Selling my car soon - any tips?

KBB the muthafucka

Dont leave this guy alone with it
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2000899/Man-admits-'having-sex'-with-1,000-cars.html?source=rss&67

I spent a grand on fixing up my barely used 2002 Toyota Corolla, but I got $8500 for it, which was waaaay more than I would have gotten if I just wanted to sell it to a dealership ASAP. Then again, mine only had 27,000 miles on it. Still, as long as you haven't raked up major mileage, I'm sure you'll find a buyer for it. Probably not $8500.

Tip: Don't just rely on Craigslist. Pay the $40 or so to get in on Auto Trader. FAR more people call up. The downside is: FAR more people call up. And most will completely flake on you. However, at some point, one won't, you'll work it out, and before you know it, cash money cash money.

Tip #2: slighty inflate the price in the ad, so that you can bargain down to what you expected to get for it.

in 2002 i sold my corolla w/185,000 miles and a dead battery on autotrader in one day for $1000 - it was parked at my dads house in boston and he got really mad at me that it was there

If you sell it yourself make sure you write up a sales agreement. Include the words "as-is condition". Give a receipt. You may want to insist on letting the check clear before handing over the title. Be friendly about it, but protect yourself from fraud.

Clean, clean, clean. You can add a grand to the value just by making it shine.

I was gonna say, Armor All!

Car Max or Auto Trader?

My car has about 80,000 miles on it. It looks okay but has a few scratches and I suppose I could maybe spring for a paint job if it increased the value. Worth it?

what's kbb?

Carmax will give you the same price whether you're just selling or trading in. When I traded in last year, it was a fair price. I might have made a couple hundred more selling it on Craigslist or Autotrader, but it was just easier to let them take it off my hands.

The difference between $2000 and $2200 is way different than $7000 and $10000, though. I guess the more valuable your car is, the more you'd probably want to sell it properly instead of just quickly.

kbb=Kelley Blue Book

My car is not that valuable. It's a 2008 Toyota Yaris that has never needed any serious work but has the inevitable wear that comes with 5/6 years of driving in Los Angeles. I'm not looking for the absolute best price but I am also not looking to be ripped off.

Bought it new and would spend a few hundred on cleaning and paintwork if it would raise the price by a grand, let's say

Oh and I won't be trading it, just selling.

I would say
1. Know what it's selling for. Check KBB, Autotrader, Craigslist.
2. Take it to Carmax and see what they offer. If it's not even in the same ballpark, walk.
3. Sell it yrself.

Not to sound like cap'n save a Carmax, but I was definitely impressed with that company, especially considering how shady car selling/buying usually is.

Thank you!

Selling it myself is not a route I would like to take, but I guess it depends. I've been selling off furniture and other stuff this week and even small things are such a hassle to get rid of when you are dealing with strangers from the internets.

If it's sorta dirty inside, a good detail job might bump up your price a little bit. Don't go crazy with the Armor All, though. Unless your paint is in terrible shape, it won't detract from your offer.

Another question.

My CD player and mini jack both need repair. Is it worth spending the few 100 on that before taking it to Car Max? This would be on top of detail, fluids, etc.

How does one transfer a title from private owner to private owner? How much does it cost?

i have a 2013 mustang gt that i bought four months ago and need to sell. can i just take it to some sleazy lot and get them to give me, like, 70-80% of what i could get from a private sale?

i can't find any reasonable advice about this online--maybe because nobody is stupid enough to sell a brand new car outright after owning it for four months.

no private sale because i don't want the hassle of placing an ad... talking to people on the phone about it... having people come over and get me to open the hood and watch them look into the engine bay contemplatively... people fucking around on my time...

so this is a recipe for burning money

I'd buy that car if I could afford it...but I doubt I can. What color is it anyway

DEEP IMPACT BLUE

Oh ok...not my color but it sounds like a cool car!

I don't wear or drive blue for devout sports fan reasons

OK car guys, you've been super helpful so far, here's my final dilemma.

I am moving long distance next week and want to get rid of my car. I had it detailed, cleaned up and checked out. Did some research and got an idea of the price I would like for it. Took it to Car Max yesterday and got a pretty lowball offer, so I walked out, though the offer is good for 7 days. Looked into chipping my car instead and it is pretty expensive, plus I'm hoping to make do without my car on the other side (we are keeping my wife's car).

But today we got a cold call from a buyer/dealer who I guess had got our details from Car Max. He is interested in buying our car and we told him there is no way we would sell it for what Car Max is offering. He has a company site but it is just Wordpress and I can't find any other reference of them online, so I'm a little wary. He offered to drive us to his bank (Wells Fargo) and cut us a check right there if he wanted the car. I would love to sell this car but don't have a lot of time and am trying to figure out how not get scammed. Any thoughts? I've even gone back to thinking about just taking it back to Car Max and being done with it.

chipping=shipping

I threw a listing on craigslist and sold a car within a week, at a far higher price than Carmax offered. The flip side of course is that it takes more of your time, and you have to be willing to let prospective buyers test-drive your car. Also, ignore scam responses asking you to accept a wired payment or cashier's check in exchange for your car - accept only cash, Paypal, etc.

Paypal? I never would have thought of that. I'm looking for 6k-7k, which seems like a bit much to ask in cash...or is it? I dunno

You can also meet your customer at a bank or other real financial institution and have them deduct a check or electronic transfer from their account.

i bought my car with 8 grand in hundred dollar bills, it was fun as shit, we did the title change at the sears notary and i laid 8 gs on the dude straight up in the garden section next to the gazebos, you should do that

ok

do i need a notary? I don't know if we have sears in LA

in louisiana at least you have to have the title notarized when it changes hands. the sears dudes do the license plates and tax stuff too.