Dirty Business! CAR WIZARD shows on his '69 Cadillac what you must do to get top dollar for your car 

I feel like Wizard is going on a very small but calm rant 😄 he's right though, clean your damn car if you want to sell it

This car is so big, by the time you finish cleaning the other side, the first side will be dirty once again

I literally saw a for sale ad today where the picture someone posted was a screenshot of their phone background, with the clock, notifications, menu bar, etc. Excellent advice Wizard. Wish common sense was actually common! :)

As a detailer/person who flips cars I've noticed ppl dont know that it is common sense to clean ur car.... atleast take the pizza box away from the backseat.. Detailing a car nicely spending anywhere from 3-8hours can raise ur cars price and decrease sell time by ALOT. Thanks wizard for another nice video :)

Wizard: "I don't want to see this in the engine bay, Out Out Out, Get all this stuff out" Me: _Removes Engine_

don't use glass cleaner on your paint

This is sooo strange to me. I'm Polish, we buy predominantly used cars, mostly from Germany, obviously... And I've never seen anything from what you describe. To the contrary - people go out of their way to make the car look perfect when mechanically it's a pile of trash. Here when you're buying a car, it's polished and spotless every time. You take a paint thickness meter with you (to check if it's all bondo, or only half bondo ;)), you open the little fuel door to check for the polishing compound (and you often find it there, I know I have :)), you check what's on the oil stick (it can be literal honey, I'm not kidding, people REALLY do this to make a broken engine silent when selling), and you reject cars that have the engine bay washed to a shine (sure sign that it's leaked everything previously). There's no way in hell you'll find crumbles or dust on a car someone's selling, instead you're on a hunt for signs that the car is welded from 2-3 cars, and signs of hidden mechanical issues :) I wish I lived in America and dust and crumbles were the main "issues" to look for, heh :)

''This is what I want to see in your trunk''...A spare with a six inch chunk taken out the rubber...And a clean carpet. Love the Wizard!

"How dirty of a car have you seen someone try and sell?" Teenage / early 20's girls, from my experience, have been the worst offenders. Felony forest hanging from the rear view mirror, trash in every crevice, food on the floors, scum on the seat belt fasteners, garbage from the rear foot rest all the way up to the seat, trunk full of lotions & perfume mixed in with more trash, dash has had something explode on it, and a generalized funky odor. In most cases, they already have another car and are simply trying to unload their old one as quickly as possible. But, if it runs and drives good, I really don't care. Most of the time the majority of it can be swept up / thrown away, shampoo the upholstery and give it a good wash or detail. Have bought a few of these type of deals, cleaned it up at night, took a few pictures in the morning and sold it less than 24 hours later making $500-$1000+ in profit. VT247

Some people are just too lazy for their own good. Common sense is just not that common these days. Take pride in your car, your home, your neighborhood and community. Keep it clean.

Hiya Wizard from the UK ! The 1st thing I ever do is look at the tyres.. if they're not all the same it means the owner doesn't care.. then check the fluids under the bonnet ( hood) anything not perfect... walk away !

My dad always says "A clean car is a happy car. Happy cars drive well." I only buy happy cars.

I love a car ad with pictures of it covered in snow. Especially if the car is for sale in the summer. I have seen dealer ads with the snow still on the car.

If I wasn't living in northern Europe I would come to you with all my car problems. You're one of the most honest and sincere mechanics in the world.

I make sure my cars are clean inside and out when I bring them in for service. I have it in my head that the shop will treat my vehicles a little better when they see how I care for them. Does anyone else agree with me or am I nuts? What say you Mr. Car Wizard?

The thing that makes me mad is when they take pictures inside of the garage and want top dollar for their car. This says that I am too lazy to even do the oil change on time.

I was about to turn it off but then CRAZY D walked in !!!

The way a person takes care of the inside and outside of their vehicle, in many cases, is a reflection on how well they take care of the mechanical part of the car. If they're careless with the interior they probably are careless with the maintenance routine on the vehicle. That's one of the reasons why I don't like buying from a car lot. Once they've gone through it, it's hard to tell how the previous owner treated the car. I went through more vehicles in high school than most people go through in a lifetime. Buy it, fix it, clean it, sell or trade it... That was my game in the early 80s. I love cars and bikes. I love working on them too! I don't enjoy it as a job but I find it rewarding as a hobby and it's one that I'm good at, unlike golf Hahaha! Love the content Mr. & Mrs. Wizard, keep it up!

