boot. Buyers will want to check out the space, so make sure it’s clean and vacuumed. If your car has a spare wheel well, lift any carpets and vacuum underneath. Most buyers will also inspect the area for the jack and tool kit.

Once you've removed the mud and grime, it's time to address those stains, sticky spots, and odours. This step is just as crucial because buyers don't only assess a car with their eyes—they also rely on touch and smell.

For spot stain removal and general cleaning of carpets and fabrics, the powerful combination of Total Interior Cleaner and an Upholstery Brush is hard to beat. Simply spray, agitate, and wipe away grime (for carpets, our Scrubi Spot Pads work wonders). And don't forget the boot carpet and floor mats—they need attention too. For leather upholstery, use Hide Leather Cleanser for a similar cleaning effect.

Total Interior Cleaner penetrates deep into fabrics, breaking down stains and odours while leaving behind a fresh scent. It can also be used to clean and sanitise your dashboard—just spray and wipe with a microfibre cloth. The result is a natural matte finish that’s often more appealing to buyers than a glossy, artificial shine, conveying a more genuine appearance.

Total is also effective at removing sticky residues from frequently touched areas like steering wheels and gear shifters. You’ll be surprised at how much dirt it pulls out. Don't forget to use a detailing brush to agitate Total into hard-to-reach spots like trim and air vents—this will help lift dust, dirt, and bacteria. Continue by cleaning every cubby hole, door pocket, and the glove box—areas that easily collect dirt and dust but look pristine when empty.

When it comes to eliminating odours, two often-overlooked areas are the headlining and seatbelts. Since both are in direct view and close to the buyer’s face during a test drive, it's important to freshen them up. To tackle these, add a little Total to a bucket of water, dampen a microfibre cloth with the solution, and gently wipe over the headlining and seatbelts (make sure to pull seatbelts all the way out first). This will neutralise odours instantly. And of course, finishing off with one of our Air Fresheners ensures the car smells fresh and inviting.

Finally, a quick spritz of Wipe Out Interior Disinfectant into the air vents will eliminate 99.99% of viruses and bacteria that may have accumulated deep inside the system. Simply spray, wipe away any excess, and you’re finished.

Wipe Out can also be used to sanitise other high-touch areas like steering wheels and door handles before or after a test drive—it's important to protect yourself from germs as well.

A Final Check Before You Sell

We always suggest doing one last wipe-down with Finale Quick Detailer just before your buyer arrives. This will eliminate any dust that may have settled and add a bit more carnauba protection. Finale is perfect for all paintwork and even glass, and the results will speak for themselves—so much so, you might just want to cancel that ad and keep the car for yourself! No judgment here.

Looking for more ideas? Be sure to watch the full, detailed video below...