When it comes to selling your car, a couple of hours spent on valeting and cosmetic repairs can make all the difference. In return for a bit of elbow grease and a small outlay on valeting products plus essential parts, sellers will make sure they get the most when it comes to sale time.

Here are some helpful tips.

Body and Paint Work

Shoddy bodywork is a big turn-off. Scratches on paintwork and patches of rust not only make a car look scruffy and neglected, they automatically lower the price that a buyer is prepared to pay. So, make sure that rusty areas are treated with a good quality rust treatment. If the rust is too far gone, use a little body filler to fill up holes in the body work.

Use a colour brush to cover up stone chips and minor paint work problems that need an exact colour match, or use the new Stone Chip and Scratch Repair System. Big motor stores like Halfords have wide ranges of car paints and normally offer a special order paint service for more obscure shades, with an exact match for any colour.

Make sure that the less obvious areas are also pristine. Take care to treat marks on wheels, inside the engine and on bumpers with specialist paints. Replace any individual wheel trims that are missing and ensure you have a matching set.

Cleaning

First impressions count when selling a car and nothing impresses more than a spotless showroom shine. Begin by cutting through the dust and grime with an advanced car wash product. Use a Colour Restorer to restore paintwork to a gleaming full-bodied shine. Combine this with a Showroom Polish to give the car a quick-shine that returns the paintwork to showroom standard.

Dazzle the potential buyer with the quality of your alloys by using one of the many cleaning products available. And return faded bumpers to their original colour with Exterior Trim Treatment.

Interior Valeting

To make the most of your motor, it is vital to make sure that the interior is as spotless as the chrome on the outside. Be sure to spruce up the seats with an upholstery cleaner and freshen up the carpets with a heavy-duty carpet cleaner. Get dusty dashboards back to their former glory with interior trim treatment available in gloss or matt. And remember the potential buyer's nose and get rid of unpleasant smells with odour neutralisers, available in a wide range of fragrances.

A few pounds spent on car valeting products and a little bit of effort can make all the difference between a quick sale and a non-sale. And if that effort also increases the price of the car, you would be mad not to get your hands dirty!