"NO I DON'T wanna hear about your weekend, I just think the crackers in your trunk are DISGUSTING" 😆 never change, Wizard.

I remember a few years ago I bought a 96 Acura TL with the 3.2 V6, the person I was buying it from didn't even bother cleaning the car's interior. Sure it had a bit of rust on the outside, but I wasn't impressed that there was alot of dirt in the inside of it. I ended up buying the car, but I found so much trash and about 10 bucks in change in it. I was able to talk them down to $1000 from their $1600 they were asking for it.

I've been trying to explain this to my friends for years, yet they keep buying and selling cars that have clearly not been taken care of. Better yet, they act shocked when they've bought a lemon or didn't get their asking price. A dirty car screams neglect.

My son refused to clean his vehicle and when he crashed it, insurance took nearly $1,000 off his payout because it devalued it that much.

And a lot of people never mention CLEAN TITLE.

It somehow looks “wrong” without whitewalls! Not the ugly incorrect wide whitewalls. Just period correct ones.

Just wash it already! And don't use glass cleaner! Use detail spray. But, good information.

If I clean up the fries, do I have to ask "Do you want fries with that?" when I sell it?

I once bought a filthy car from a police auction for $1500. When I was detailing it I found $15,000 wrapped in a newspaper underneath the spare tire. It was like winning the lotto!

Wizard forgot step one. Wash the vehicle first.

I looked at a car that had an engine bay full of trash, then I realized it was the engine.. yes, it was a BMW.

The spare in the trunk needs to be replaced with a new tire.

In my experience these are the things that are most important to potential buyers: 1. Clean car 2. Clean oil 3. No suspension noises 4. Good tires 5. Working A/C

cleaning the exterior by wiping off the dirt is one of the worst things you can do. all he is doing is rubbing sand and grit over the paint.

I remember when one of my mates was about to buy a used but nice and clean Hyundai Excell, when we got to the dealership (we even called the day before) before photos looked nice, oh the horror when we arrived, bath silicone around the antenna, cardboard fixes on the trunk, bondo here and there, valve cover was off because they were timing another car so we were unable to do a test drive, walked away from that dealership, in the end we found a good Hyundai Tiburon for a great price and my friend just sold it, did everything you recommended, super clean car, great photos and while due to covid it took a while to sell, he managed to sell it compared to the other offerings on sale

Never use those interior cleaning with silicone in it. I made that mistake before it made it all look shiny and new but everything keeps being slippery forever. Everytime you touch it you feel the dirty slippery stuff on your fingers. On the steering wheel it's even dangerous.

Even if you're chronically lazy - just go to a drive-through car-wash!!!

Completely agree. I am not an OCD person in the rest of my life but when it comes to my car I am. Nothing out of place or visible ever. Started when I lived in an area that was not rough or dangerous but your car wold be broken into if they saw a nickel in the ashtray. Turned into once a week cleanings, opening the hood and picking out leaves during the fall, and degreasing under the hood and undercarriage after every service. Always top dollar for my cars.

Price is firm, I know what I got.

Crazy D : Clean your car before you try to sell it. Also Crazy D : Sells tractors with little to no paint

One thing I found worked very well on the vinyl convertible top on my Capri is tyre foam. The only thing that worked to remove dust storm and bushfire ash residue without scrubbing. Leaves a nice finish, too.

I've always given the cars a real good cleaning, then park it at local park/forest preserve for a very thorough set of pictures. I've always sold em quickly to happy people.

It's good to see Crazy D again! He needs to make an occasional appearance for his fan club! And, as usual, more good advice from the Wizard!

My dad was a credit manager for a local dealership and would always make fun of people who’d put over 30 min into using verbiage they think will sell their car, and not even put 30 min or even 30 bucks into making it look as good as they tried to make sound. People shop with their 👀 eyes. This episode holds 100% true.

Every car i owned first thing i did as i got home is seats out, vacuum, upholstery cleaner/hygenizer.

