Car interior photography: the shots that make buyers trust a used car
Buyers read the inside of a car as its service history. How to photograph seats, dashboard, boot and the small details so the interior sells the car rather than raising questions.
Clean it like someone is about to sit in it
Vacuum the carpets and mats, wipe the dashboard and door cards, clean the inside of the glass and empty every pocket, cup holder and the glovebox. Take out the air freshener, the phone mount and the parking permit. A camera makes crumbs and dust far more obvious than your eye does, and a buyer who sees a dusty dashboard assumes the rest was neglected too.
Open the doors and let the daylight in
A car interior is a small dark box. Open the doors on both sides, and the boot, and shoot in bright, soft daylight, not direct sun. Direct sun through one window leaves half the cabin in deep shadow. Park facing away from the sun, or shoot on an overcast day, and avoid flash, which puts a harsh white spot on the nearest surface and leaves the rest dark.
Shoot the front seats from the back
The most useful interior photo is often taken from the rear seat, looking forward over the front seats to the dashboard. A professional car photographer, Kevin McCauley, made this point in a Motor1 interview: in a saloon a natural steering wheel shot is hard to get, but from the back seat you almost always get a good picture. It shows both seats, the centre console and the dash in one frame.
Give the seats more attention than the steering wheel
The same photographer argued that seats tell a buyer more about a car than the dramatic steering-wheel shot does, because seats show the ownership history. Photograph the driver's seat bolster, which wears first, the seat base and the back seats from the opposite door. If the seats are leather, show them in soft light so creasing is visible but not exaggerated.
Switch the ignition on for the dashboard
Turn the ignition to the position where the screens light up and the warning lights have cleared. Then shoot the instrument cluster and the infotainment screen straight on. A dark screen looks broken. A screen with a warning light on invites a question you would rather answer in person.
One clear, readable odometer shot
Buyers will check the mileage against the listing. Give them a sharp close-up of the odometer with the number readable. If the car shows the mileage on a digital display, make sure the display is on the odometer page, not the trip counter.
The boot, empty, with the floor lifted if there is a spare
Photograph the boot open and empty from the rear, with the parcel shelf in place. Then lift the floor and show the spare wheel or the repair kit. Families and tradespeople check the boot before anything else, and a boot photographed full of someone's belongings reads as a car that has not been prepared.
The controls buyers actually touch
A close-up of the steering wheel controls, the gear selector, the climate controls and the window switches shows wear in the places hands go. Shiny, polished buttons on a high-mileage car tell the buyer it has been looked after. Worn ones tell them the truth, which is still better than finding out in person.
Show the stains and tears
A cigarette burn, a torn seat bolster or a stained carpet will be found at the viewing. Photograph it clearly and mention it in the description. Buyers who see it and still come are not going to walk away over it, and the ones who would have walked away save you an hour. Our post on honest car photos covers why this works.
Keep the same order on every car
Front seats from the back, driver's seat, rear seats, dashboard with ignition on, odometer, boot, boot floor lifted, controls, flaws. Shoot them in the same order every time and the interior section of every listing on your lot reads the same way. Buyers comparing two of your cars can compare like with like.
The outside of a car gets the click. The inside gets the phone call. Buyers scroll through exterior shots quickly, then slow right down on the seats, because that is where they can see how the car was treated. Interiors are also where most listing photos are weakest: dark, cluttered and shot from the wrong seat. Here is how to do them properly with a phone.
Daylight through open doors, a clean cabin, seats before steering wheel, screens on, mileage readable, boot empty, wear shown. The interior will never be the lead photo, but it is the set that turns a click into a visit.