How do I sell my used car?

In My Humble Opinion
1

For the purposes of this thread consider me utterly naive, a babe in the woods when it comes to buying and selling things. Also consider me paranoid, jumping at shadows and fearing the most farfetched possibilities of getting screwed in some way.

I have a 1993 Honda Civic EX 2-door coupe (top o’ the line) with almost 140,000 miles on it. Bought a new car and ready to sell the old one. I resisted trading it in, thinking I could get more for it by selling it privately.

It’s been beautifully detailed, engine steam-cleaned, and it’s in good condition. The clutch assembly was replaced a couple of weeks ago, and the timing belt was replaced at 90,000. No other major work done or needed. It was in a minor accident several years ago, the front corner hit when it was parked. The corner panel and headlamp were replaced, and the entire left side repainted (achieving a really perfect color match - metallic black). There is long and noticable paint scrape down the right side, and a small dent in the front of the hood. It drives so nice, I hate to sell it.

So how do I go about doing this? I’m figuring on placing an ad in AutoTrader magazine (both print and online), choosing a price based on what other similar cars are going for. I’m thinking $3500, being quite willing to come down to $3000 and possibly $2500.

How do I transfer the title? What form of payment should I accept - only green cash money, a cashier’s check, or (I think not) a personal check? What happens if the car blows up as the buyer is driving off? What happens if (say) the steering wheel comes off in his hands on the freeway, and he’s killed, do I get sued/arrested? (Assuming there are no problems that I know about, and such an event was unforseeable.)

I assume I should be in the car for all test driving? What if someone wants to borrow it to have a mechanic look it over?

Aaaarrrgggh! It seems like such a scary, complicated process. I’m almost wishing I’d traded it in for the $500 they would have given me.

2

What about the IRS? Do I have to report the sale as income or is it just my own bidness?

3

From Edmunds:

From AAA:

Gee, thanks a lot guys :rolleyes:

Anyway I’m just checking in because I’m in the same boat, thinking about selling the silver bullet.

4

The Auto Trader or classifieds work well for cars in that price range. I happen to have a '95 Civic Si (the loaded hatchback) that I’m considering selling, and from what I’ve seen, your price sounds about right. You might also try a classified on carsdirect.com or cars.com.

As far as actually selling, I’m assuming you own the car outright, so write up a bill of sale, get everyone to sign it when you get the money, make sure it’s dated, and details the car’s VIN number, selling price, and anything else you can think of. The car’s title should have instructions on it. When I sold my CRX in Oregon, I only had to sign the back of the title. It’s then up to the new owner to go to the DMV and get the title in their name.

5

We successfully sold our '93 Honda via Autotrader. Our local paper was a bust, and so was Stoneage. But I hear different media are more or less successful depending on the make of the car and the area.

I found that a site called carbuyingtips.com had some very good advice about selling a used car. The kind of sound, practial advice you are looking for.

6

Autotrader is good because the people who read it are usually motivated buyers. If your price asking price is reasonable (looks like it is) and your car is in good condition you will sell sooner.

Make sure your car is insured and the plates are current. Not many will buy a used car without a test drive. Considering all the whackos out there, you have to decide whether or not to insist on accompanying the prospect on the test drive. I’d let him go alone.

Payment is tricky. To protect himself, the buyer will usually bring a bank check payable to him OR you at the time of the delivery.

Another selling option is to take your car to the various used lots in your area to see what they’ll pay. If nothing else, you can use this as a floor price if you do sell it on your own.

Be prepared for phone calls at inappropriate times and a relatively low percentage of your appointments to actually show up, leading to wasted weeknights and weekends. That’s part of why you should expect more money vs a trade-in.

IME selling used cars, those who don’t walk away from high mileage cars are generally either extremely appearance conscious or looking for a cheap car. Based on what you’re asking, it should look pretty spiffy.

Many new car dealers consider a trade-in to be saleable on their own lot if the trade is fewer than 10 model years old and has fewer than 100,000 miles on the clock. Exceptions abound, of course, but that’s the general rule. Your new car dealer probably would have sold your car to a wholesaler, but that’s no reason to try to steal it from you.

There aren’t a lot of nine year old Honda Civics with 140,000 miles on them going through the dealer auctions today, so it’s hard to appraise, but $500 was a really weak call, especially if the new car dealer from whom you bought sells Honda or imports. Pretty insulting, I’d say. If you are averse to selling your car on your own (many are) next time I’d keep your trade in the deal and push harder for a lot more money for the trade. It’s always good to let the dealer know that you are going to take his best number to the competition if it seems like he’s holding back on your trade.