Literally, before watching this video - I was cleaning my car as I just posted it for sale. It is now sitting under a car port at my parents NOT even being driven...That's how nice I am trying to keep it! lol - Already got two people interested in less than a day!

Also as someone who buys cars often, nearly every car i buy has a trashed interior. Which is why when i detail it, it takes at least 6 to 9 hours.

Glass cleaner on paint?!?

I believe having a clean car is important because we want to make prospective buyer interested not only for the potential sale but also what future holds for the vehicle from buyers point of view. If a car is dirty, buyer may not see the hidden potential in it and walk away. Thanks Wizard.

Sorry mr wizard! This is not the way to wash/clean a car

A dirty cluttered car reflects really poorly on the seller. If they couldn't even be bothered to clean the car, what else did they neglect? Oil changes? Tires? BRAKES? Let the interior and exterior be your guide.

Mrs Wizard is right about "Common Sense" THE PEOPLE now don't have any, Reason most didn't grow up with Grandma, or someone that went through the Depression.

I would never use glass cleaner on paint. Quick detailing spray, yes, but with that method have several microfiber towels available. You don’t want to wipe dirt back on and scratch the paint.

Glass cleaner on paint? Really?

Glass cleaner on paint makes me cringe.

phone chargers and cables everywhere and muddy floor mats is what grinds my gears, Wirzard is right i dont even phone up if the photos are rubbish or the car is disgusting (i managed to sell a merc a190, and it had to be spotless)

When i sell my cars i usually give a quick wd 40 spray on the exterior paint, gives a nice shine even on faded paint for a week.

When I sold my car, I cleaned and waxed it. Cleaned under the hood, around gas cap and under trunk lid. The car looked better than it did when the dealership sold it too me. I also had maintenance done. I spent money but I had no problem selling it when the person looked at it. I believe if you want to sell the car bad enough, whatever it takes to make it look and smell good will be done to get rid of the car asap.

Your a great man Car Wizard!

Get your junk out of your truck..LOL Always have a nice spare tire.. with out holes..!! I have bought many dirty vehicle (442s, GTO, SS, Mercedes) that were dumpsters but were smokin deals for less than $3000. After cleaning, repairs and tuning these were diamonds !!!

I use Simple Green to do an initial cleaning under the hood on a cold engine along with an old, soft tire brush to get the more obvious areas. Once it's dry, I'll spray tire foam on all the black painted areas and wipe them down. It gives the same nice finish on painted areas and hoses as it does on tires. It also works great on any black plastic trim on the body and bumpers, and if you hit the wheel wells with a good coat, they almost look like brand new!

Pledge spray furniture polish is great to clean and polish a car body, chrome, and glass before selling. It's also excellent for cleaning the interior including the plastic over the gauges (it removes dirt from the clear plastic without scratching it). Just choose a scent other than lemon - you don't want your car smelling like a lemon.

Wizard is now the King of the tube with regular uploads. Well done and congratulations for your consistency.✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅✅

A few more tips on how to make ur car presentable: 1. If something has popped out, pop it back in. 2. Lube up the hinges (doors, hood, and trunk, sunroof) so they're smooth and don't squeak when someone opens it. 3. Have ALL of your paper work out and ready (service receipts, the window sticker, title, etc). 4. Answer questions honestly, it's so obvious when people blatantly lie about their car. 5. Be respectful, if you have room, have the car in a garage so it isn't too hot or cold for the buyer. If the buyer asks you to make sure it's cold, keep that in mind. 6. Don't have 6 million air fresheners in the vents and on the mirror, it tells buyers you are a grimy person. 7. Clean the door jambs, it shows you really care for your car, it's often missed and makes a massive difference. 8. Leather should not be shiny, don't go using a plastic cleaner on leather, I want my ass on a smooth seat, not some shiny, grimy seat that you've drowned in armor all. 9. When it comes to writing the ad, don't have a ton of spelling mistakes, it says a lot about you if there are periods missing and stuff.

Hi Wizard, you should also mention that the crevices should be cleaned of leaves or other natural detritus. It’s amazing how many people neglect to clean that kind of stuff out.

