Sell my VW Golf: how to get the best price when selling online
Looking to sell your old motor? We run through all of your options, as well as how you can get the highest price for your VW Golf.
If you want to get the best price when you sell your VW Golf then you will have to sell it yourself.
That means listing it for sale, likely on a site like AutoTrader, and then handling all of the negotiations and viewings from potential buyers.
This is clearly a lot of work; by contrast, the easiest option is to simply part exchange your Volkswagen Golf, assuming you’re going to be buying another motor to replace it.
Unfortunately, this usually means you’ll get the lowest amount for your car.
There is a third option, which is pretty straightforward while still getting you a good price for your VW Golf, and that’s selling through one of the many car-buying sites.
We’ll look at them in more detail below, to highlight how much you can get when selling online, and how to get the best possible price for a Volkswagen Golf when selling to the likes of Motorway and Webuyanycar.
How much is my VW Golf worth?
There are many factors that’ll determine what your VW is worth, like its condition, the specific model, its age and mileage.
There are online car valuation services that you can use to give you an indication of what it could be worth, though.
We went to Parkers and found that second-hand Golf’s have the following price ranges.
| Volkswagen Golf model | Minimum valuation | Maximum valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Estate five-door (2013-2020) | £3,925 | £24,920 |
| GTI five-door (2013-2017) | £6,715 | £23,395 |
| Hatchback five-door (2013-2020) | £3,785 | £29,990 |
This is a useful starting point, but it’s no more than that really.
To give you a better idea of what you could get when selling your Volkswagen Golf to a car-buying site, we conducted some research of our own.
We entered the details of five Golfs at six of the main car-buying sites: Cazoo**, Motorway, Webuyanycar, Arnold Clark, Wewantanycar and Money4yourMotors.
The table below breaks down the various quotes that we received from each of those sites.
Sell my VW Golf: who will give me the best price?
| VW Golf Style TSI Hatchback 2021 | VW Golf Match TDI BMT S-A Hatchback 2015 | VW Golf Match Edition TSI BMT S-A Hatchback 2016 | VW Golf Match TDI BMT Hatchback 2015 | VW Golf SE Navigation TSI BMT Hatchback 2018 | Average price for all Golf models | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motorway | £22,150 | £8,521 | £10,850 | £7,037 | £13,017 | £12,315 |
| Cazoo* | £20,625 | £7,475 | £11,350 | £6,400 | £13,575 | £11,885 |
| Money4yourMotors | £19,647 | £8,367 | £10,812 | £7,196 | £11,936 | £11,591.60 |
| Arnold Clark | £21,166 | £7,701 | £10,625 | £6,543 | £12,662 | £11,739.40 |
| Wewantanycar | £20,401 | £8,356 | £10,801 | £7,185 | £11,929 | £11,734.40 |
| Webuyanycar | £21,405 | £8,300 | £10,710 | £7,000 | £12,000 | £11,883 |
**Cazoo prices based on one owner, full service history and ‘good’ condition
Our final column allows us to compare the sites properly, as it covers the average price offered for our five example cars.
As you can see, our research found that Motorway quoted the best price for our various Volkswagen Golfs.
In fact, it worked out around £500 better than its nearest rivals, followed by Cazoo and Webuyanycar.
Now, it goes without saying that our research doesn’t provide definitive proof of which car-buying website will give you the most for your Volkswagen Golf, but it’s a useful reference point.
Our golden rule at Sell My Car Guide is to always do your research, getting quotes from multiple places.
Doing so only takes a couple of minutes with each car-buying site.
And it will help you cut out the sites that simply aren’t worth considering, so you can focus on the sites offering the highest quotes for your Volkswagen Golf.
Here’s a list of the main players you could visit:
Read our Cazoo review or get a quote now
Read our Webuyanycar review or get a quote
Read our Motorway review or get a quote
Read our Arnold Clark review or get a quote
Read our Wewantanycar review or get a quote
Read our Evans Halshaw review or get a quote
Read our Money4yourmotors review or get a quote
Read our Carwow review or get a quote
Interior image of a VW Golf (Image: VW Golf Press Office)
Key considerations before selling your Volkswagen Golf
When you’re comparing quotes from a handful of different car-buying sites, it’s really important to include the fees and charges you might have to pay.
For example, some sites charge administration fees ‒ basically a fee for using the site’s services ‒ or collection fees, should you need the vehicle to be collected from your home.
The fees charged can vary significantly depending on the car-buying site.
Some, like Motorway, don’t charge any fees, while others charge sizeable admin fees and don’t offer a collection service at all.
If you’re offered similar quotes from rival sites, make sure those fees are factored in so you can get a better idea of which will really offer you the best deal for your Volkswagen Golf.
And if there’s not much difference, then it makes sense to go for one that offers collection.
After all, selling a car online is supposed to be simple and straightforward, so go for a site that saves you the hassle of having to go to a depot and having to find a ride home.
Car-buying sites: who charges fees and who collects?
We have put together this table that outlines the different charges you’ll face with the various car-buying sites, as well as who offers a vehicle collection service.
| Car-buying site | Admin fee | Home collection fee |
|---|---|---|
| Motorway | £0 | £0 |
| Webuyanycar | £0-£99.99 | N/A |
| Wewantanycar | £125 | £0 |
| Carwow | £0 | £0 |
| Arnold Clark | £0 | N/A |
| Evans Halshaw | £0 | N/A |
| Cazoo | £0 | £0 |
| Money4yourMotors | £125 | £0 |
| Webuyurcar | £0-75 | £0 |
| Exchange My Car | £0 | £0 |
| The Car Buying Group | £0 | £0 |
What documents will I need to bring when I sell my VW Golf?
You will need to get some documents together before selling your Volkswagen Golf.
It would be hugely annoying to discover a single missing sheet of paper is the reason you’re unable to sell when you want.
You will need the following:
- MOT certificate;
- Logbook (also known as a V5C document);
- Service history (ideally stamped by the dealer;
- Receipts for any work done, parts purchased, recent repairs etc.
What to do after you sell your Volkswagen Golf
Once the sale has been completed, you need to inform the DVLA that you’re no longer the car’s owner.
You can do this by filling in the appropriate section of the log book and sending it to the DVLA by post or by completing a form online.
You should also contact your insurance company in order to cancel your existing policy. You may get a partial refund based on how much cover you have outstanding.
**Cazoo’s quote system requires additional information beyond simply the reg number and mileage. We’ve tried to match this to the most common seller scenario, but it’s worth keeping in mind the comparison isn’t exactly like-for-like.