How To Sell Your Old Car
So You Want To Sell Your Old Car Yourself?
If you do decide to sell your car privately it will get you the most money in your pocket, but can take several weeks or even months to get the money!
How Do You Figure Out How Much You Can Get For Your Old Car?
In reality, you can only get what someone will give you… But, a good place to start is to find out the current average value of the car.
The value of your car is based on its age, mileage and condition it is in. To find out what the average amount your car is selling for, go online to www.edmunds.com, www.kbb.com,
or nadaguides.com. You should also gauge the website values with real life values of a similar vehicle that is in the want-ads in your local newspapers.
Don’t worry about putting any repair work into the vehicle. You will never recoup the money. Just be honest about what it needs to the next owner. Most people who are purchasing a used vehicle expect to spend some extra money on minor repairs or maintenance service.
Remember that first impressions are very important!
Clean the inside and outside of the car as best as possible. Make sure you also clean out all your “stuff” from the door pockets, glove box, ash-tray, cubby-holes and under the seats. Don’t want to clean it yourself? If you take it to a professional car detailer expect to pay approx. $100.00 – $150.00 for a thorough job.
Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief rip
Gather all the car’s documents and put them in a folder. This should include all the service and repair records you have on your vehicle.
How To Market Your Car!
Tried and true is the classified section of your local newspaper. You can also list it on Craigslist.com, cars.com, eBay.com and / or autotrader.com
Use emotion words like luxurious, sporty, safe and reliable, etc. Describe the reasons why someone else would find your car interesting. Accentuate all the positives. For example, “one owner, nonsmoker, never had a dog in it, highway miles only, all service up-to-date with records to prove it, tires almost new, kept in garage,” etc.
Here are a couple of gorilla marketing ideas for you…
- Place posters on bulletin boards where lots of people will see them (grocery stores, country stores, health clubs, schools, Laundromats, etc.). The poster should list the features of your car, with tear off phone numbers on the bottom.
- See if there is a radio call in “swap and sell” show in your area.
- Ask everyone you come in contact with if they or someone they know is looking for a great used car. To give them incentive to find you a buyer, offer them a “bird dog fee” ($50.00) if they send you a qualified buyer who completes the deal.
- Park your car on a busy street with a detailed information sign in the window. Ask around to find out the local “hot spot” where sellers park their vehicles on the weekends.
When people start calling you…
- Be honest and forthright about describing your vehicle, but don’t dicker on the phone. The buyer needs to come and see what you are talking about before the selling begins.
- Make sure the cost of your vehicle is within their budget. If they can’t afford it, then don’t waste your time setting up a time for a test drive.
- {I am sorry that this still holds true: Women would be well advised to have someone along whenever they show a vehicle for safety reasons.
- When scheduling a test drive, don’t leave it casual, like “why not stop by anytime Wednesday.” The prospect may not show and you have wasted your day waiting for nothing. A good idea is to treat this as a job and give them two different choices: “I can show you the car 4:30 pm on Friday or 10:00 am on Saturday; which time is better for you?” Take notes and get a phone number to call back in case something comes up. This may also help you call back the person you liked the most with a lower price if you get desperate.
- If they come driving up like a wild cat in a run down vehicle, there is no law that says you have to let them drive your car. Any excuse is better than regretting later that you didn’t listen to that tiny voice!
- Write down the potential buyer’s driver’s license number and name before the test drive to make sure it’s current.
- Go on the test drive with the potential buyer. You don’t know who they are… and you don’t want anything to happen that you’re not aware of.
- Agree to have the vehicle taken to a mechanic for an inspection. Have them leave a refundable deposit before they take the vehicle away or you could ask them to give you the name and address of their shop to set up a time to take it there yourself. Give the buyer a dated receipt for any deposit given.
If They Want To Purchase Your Car…
- To firm up the deal, set a time limit for picking up the vehicle. If they don’t call or come by the deadline you have every right to sell it to the second person in line.
- Don’t release the vehicle, the title or the keys until the car has been paid for in full. Insist that the buyer gets a bank check. This is guaranteed by the bank and you can release the vehicle that day. Cash is the easiest and most secure way to go when possible.
- Once you sell the vehicle notify your insurance company to remove the car from your policy. Take off the license plates before they take away the vehicle. It’s a good idea to make sure the new owner has registered and insured it before they drive it away.
December 20th, 2008 at 12:13 am
In some states (such as CA) the license plates need to stay with the vehicle, and it’s a good idea to have the vehicle smog sheet on-hand to show the buyer. Also, a “release of responsibility” form is a very good idea to have on-hand, and have the buyer fill out before leaving. Submit it to the DMV immediately so that in the event of an accident or theft there’s no confusion as to who the responsible party is.
December 20th, 2008 at 6:11 am
Thanks for the heads up on Ca.
Would be interesting to gather all the different department of motor vehicle’s rules and regulations from across the US and compare. I bet it would be rather large.
I’d love to see a copy of CA’s “release of responsibility” form.
That would be a good thing for all sellers to have.
Can I get it off the CA DMV’s website?
December 20th, 2008 at 6:31 am
I think it’d be interesting to take that collective rules/regulations list to all of our own governments and perhaps get some standardization across the Country. I’m willing to bet States don’t have the same laws across the board because they don’t know what everybody else’s laws are. I moved to CA from NH, and it was quite a shock. In NH, you don’t even need a title to register a car, you aren’t required to have insurance, and as long as your vehicle is 15 years old or more, it doesn’t need to be smogged. To say I miss it is an understatement.
A release of liability is pretty informal, even here in ultra-strict California. It’s still a good idea. I usually simply use a sheet of paper that says something simple, like:
“I, [seller name] hereby release responsibility and liability of this [vehicle make & model] with vehicle identification number [vin #] to [buyer name].
Signed,
[buyer name] – Buyer
[seller name] – Seller”
And leave it at that. It’s more of a legal document for your own records than something the DMV requires.
December 30th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Hi Amy,
Louisiana will deduct the amount of the trade-in from the purchase price of the new vehicle, before sales tax [9%] are calculated. This may be something to check into in other States, before deciding to sell your own?
You may also do a dual transfer, through the dealership. This is where you trade the vehicle in, getting the tax advantage. The dealership then immediately transfers the trade-in to the other buyer. Many dealerships will do this at very little or no charge.
Thanks, great article!!
February 4th, 2009 at 11:42 am
Great info,
What about selling your car to a place like CarCash http://www.carcash.com , I have used car buying services like this to sell 2 of my old cars and works well. Quick and easy and no strange people at my door or calling me.