Sometimes when the vehicle is dirty..... You kind of think of two possibilities... Either you're going to Save 500 to 1,000 because you can tell him you're going to take it to a detailer shop..... But the other thing is going to be..... Did they actually do maintenance on the car....

The only time I have ever sold a car is when I am at the dealership and they "trick" me into trading it in on a new car. It's still usually pretty clean anyway since I don't leave trash or dirty rags in it though. I always tell them I wasn't really planning to trade my car in, I was just looking.

Here' in the UK things are not usually this bad, although people often spend half an hour tidying the car up before sale - when it's clear that they've not spent much time keeping it clean while they've owned it. So there's lots of ingrained dirt in the carpets and seats, even though they have remembered to throw the old newspapers and sweet wrappers out.

I think Mrs. Wizard did pretty good. You guys are great. Great concept.

18:47 - I was really hoping it would be Orange Soda for Wizard to drink haha

I remember back in ‘86 my dad and me went to purchase a Chevy pick up and when we were test driving it I told my dad that I smell fish. We stopped about mile from we started and we found a bag full of empty oysters in the back of the seat. Dad ended purchasing the truck because he needed it and the guy actually gave him a great price. Later we found that he was an oyster fisherman. But like you said just clean it and if you know you are nose blind bring someone and ask if it smells bad and just a little air spray will do something to the odor.

Yes all of the car is important with detailing but if there's two things that really sort of really stand out it's "windows & wheels"

I think you being in the military helped with you being able to keep a tight ship and everything in order This is true of many people they’ve been in the military they’re very disciplined and keeping things clean and organized

This is so true! It doesn't take a long time to make your ride not look like a giant turd. I honestly feel guilty if I drop my truck off for service and I don't at least clean it bare minimum. Makes it easier for the techs to work on your ride. Also, they see that you take care of your ride, so they tend to take better care of it. My brother and I were looking for older square body trucks this past summer and we looked at 4-5 of them and they were all just so filthy. It blows my mind someone asks 4-6k+ for a truck and they can't even wash it. Honestly the determining factor why we ended up passing on all of them.

Let me go in a different direction. If you're going to sell your car please make sure you get all of your personal information out of the car. I just purchased a car not too long ago and it had all the previous owners information in the glovebox right down to their home address and bank information. Take 30 min and go through your car and make sure all of your personal belongings are out of the car.

A guy once drove a Mercedes 40km to my driveway to sell it. The car was unwashed, he had smoked inside the car and the ash tray was overflown with ash and cigarette buds. I sat in the car, stood up immediately and welcomed him back home. My wife was laughing at my facial impression lol.

It is amazing how many people lack common sense when it comes to cleaning a car for sale or as a matter of fact clean anything you want to sell.

Presentation - it if looks clean and well kept on the outside, then you will think it is well maintained mechanically. Similarly if it is a bomb on the outsde then you would expect it to be just as neglected inside and mechanically. Regards George

Went to look at a Monte Carlo once and the guy had let a gallon of gear oil spill onto he carpet. The smell was nasty but it kept the trunk from any rust. Needless to say I talked him way down.

I often think to myself, 'If I could drive any of the cars that are in the Wizard's shop today, for a few hours, which would I choose?'. It would be that Cadillac because it's just so different to anything you could easily purchase or rent in the UK (where I live).

That's a very nice Cadillac Fleetwood but if you want to get top dollar for it spring for a nice set of whitewall tires, it looks cheap with the blackwalls. At least the spare is a whitewall ☺

I think this is a gray area in way, depending on how dirty and the purpose of the car (daily driver vs collector). If I'm just replacing my '98 Honda civic with a bit newer model, I'm not paying you an extra $500 just because you cleaned the '05 I'm replacing it with.

Yeah, I'm looking for a used car right now and a specific one. I'm ignoring several on marketplace because they couldn't even be bothered to clean the trash out of the interior for the pictures.

But, uh, Wizard, I would seriously replace the spare before you sell it.

Has anyone else test driven at a car at the dealership before they “detail” it.

I love your Videos. Keep up the great work! BTW it is common sense 1:08, sadly those people either lack it or just don"t care enough to put in the effort...

