You will need to clean the engine compartment when you are preparing a used car for selling…

You need to know that even if the potential buyer is totally clueless about cars, they will ALWAYS lift the hood to check out the engine compartment. ALWAYS!

They will notice if the engine compartment is clean or filthy…and guess what?

The less a potential buyer knows about cars – the more it matters to them how clean the engine compartment is!

So why does it matter so much to potential buyers how clean and tidy the engine compartment is? Because clean to them…especially the car ignorant…means that you probably took good care of your old car…even if you didn’t. Really, it is that simple and it IS that important to clean the engine compartment if you want to squeeze as much money as possible out of your car when you sell it.

Alright, lets get started with how to clean the engine compartment. When preparing a car to sell, you always want to start with the filthy stuff first, so lets lift the hood and get busy…

• Fluids: Check all fluids and add if needed.

• Belts: Tighten if loose and noisy and/or use belt dressing.

• Spark Plugs: Gap and/or replace only if needed.

• Radiator: Add antifreeze and fill to proper level with water.

• Dirty Engine and Engine Compartment: Its important to clean up the entire area that is visible to your potential buyers, and that includes: hoses, battery, radiator…and everything under the hood. Just try to make it look really nice and clean under there. Carefully cover the distributor and other electronic stuff including the carburetor/fuel injection with foil or plastic bags. Use a good spray engine cleaner. I find it best to have the engine warm before spraying the engine cleaner. However, read the instructions on the can because I won’t be blamed because your car blew up into a ball of flames (and YOU with it!) because you didn’t follow the friggin directions on the can, okay?! Okay. You might need to spray the really greasy area’s a couple times and then scrub thoroughly with a hard bristle plastic brush and maybe an old tooth brush.

If you’re thinking: “Why do I need to do all that?” Again, as weird as you might think it is, to clean the engine compartment before you sell a car is just one of the crucial steps for being able to sell your old car for $300 to $1000 more than you thought possible. Trust me – it works, and like I said before – even if the buyer knows absolutely nothing about cars, they will always lift the hood to peek at the engine compartment.