How to Sell a Car

Although it is possible to sell your vehicle to a car dealer, it is almost guaranteed that you will get more for your vehicle if you choose to sell it to an individual. While it does take more work to sell a vehicle to an individual instead of a dealer, the higher payment you receive for your vehicle should be worth the time and effort you invest into selling it.

Begin By Evaluating Your Vehicle

Before you can start looking for buyers, you need to perform an honest evaluation of your car. Not only will evaluating your car help you determine how much you should ask for your vehicle, but it will also help you estimate whether your vehicle will sell quickly or if it will take some time to find a buyer.

You can begin by doing a little bit of market research. You should look through recent classifieds and see how many vehicles similar to yours that you see. You can even call some of the owners of these vehicles and see if they have sold yet. The responses you get will help you gauge whether or not your vehicle seems to be a popular model. Additionally, you should note the prices of the vehicles that are similar to your own.

Once you are familiar with the current market, you can specifically evaluate your own vehicle. In addition to using the prices that other owners are selling similar vehicles for, you will want to use free online tools such as Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds to get an accurate estimate of how much your vehicle is worth. These tools will take factors such as the age, make, model, mileage and condition of your vehicle into account and provide you with an estimate of how much it is worth.

If you are concerned about buyer’s disputing the pricing of your car, you can also have it appraised by a qualified mechanic. Not only will this allow you to hold firm on your pricing (although most sellers price their cars slightly higher so that they are comfortably bargaining down) of the car, but it will also give your buyer’s confidence that the vehicle is in quality shape. You will also want to obtain a car history report, which can be done by using an online service known as Carfax.com. If you have any other documentation about your vehicle (such as maintenance orders, documentation of upgrades), you will want to have those available for the buyer to see also. Having these multiple pieces of documentation about your vehicle will help increase the confidence level of your potential buyers.

Spread the Word About Your Vehicle

Once you have performed a thorough evaluation of your vehicle, obtained all of the necessary documentation and found a price that you are comfortable selling your vehicle at, it is time to begin advertising your vehicle. Before you start advertising that your car is for sale, you will want to make sure it looks attractive and clean. You should clean all of the junk out of your vehicle, wash the exterior, vacuum the interior and dust off the appropriate sections of the interior. After you finish cleaning your car, you should take multiple pictures of the interior and exterior to use in your For Sale ads.

How you choose to advertise your car is up to you. Popular methods of advertising include placing a for sale sign in the vehicle, advertising on online classified websites (such as Craigslist), advertising in print classifieds (such as a local newspaper or Auto Trader), placing ads in busy locations (such as an office bulletin board) and using friends & family to spread the word that your car is for sale.

Interact with Potential Buyers

After you have begun to advertise your vehicle, you should begin to receive inquiries from interested potential buyers. In addition to meeting you and looking at the vehicle, many potential buyers will want to take the vehicle for a test drive. Obviously, you do not want to let them drive your vehicle alone (since they might not come back), so make sure that they have a valid driver’s license and ride along for the test drive (if this makes you feel uncomfortable, you could also have a friend or family member ride along in the back seat). Most potential buyers do not want to be pressured, so avoid the temptation to act like a salesman and simply be yourself and answer any questions the potential buyer may have to the best of your ability. Remember to let potential buyers know about all of the vehicle documentation that you have available for them to review.

Handling Offers

If a potential buyer is interested in purchasing your vehicle, they will make you an offer on your car. If the offer is much lower than your asking price, you can give them a counter offer that is lower than your original price but higher than their offer. If they insist on keeping their offer excessively low, don’t be afraid to say no to them; it’s your vehicle and you should be able to sell it for a fair price.

If you and a buyer do come to terms on a price, you will need to fill out a bill of sale, which will be signed by you and the buyer. You will also need to obtain a release of liability form from the DMV and properly fill it out. If you are unsure about any of the steps involved in the final stage of the car selling process, you will need to refer to your DMV for the details, as every state has different requirements.

The last step of the process is receiving your payment. You and the buyer will have to come to an agreement on this, but if they pay with a personal check instead of cash or a cashier’s check, you will obviously want to make sure that the check clears before you hand over ownership of your vehicle.

Once you have completed the necessary paperwork, received your payment and handed over the keys to your car, simply cancel your insurance coverage for that vehicle, and you will be done with the process of selling your car.