Oh man, my wife's '69 Cadillac Miller Meteor hearse got wrecked and it broke her heart because it was easily as nice as your Brougham, and looked lots like it. Now I am inspired to get her another one. I don't think it'll fit in my garage, though.

How about just taking it to a $5-$10 car wash and wiping down the interior?

Since the beginning of this channel THIS IS MY VERY FAVORITE UTUBE CHANNEL There might be quite a few really good ones NOTHING COMPARES WITH THIS CHANNEL 😁 Nothing

10:35 For continuity sake, I would've rotated that spare tire 180° so that it fit in to the dirty side of your "for sale" vehicle. LOL

The problem is: Not everyone cares as much about cars/trucks as we (people that appreciate them) do. To most of the FB Marketplace folk, it's just a way to get from A to B - A hunk of metal. To them, it's a car. To us, it's something more. Every car has a story and a personality. These are the same people that neglect oil changes, ignore check engine lights, fill their car with shitty air fresheners, put a Wal-Mart steering wheel cover on and cover the back of the car with ugly decals and tacky bumper stickers (whilst the rear windshield wiper hangs broken, of course.) These are not people that actually CARE about their car.

If I could help The Car Wizards clean up his Caddy I would pack up the Hash Pipe with Rocky and get all schmoked up.

I just bought my 19th car, I’ve bought new and used and I’ve been amazed over the years how poorly presented some cars have been when I went shopping. Most dealers and many private sellers do try to make their car look its best. However, too many times I have been shown trash filled cars that immediately give me a bad vibe. If they won’t even bother to clean out the trash - then you know they also don’t believe in maintenance. Don’t get me started on the dealers who do no prep - that tells me they consider buyers to be stupid.

Let's say you have a decent job and make $20/hr after taxes. Even a cheap $2,000 car equates to 100 hours of hard work at a job. Not just 100 hours, but 100 hours worth of *spending money* set aside. Most folks work the majority of their work week to pay off bills and expenses. So essentially you have to work full time for *months* before you will have $2,000 just laying around to spend. Yet folks won't take 45 minutes to even clean their car before selling it. A clean car vs a dirty one can up the value hundreds of dollars, but people would rather work at their job an extra 20 hours than take 45 minutes in their driveway to clean it up and top off the fluids and air up the tires.

When cleaning my 97 lumina, I’m a sucker for shiny tires. They just compliment a clean car. Edit: “it’s not common knowledge to clean your car, I can prove it” these are words of truth.

Even before I watch this video, I keep my vehicles 100% cleaned and maintained. I had a mechanic who wouldn't work on my truck because he may get it dirty. I use a tooth brush to clean them.

Car Wizard is a good man.

Only critique is I personally believe if you do have any major oil leak or coolant leak issues I think it’s better to be up front with someone and tell them and not try to hide it and potentially really screw someone over

I remember a German car-show who went and had a used (and rather tired looking) 3-series BMW appraised by a pro. First round of appraisal was the car as it was, unwashed, uncleaned and with a few minor imperfections (cigarette burn on the seat, etc.). Then they gave the car to a detailer and spent around $700 on getting it cleaned, waxed and on fixing it up cosmetically. The appraisal after the visit to the detailer was around $1,500 higher - and that was just for making the car look presentable. Does that mean you will actually get that additional money from a buyer every time? Not necessarily ... but from personal experience I can only agree 100% with the Wizard that you should never, ever try to sell a car that's dirty or still has your stuff flying about the interior. Besides money, it's just bad form and borderline disrespectful when you treat your potential customer this way.

Nice content. I prefer buying a mechanically nice car and doing the detail work myself because most people won't clean the car as good as yourself , the way you like to have a vehicle cleaned. Structural integrity is most important to me when buying classic cars, barn finds included!😁🇺🇸👌

My old boss had one of these and he would lay his burning cigar down on the leather seat. He filled the back with takeout papers and cups and never washed it that I knew of. I guess rather than clean it out he traded it in on a new one. He was a multi millionare and owned several businesses across the US. He treated me really well, but his car... not so much. I'm on the lookout for a Lexus myself...an LS-460...

I do car detailing in a Kia dealership and your right. 9 out of 10 car that we get in exchange is dirty as f***. For my part it is not the selling part but the obvious fact that those person are nasty and I would never even enter in their home