Tips for selling your car

[Tacori E-ring]

My first car I literally drove it into the ground. I donated the remains. My second was totaled in a car accident. So, this is my first time attempting to sell my own car. Any tips or hints?

 

[mary poppins]

Do some research regarding the value of your car by checking out Kelly Blue Book and Edmunds.

Do not meet prospective buyers by yourself or at your home. See if you can get someone to accompany you and meet at a public place. There are a lot of creeps out there.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Thanks Mary. That is good advice.

 

[mary poppins]

You're welcome.

Also, look for comparables on craigslist, ebay and car trader websites for pricing.

Good luck!

 

[asscher_girl]

I've sold 2 cars using Craigslist (one of them was sold in less than 24 hours!) and I've purchased one car from a Craigslist add. These were all very nice Acuras too. The one I purchased, I saw it once/test drove it and then I had the owner take it to my mechanic the next day to have a full inspection, it worked out nicely. Both cars that I sold, I had them meet me at our house (but we were living in large complexes at the time so they wouldn't know which one was exactly ours), they then test drove and one person made an offer on the spot (paid cash, took the car right then - that was the 24 hour sale). The other car was a bit more expensive, they test drove, thought about it for a few hours, came back and bought it (that time they gave me a check, it was issued by their bank though so I felt more comfortable with that).

To price both cars, I used Craigslist and Kelly Blue Book.

Is Craigslist widely used in your area? Before I moved to CA I'm not sure if I would have used CL as it wasn't as popular in the last city/state I lived in.

Good luck!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Are you planning to buy another vehicle? My husband recently got a new car and surprisingly, after he visited a few dealerships, he was able to get a better deal by trading his previous vehicle in rather than selling privately.

He did try CL and the scams were just so out of control. It's like CL is a magnet for scammers these days. I think it's worse than ever and you will possibly could be flooded with fake emails. I put a piece of exercise equipment up and at least 20 "people" sent me odd bogus messages and I didn't even know who to reply to.

 

[Okie_girl]

Do you have Carmax in your area? If so, it may be worth a trip. They will inspect your car and give you an offer to purchase it. The offer is typically good for one week, so you can shop around a bit before you commit. When I purchased my last car, I took my old car to Carmax and used their offer to negotiate at the dealership. I know I could have made more by selling my car myself, but it was worth it to me not to have to deal with the hassle.

 

[EricaR]

Just last week my husband got a better deal from CarMax than he could have gotten selling it on his own, at least according to KBB. Carmax said they sell very well and so are willing to pay more than it is technically worth.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Thanks everyone. I am not having much luck on CL. It is popular in my area but it seems dealers flood CL so my listing gets lost very quickly. I was told to try autotrader.com. I haven't tried carmax yet. Do I need to make an appointment?

 

[Okie_girl]

Thanks everyone. I am not having much luck on CL. It is popular in my area but it seems dealers flood CL so my listing gets lost very quickly. I was told to try autotrader.com. I haven't tried carmax yet. Do I need to make an appointment?

Tacori, no need to make an appointment at Carmax. Just show up and they'll have someone look at your car. Allow about an hour, but depending on how busy they are, may not take that long.

 

[manderz]

One tip for selling it yourself.... Clean it! Make sure it's impeccable. It makes all the difference. I feel as though it makes the car seem as if it's in better shape than it is when you can tell it's been recently detailed (gives off the impression that it was well maintained, too). Also, take lots of detailed photos. I bought my current car from autotrader, and FI has bought 2 cars so far on ebay.