Selling Your Car
How do I determine the asking price to sell my car?
The best way to determine the asking price for your vehicle is by doing your research. Go to sites like kelleybluebook.com, intellichoice.com, nadaguides.com and see a rough idea on a national basis what the vehicle is worth in the marketplace. Also spend time in your local area. Look at autotrader.com. Look at local newspapers and see what your vehicle represents in that particular area. Then take a rough idea around those numbers to what you think your vehicle is worth, being very honest with yourself, knowing what sort of thing you still need to do; repairing scratches or dents or performing other maintenance. Once you have all this information you'll be able to get an accurate estimate on how much your car is worth.
How much should I expect to spend to sell my car?
As you prepare to sell your vehicle you need to budget time and money for preparation. So, number one you're going to need to have the vehicle cleaned up, whether that means doing it yourself or taking it to a professional dealer. This will mean both time and money being involved. Depending on where you list the vehicle, there could be some charges for posting the vehicle on different websites or in the classified section of the newspaper. Therefore there's going to be some budget you'll need to set aside for that as well.
How do I sell my car to a private buyer?
The first thing to do when selling your car is to get the vehicle ready to sell. Get the title ready to make sure the car is clean and that you have all the necessary paper work with it. Next, advertise the vehicle, then negotiate a price for the car so that you can sell it and that people will want to buy it. Also, if they pay for the car with a check, make sure the check clears before you give them the car.
When should I cancel my insurance on the car I'm selling?
When selling your car, after the person has paid you for the vehicle and they've taken the keys and driven off, you need to make sure you contact your insurance company or your agent right away and get that insurance cancelled. This is because that vehicle is now the responsibility of the new owner. If they drive it around the corner from your house and have an accident with it still licensed, registered and insured to you as the owner, then your insurance company is going to be responsible. So, make sure you cancel your insurance and alert your agent as soon as possible the vehicle is no longer your responsibility.
How do I sell my car if I don't have the title?
If you don't have the title for the vehicle that you're looking to sell, you're going to have to take some additional steps. You're going to have a little extra work. First and foremost, you'll need to go to your lender to get an additional copy of that lien paperwork and the title for the vehicle, because that title is then going to need to be signed off by you such that the Department of Motor Vehicles can now re-register the vehicle in the new person's name. That's the first part of it. The second part of it is, you may negotiate the sale of the price such that any balance you owe on the vehicle is going to be taken over by the new buyer. Now, this isn't as easy as it sounds because you'll, the new buyer will actually have to approved by your current lender to take on that new amount. They need to have their own credit check done, their own pre-approval process, and be approved by your lender for taking on that amount. So it can be done, it's a little bit more work than you would hope for.
How do I protect myself from strange prospective buyers?
Protecting yourself from flacid or strange prospective buyers is a really serious consideration. When you're listing the vehicle and going to sell it in the market place, only provide the information you absolutely need to, don't give your address or home phone number, you only want to provide enough information so a prospective buyer can contact you and you can set up a place to do your negotiations. When somebody contacts you to buy your vehicle and they want to see the vehicle, it's probably a safer idea to meet in a neutral place, maybe a parking lot of a local grocery store, a post office, or a workplace, something that's public so that if there is an issue you will be able to get help and also it doesn't obviously show any insights into your personal life that a person could take advantage of down the road. It's good policy to only provide your cell phone number for contact or an email address that keeps you anonymous as well as set up some place neutral to meet so there's no fear of privacy theft. Most importantly as you're going through the selling process, follow your intuition, if you feel that this person has something shady going on or you feel like they're rushing the project so that they can just get the vehicle out of your hands and get on to something else, you probably want to back off of that deal because there's a good chance something's going to come around and bite you afterwards, so make sure that you do a gut check and if you feel like you can trust this person and you feel like they're treating this process above board, then carry on, but if at any point you feel like you're being taken advantage of, you're in charge of the process and you can always stop the negotiations right there, thank them for their time, and tell them that you're going to sell your vehicle to somebody else.
How should I clean my car before selling it?
Before you sell a vehicle, it might be smart to think for a moment about vehicles that you've purchased in the past, or ones that were attractive to you. There's a very good chance that one that looked like it hadn't been taken care of or possibly neglected, is going to be one that you have more questions about, regarding how well the person has maintained the vehicle. It's very important to make sure that you've got the car as clean, correct and as stock as possible when you're going to sell the vehicle. It's very worthwhile to budget into your price a professional detailing. Make sure you not only have all the carpets cleaned, but provide some sort of disinfectant or fragrance in the vehicle so it smells fresher and cleaner. Keep the windows of the car open as much as you can to circulate new fresh air through there. The often neglected thing is the engine compartment itself. All buyers are going to want to lift up the hood, have a look at the engine and look for oil leaks or exhaust leaks etc., so have that be part of something you're proud of, and have that area of the car be clean and almost showroom fresh. That can really go a long way when selling a car, especially in maintaining a price that you want come negotiation time.
What should I do after I close the sale of my car?
Once you've actually closed the deal on selling the car, you want to make sure that procedurally you get the insurance cancelled as soon as possible. It is very important to let your insurance know that you are no longer responsible for that vehicle. The other part of selling the car is somewhat an etiquette matter. Be respectful to the buyer: you've just gone through a negotiation process with this person, you've developed a level of rapport and trust with this person, so it might be good to keep yourself available. Mention to them if there's something they have a question about, you'll still be available to them over the next few days if they have questions. It's not something you want to open up for the next year, because obviously new wear and tear issues are not going to be your concern or consideration. I think it's just good etiquette, or just fair business practice, not to just take the money and run after selling your car, and don't violate that level of trust that you've established with your buyer.
What should I do if my car is not selling?
If you've had your vehicle up for sale for some time and you're not getting any bites -- you're just not getting any good buyers whatsoever -- you might need to look at how it's being presented. Are the photographs attractive? Are you really highlighting the best parts of the vehicle? Look up at the write-up you've included. Have you been fair in your analysis of the vehicle? Have you been fair in its condition? Have you listed all of its specifications correctly? Because if there's mistakes there, people are going to think that you're being dishonest in the sales process and may not ever contact you. So, first check out how you've presented the vehicle to the marketplace. Then, of course, the last bit is look at the price itself. It's been your baby for how many years? Potentially, the market does not see it at the same level of value. So you may need to adjust the price down in order to get closer to what the market value is. And then, as the last resort, take it to a used-car dealer, because that person is looking to be providing new inventory for their own sales efforts, and they have cash in hand. They won't give you the best price for it, but at least the vehicle is going to be sold.
