From your number plate to cash in hand — in three steps.

Step 1: Get your free online valuation

Head to our homepage, type your registration into the yellow plate, and click Get My Free Valuation. We’ll instantly pull your vehicle’s details from DVLA records — make, model, year, fuel type, transmission, MOT history — so you don’t have to fill any of it in yourself.

You’ll then be asked four quick questions:

• What’s the current mileage?
• What condition is the car in (Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor)?
• Does it have full service history?
• How many previous owners has it had?

Our pricing engine combines your answers with live UK auction data, current trade values, and our own buying activity in the Essex area to produce a fair, transparent offer in seconds. The whole thing takes about 60 seconds.

Step 2: Book your appointment

Happy with your price? Click Book My Appointment and choose:

• Where: Our Colchester (Marks Tey) centre or our Braintree (Lakes Innovation Centre) centre.
• When: Any available slot in the next two weeks. We have appointments seven days a week — yes, including Sunday.
• Who: Just leave us your name, email and mobile so we can send you a confirmation.

You’ll get a confirmation email with the address, your time slot, and a checklist of what to bring. The whole booking takes two minutes.

Step 3: Drop off, get paid, drive away

Turn up at your chosen centre at your booked time. Bring:

• Your V5C logbook (the registration document, sometimes called the green slip)
• One form of identification — for example a UK photocard driving licence or passport
• All sets of keys for the vehicle, including spare and locking wheel-nut keys
• Service history if you have it (paper booklet, digital records, or a print-out from your garage)
• A finance settlement letter if the car has outstanding finance

One of our buyers will spend about 15 minutes giving the car a visual check — that’s mileage, bodywork, interior, tyres, and any warning lights on the dash. Provided the car matches what you told us online, we pay you the full amount we quoted.

Payment is made by bank transfer using Faster Payments — funds usually clear in your account within minutes. If you’d prefer cash, just let us know in advance and we’ll arrange it.

What happens to the paperwork?

We handle everything. We’ll fill out the V5C transfer of ownership on the spot, post the relevant section to the DVLA on your behalf, and give you a written receipt confirming the sale. You’ll also receive an email confirmation for your records.

Within five working days, the DVLA will write to you confirming you’re no longer the registered keeper. At that point you can cancel your insurance and reclaim any unused road tax (the DVLA refunds this automatically).

What if my car isn’t in great shape?

We buy cars in any condition. Damage, high mileage, MOT failures, non-runners, cars with outstanding finance — we’ll make you an offer on all of them. The price simply reflects the work we’ll need to put in before resale or trade.

Honest tip: be upfront on the condition step in our online form. Quoting “Excellent” on a car with a dented door and worn tyres just means we’ll have to revise the price on the day, which is exactly what we’re trying to avoid.

What if I’ve got outstanding finance?

Around one in three cars we buy has outstanding finance. Here’s how it works: ask your finance provider for a settlement letter (it’s usually free and takes 24 hours). Bring it to your appointment.

If your settlement figure is lessthan our offer, we pay the lender directly and pay you the balance. If it’s more, you’ll need to pay us the difference (or we can’t complete the sale). We’ll never start the process without making this crystal clear up front.

Frequently asked questions

We’ve got a full FAQ page covering everything from documents you need, to what happens with your number plate, to whether we buy hybrids and electric cars (yes, we do).