Get The Highest Dollar For Your Used Car

     Selling your car can be a stress filled process.  Maybe you have a large loan on the vehicle, and the new car dealer would not offer you enough money for your trade, so you need to sell privately to hopefully get a better price. Or maybe you have your car paid off, and have taken excellent care of it, and want to get a better price for it. 

    The first step in selling your car, is to research the value and come up with a selling price.  Keep in mind that people shopping for a used car from a private seller, may have trouble getting financing.  Banks generally do not want to loan money for a private car sale, and prefer that you buy a car from the dealer.  If you have a high value car you are trying to sell, be prepared to wait 1 - 2 months to sell it, since the buyers pool is much smaller as the price goes up.  I have listed $1200 cars and have gotten 50 responses in a week, and I have listed a $40,000 car and only received one reply.  Luckely that was the person who ended up buying the car, but you can see the effect that price has on the number of potential buyers.

     When I sell a car privately, I use a combination of online and offline advertising.  The internet is a great tool, but a flyer at a local grocery store or an ad in a local newspaper is still a good way to advertise.  Let's start with the offline advertising strategy first...

Offline Advertising

     Start with your local Auto Trader / Auto Locator type classified magazine.  Generally an ad costs $20 - $40 and should run for 1-2 weeks.  This will get your vehicle in front of local buyers.  Also consider putting up an ad in your local grocery store bulletin board and anywhere else where free advertising is permitted.  Here are a few tips when writing an ad like this...

Online Advertising

    I recommend listing your car online as well, to get the most potential buyers.  There are some special considerations when listing a car online.  How far is a buyer willing to travel to buy your vehicle?  Will they buy sight-unseen or drive a distance to inspect the vehicle?  I recommend you stay away from auction sites like Ebay unless you have an older collector car, which will generate a lot of interest.  Most late model cars do not sell well on Ebay and you run the risk of getting scammed too.  Sites like Cars.com are the best places to place an ad.   If you have a lease and want to get out of it, try SwapaLease.com.  You can buy, sell or trade leases, which is much better than paying penalties.

    A note about selling online...  You may get a lot of telemarketing calls from your online ads.  Most will be companies trying to buy your car at a low low cost, or offering to list it on another site.  I have received calls from competitors of Cars.com and services offering to list my car on Ebay.  As with most telephone offers, you have to be leary of scams, and I would follow my advice and keep your vehicle off Ebay unless you have a real collector car.