Sell my car for free UK: which car-buying sites are fee-free and which charge?

It’s vital you factor in fees when selling your car to a car-buying site – especially if it’s low-value motor. We reveal what fees - if any - you can expect to pay at Webuyanycar, Cazoo, Motorway & more.

Car-buying sites are a great option if you want to sell your car quickly and easily.

While the most important factor when choosing who to sell to is obviously the sale price, it’s also worth factoring in any fees you might have to pay.

Worryingly, we’ve seen a number of the big sites – including Webuyanycar and Cazoo – hike their fees in recent months so it’s definitely becoming a bigger issue.

The main ones to keep an eye out for are admin/transaction fees, collection fees and fast payment fees.

While we’re generally not talking about huge sums here – the absolute most you’re likely to pay is £200 – these can have a pretty big impact if you’re selling an especially low-value motor (say, under £1,000).

In fact, you could end up handing back a quarter of the cash you get for your car in the most extreme scenarios.

Crucially, there’s no consistency across the various car-buying sites: some will charge no fees whatsoever, while others will hit you with multiple charges.

Want to sell your car for free? Here’s a quick rundown of who charges what at all the main car-buying sites.

I want to sell my car for free. Which car-buying sites don’t charge?

Can I sell my car for free at Motorway.co.uk?

Yes. Motorway are one of the best-known car-buying companies out there, having spent a lot of money of radio and TV ads over the last year.

They don’t charge any fees when you sell your car through them.

That’s handy as they also collect your motor from your home – a service some of their rivals charge for.

Read our Motorway review for top tips on getting the best price when selling your car to them

Can I sell my car for free at Webuyanycar?

Webuyanycar are one of the best-known car buyers (read our review), but they’re also one of the priciest in terms of fees.

There are two to be aware of: a transaction fee and an optional faster payment fee (there’s no collection fee as they don’t offer this service).

The amount you’ll have to pay depends on the sale price of your car – and it’s worth noting that Webuyanycar has recently tweaked its fees so some motorists will pay a larger fee.

Here’s how the transaction fee is now calculated:

• For cars that sell for less than £100, there is no transaction fee.
• For cars worth between £100 and £3,999.99, there’s a £49.99 transaction fee.
• Cars worth £4,000 or more will attract a £74.99 fee.

Previously, the maximum fee only applied to cars worth more than £5,000 but this has been lowered by £1,000 so more people will have to pay the £74.99 charge when selling.

While these fees probably aren’t that big a deal if your car is high-value, that’s not the case for especially cheap motors.

Consider this example:

On a £20,000 car, the fee (£74.99) works out to less than 0.4% of your sale price.

On a £2,000 car, the fee (£49.99) knocks a more sizeable 2.5% off the price you’ll get for your car.

And on a £200 old banger, you’ll lose a whopping 25% of your car’s sale price due to the £49.99 transaction fee.

And if you need your money paid out sooner than its standard offer of four working days, there’s another fee to be paid.

In short, it’ll cost you £24.75 to get your cash the next working day, or £29.75 to get a same-day payment into your bank.

Can I sell my car for free at  Arnold Clark?

Yes. Arnold Clark won’t charge you any fees if you choose to sell your car to them (read our Arnold Clark Review).

Sadly, this doesn’t mean you’ll also get free home collection, as you do from rivals like Motorway and Carwow.

Arnold Clark doesn’t offer a collection service of any kind, so you’ll need to drop your car off there and sort your own transport home.

Can I sell my car for free at Cazoo? 

No. While Cazoo was fee-free up until a few months ago, the car-buying site recently introduced a couple of chunky charges to look out for.

First, there’s a mandatory £49 admin fee to pay when you sell your car to Cazoo.

Second, they will charge you upwards of £149 for a home collection if you don’t fancy driving all the way to one of their drop-off centres (which remains free).

That makes it the most expensive car-buying site in terms of overall fees charged when selling your car.

Top tips and tricks when selling your car to Cazoo

Can I sell my car for free at Evans Halshaw? 

Evans Halshaw won’t charge you any fees for selling to them.

Note they don’t offer a home collection service so you’ll need to drop your car off at one of their depots and make your own way home.

Thinking of selling your car to Evans Halshaw? Read our review first!

Can I sell my car for free at  Carwow?

Yes, you can. There aren’t any fees of any kind to worry about when selling to Carwow. This includes a free home collection.

Tips for getting the best price when selling your car to Carwow

Can I sell my car for free at  Wewantanycar?

Wewantanycar has almost doubled its admin charge in recent months.

While any cars that happen to sell for less than £100 remain fee-free, Wewantanycar will now charge a mandatory £125 admin fee on any motor that sells above that price point (which is going to be pretty much every car they buy)

Previously, it charged between £58 and £78 depending on the value of your motor, so that’s a pretty big hike and is certainly one of the largest admin fee we’ve come across.

As we highlighted in the Webuyanycar section earlier in this guide, these fees can take a big chunk out of your final sale price if your car isn’t especially valuable.

The company does at least offer free home collection, unlike some of its rivals.

Wewananycar review: how they work, fees & more

Can I sell my car for free at  Money4yourmotors?

Money4yourmotors is another firm that will charge you a fee for the privilege of selling your car to them.

What’s more, the company recently announced a huge hike in its admin fees.

Previously, Money4yourmotors charged between £58 and £78 depending on the value of your car. Now, there’s a blanket fee of a whopping £125.

If you somehow happen to have a car worth less than £100, there’s no fee to pay.

Top tips & tricks when selling your car to Money4yourmotors

Webuyurcar.co.uk: charge admin fee

You’ll likely have to pay an admin fee when selling your car to Webuyurcar.

Here’s what they charge:

• For cars under £200, there is no fee.
• If your motor sells for between £201 and £4,999, there’s a £55 fee.
• If you sell for £5,000 or more, there’s a £75 fee.

Thinking of selling to Webuyurcar? Read our independent review

Sell my car for free: why fees matter

If you want to get the best possible price when selling your car online then the most important thing to do is shop around and get quotes from a few different car-buying companies to see how they compare.

Our research found that the difference between the best and worst quotes for the same car can run into the thousands of pounds – and no site is always the most generous.

Once you’ve rounded up a few quotes, it’s then time to factor in any fees charged.

These are unlikely to come in any higher than £250, but they could help you identify the better option if you’ve received two similar offer prices for your car.

As a final point, be sure to factor in whether a company offers free collection.

If you need to drop your car off at a depot then take a train or Uber home, then include those costs when comparing offers.

Is free home collection important to you? See who offers it here