Times are tough, and the couple extra grand I’d get from selling my car outright vs. trading it in a the the dealer will come in handy. Except I’ve never sold a car before.
I still owe a very small amount on it, but not much.
So I advertise it, someone test drives it, (do you meet people in public? I am skeeved out by the thought of total strangers in my house) wants to buy it, then what? I don’t expect someone to be handing me over 14k in cash.
What sort of payment is best? I can’t get the title until the loan is paid off, can I still ask for payment without the title (as a buyer I’d be leery of that)?
What if they demand it be seen by their mechanic? I am not going to trust someone to take my car to their buddy Vinny’s shop or anything like that.
I’m aware of scams and I plan on only dealing locally and will not wire extra overage money to anyone’s ‘agent’ for shipping.
Geez. Now I know why trading it in is so attractive. This really sounds like a hassle.
We park our vehicles on the road in front of the house (lots of traffic) and someone pulls over to check it out. They never come into our house. You need to set a minimum that will satisfy your loan obligation, but other than that, sell it “as is”. Some people will bring a mechanic with them to check it out.
It’s always helpful to provide the maintenance records so the buyer knows if you’ve kept up with your oil changes, tire rotations, or any other regular maintenance.
Been through this a couple times, and most recently a year ago.
First off, though a hassle, and it may take a while, you will get more than “a couple grand” by selling it yourself than trading it in. The dealers lowball below lowball.
Step 1. Advertise. Craigslist is the obvious first choice - it’s free and you get lots of exposure. The downside is that there are these businesses that scan the Craigslist car ads and they will also contact you. You will likely be contacted by other online car sales websites enticing you to post your car on their site (for a fee). I tried two of them and only got one “bite”. Not worth it, but you can decide.
But I did advertise on AutoTrader. For a “until it sells” fee you not only get listed on their website (with photos), but you get an ad in their weekly printed version as well. I did get a couple bites from AutoTrader.
Be prepared for “bites” asking way low. It doesn’t hurt for these guys to try, and they never know when they’ll get lucky. Also be prepared for a LOT of flakes - people who sound very interested and are all set to arrange to see the car, and never show up.
In this economy, I wouldn’t get too greedy. Check out the Kelly Blue book value and be conservative. Then if people question your asking price, you can simply refer them to Kelly Blue book, and how you computed the value. It ends that discussion quickly.
Also because of the economy, be prepared for this to take a while. I finally got a fair price, but it took almost 5 months. (I also think this time of year is not the best. It gets better as summer approaches).
Step 2. Interested parties. I had no problem having interested people come to my house. For logistical reasons, I also met one party at an agreed upon location.
It is okay for them to bring along a mechanic/knowledgable friend to check the car out. But I would never allow them to take the car to a shop (and it never came up). Part of the agreement is “what you see is what you get”.
It is PERFECTLY acceptable for you to ride along during the test drive. I was always afraid of someone just taking off with my car. But include yourself along for the ride.
I keep all my service records, and I allow them to peruse them when they come look at the car. I let them know they will get all the records as part of the deal.
I’ve also found that full disclosure works best. Far better to tell them about any minor fender benders than to have their knowledgable friend notice some inconsistency and ask about it.
Step 3. The sale process. Typically if an interested party decides they want the car, they will give you a deposit (to be used toward payment) to “hold” the car. You can stipulate that if they don’t come up with the balance in such and such a date, the “hold” comes off and you will sell the car to another party if they come along. But typically they’ll cut you a (personal) check for a couple hundred (your call) to hold the car. Then they’ll go off and gather the balance. You don’t need to worry about how they’re doing that, you just want a certified check for the balance (not a personal check). You might also request that they get a certified check for the full amount, and when they produce it, you return their deposit check.
Step 4. Title transfer. When they have the check for the balance, you will need to transfer over the title. I’ve always owned my cars by the time I’ve sold them, so I’m not sure how it will work with your loan. I believe you will need to arrange an appointment for you and the buyer to meet at the loan office. You should contact your loan office to see how this is handled. I’m sure they will be well familiar with the process.
