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Advice

How should I time the sale of my existing car with the delivery of my new one?

How can you avoid having two cars at once; or, worse still, none at all?

Andy Pringle

Words by: Andy Pringle

Published on 6 May 2015 | 0 min read

Juggling the sale of one car with the purchase of another can be very tricky. In an ideal world, you’d just step from one car to the other, but if something goes wrong, you could end up with two cars (and two cars’ costs) at once; or, in a worse case, you could end up with no car at all.
Naturally, the simplest thing is to part-exchange your old car for your new one, which will mean that effectively the two deals take place at once, and you only ever own one car at a time. But, if that’s not possible, things could be more difficult. The likelihood is that, if you’re going to have to wait for one of the two deals to come through, it’ll be the new car; so, first of all, you should try and get a firm date for the arrival of your new car from the dealer. If possible, get them to commit to a date in writing. This then gives you a date, around which you can time the sale of your old car. And, if there’s a delay in the arrival of your new car and you end up without wheels, you can call upon the goodwill of the dealer, asking them to supply you with a courtesy car while you wait for your new car.
  • TOP TIP – Get the dealer to commit to a date for your new car’s delivery as soon as possible