I have had all maintenance done at the dealer (they took care of that for 3 years/36,000 miles; it is only a short time out of warranty) and I doubt I have the records myself. Crap.
I have 3 sets of tires for this car (original high perf. runflats, snow, and high performance summer non-runflats) and am thinking about putting the original tires back on - but that would rule out test drives in any amount of snow.
What about the title and other paperwork? Should I pay off the loan before I put it up for sale? It’s do-able, but would be difficult without the money from the sale first (it’s about 4k; I don’t really have that laying around).
When we sold our old beater last year, we had a lot of lookers but for the first time, no quick sell (prolly because it was a “beater’s beater”). We ended up bartering with a looker. He sided our garage for $500 and the beater.
It’s always worth your while, financially. Dealerships will screw you every time. It’s really not very time consuming. I don’t know where you live or what the laws are regarding parking it in front of the house with a sign in the window, but for us, it was effortless.
Is your car loan at a local bank? If so, you will need to do the transaction there. The buyer shows up with the money, you with your title.
The buyer gives you the check and waits in the bank lobby. Then you talk to a banker, use the money to clear the loan and you will receive the balance. The bank will then lift the lien on the title and you give the clear title to the buyer.
Call your banker, they should be able to explain things better.
As far as the test drive. I’ll either go with them. Or tell them, “keys for keys”. They likely showed up in a car. I tell them that I’ll hold on to their car keys while they are on a test drive. It’s good insurance against them taking off with my car.
And this is why I love the dope . . you can always find something worthwhile on here.
I have sold a couple vehicles, one to a guy with a fake U.S. Bank check. I made it a selling point that I am not handing over the vehicle until said check clears for any of the transactions. He got caught . . arrested . . and the like.
Contact the dealer, and have them print out copies of your service records. It may take a while, but they should be able to do that for you.
I think the sale would simply be “easier” if you had the title. But the problem is that (if your DMV is like CA DMV) it may take a while for the paperwork to clear. So you’d have to wait for that before you could finalize the sale.
So I would not worry about paying off the loan before the sale. Again, my advice is to contact the loan people. I’m sure they’ve done this a zillion times and will know how you need to handle it.
Then last year, finances were tight and it was time to become a one-car family. We didn’t even hesitate this time – right onto eBay Motors went the car with the higher monthly payment. A week later I was Philadelphia International Airport picking up a gentleman who flew halfway across the country in order to buy my car (apparently, it’s very difficult to find a Ford Focus Wagon in Nebraska – go figure).
They’re my go-to folks for selling cars now, no doubt about it.
The loan is at Chase, so it isn’t local. And I’d be a little hesitant to hand over the keys to my car if the person showed up in a $500 beater…
Wow.
Really? There are many cars of my make/model on there and they don’t seem to be selling for much - in fact, less than what the dealer offered for trade-in yesterday (we had it appraised at the dealer where I am going to order my new car from (same make/model - I’m brand loyal). It also seemed that the only cars that were selling were the ones with salvage titles and those were going for a surprisingly high price.
Plus, I’m having a hard time dealing with an eBay flake that bought my laptop last week…it can be time consuming when someone won’t pay up.
I agree with most of what you said, but I’ve got to disagree with this. I’ve gotten a mechanic to check out every car I’ve considered buying. I suppose if I had a friend who was knowledgeable about cars, I could bring him along. Since I have to pay for that service, I have to bring the car in. I simply wouldn’t consider buying a car without having a professional give it a once-over. But, of course, you can make up your own mind. Just know that you may be limiting your pool of buyers by refusing the offer. Of course, any checking is on their dime.
I agree, but want to offer a different opinion. Consider the worst-case scenario: someone is going to steal or crash your car. Do you really want to be in the car when that happens? I don’t ride along on test drives, but I do get a photocopy of their drivers license beforehand.