Tips for selling a used car myself (USA)

August 12, 2009 11:32 AM

Does the hive mind have tips for selling a used car myself (USA)?

My elderly mother just quit driving, and I'm trying to sell her 2001 Chevrolet Blazer (Austin, TX area). I've plugged it into Kelly Blue Book and priced it slightly above what they recommended and am willing to go a few hundred dollars below the recommendation.

We put very clear signs in the car windows and keep it parked in front of our house on a fairly busy suburban street. Plus, we're driving it some just to get it out more. And, of course, we put it in Craigs List and plan to renew the ad every few days.

A lot of people now park cars for sale in public areas along major roadways, but I'm not crazy about that option because I don't really like the practice and for fear of vandalism or theft of parts (or less likely, theft of the vehicle itself).

What else should we be doing?

We're not in any hurry to sell, and we'd like to get as good a price as we can. Not opposed to options that cost money.

posted by tippiedog to travel & transportation (16 comments total)

Try listing it in the local Thrifty Nickel / Penny Saver paper. That seems like a popular and inexpensive option where I live.
posted by The Deej at 11:39 AM on August 12

Just to let you know, KBB values tend to be low for private sellers. Better to use Edmund's True Market Value.

When I sold my car recently, I purchased a carfax report for it and had several copies available for those who came to see it. I also paid over a hundred dollars to have the dirty, dirty interior (which I hadn't cleaned in . . . ever) professionally detailed. I'd say that both of those got me several hundred dollars more than I would have gotten otherwise, and I ended up selling it very quickly.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 11:45 AM on August 12 [1 favorite]

PhoB - KBB recommended $5035 for private seller. I just plugged in the data at Edmunds.com and they're recommending private sale price of $3500-4000.

Based on our minimal research, the $5000+ price has felt too high.
posted by tippiedog at 11:53 AM on August 12

I've had good luck with Craigslist, but I haven't used your pricing strategy. Instead, I priced my car at just what I thought it was worth, and explained that the price would drop if it didn't sell quickly. I listed recent repairs, and described the car's shortcomings in considerable detail in order to dispel any suspicion that I might be hiding something. Last time I did this, I had at least three people vying to pay my asking price for a rusted-out, 21-year old Volvo station wagon. I actually got fan mail from a craigslist reader who didn't want my car but was tired of seeing unreasonable asking prices and brazenly dishonest marketing. I've come to believe that people in the market for cheap / old cars can ill afford unexpected problems, so anything you can do to reassure them they're not being screwed is well worth doing.
posted by jon1270 at 11:53 AM on August 12 [3 favorites]

Previously.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:18 PM on August 12 [1 favorite]

I sold a car a few years back and posted it on CarSoup along with an honest assessment of it and a handful of nice clear pictures. I believe it cost me $25 to run it until it sold, regardless of how long it took. As it was, I was immediately inundated with phone calls and sold it within a couple days (I wasn't in a hurry either, but it was nice to get it off my hands so quickly). I had all the repair and maintenance records organized and available if anyone asked to see them, but no one did.

Once someone made an offer on it (they offered the full asking price, so I didn't have to do any negotiations), they wrote me a check (I can't remember the actual amount; maybe 10% of the price?) as a deposit to reserve it for them until the next day, when they came back with a cashier's check for the full amount, and I gave their original check back to them.
posted by anderjen at 12:20 PM on August 12

If all else fails off of riverside and pleasant valley on saturdays and sundays people just park cars on the side of a side street and people (mostly Mexicans (as in people from Mexico, as opposed to Mexican-Americans) look at and will buy there. I assume it's all cash deals, as i have never actually participated, but just ended up on the road watching people shop cars. It's next to the marqueta that used to be the gemini movie theatre.

It's been a couple of years since I have been over there though, so this may not still occur. Wouldn't hurt to check, unless you are squeamish about east riverside.
posted by djduckie at 12:40 PM on August 12

I am looked on with some awe in my family and circle of friends as able to sell anything swiftly for a good price. I have sold seven cars of various vintages on craigslist, my greatest coup (IMO) was off-loading a family member's ex-husband's terrifically ugly PT Cruiser for the KBB Good price.

I don't think I deserve the praise- what I do is pretty simple. I carefully evaluate the car and am scrupulously honest about the problems it has, going so far as to take detailed pictures of scratches and dings and bullet-point the problems.

I dig up as much paperwork as possible about the history of the car. The more receipts and the more complete the history, the better. I have sold several cars whose owners kept nothing; I had them hand-write as complete of a history as they could remember, including locations of service, and paid ~$30 for CarFax report for the car, which I would present in lieu of records.

Next, I would never agree to sell the car of someone who expected to get within a couple of hundred dollars of the KBB price. That price tends to not reflect reality too effectively, sometimes under and sometimes over the actual value. The problem here is being realistic, not the price. I would hunt around in the three craigslists closest to you to see what the prices of are cars approximately your age with approximately your miles. I'd also search on Autotrader.

Choose a realistic price that gives you the money your car is worth, but also makes it a decent buy for whoever is buying it. Don't price at above the KBB value, price it near what other cars are selling for. Take very good pictures.

Finally, reposting frequently on craigslist probably won't help you at all. I browse CL pretty frequently, and there are a couple of sellers who repost their printer, sewing machine, record collection, etc, every 12-24 hours. It doesn't sell, and there is a reason it isn't selling. I skip those ads, except when they get obnoxious enough for me to bother to click on them just to flag them.

Good luck!
posted by arnicae at 1:38 PM on August 12

I just sold a car on Craigslist last week, and had a tremendous response. My car was sold within 8 hours of being listed; if I hadn't been working that day, it probably would have sold in less than 3 hours.

Some things that I did that I felt helped:

- Take lots of high-res pictures, pick the best, then scale them down to size for easy web viewing. It's amazing how many people take crappy cell-phone photos (or none at all) and expect there to be interest.

- Be completely honest and upfront about the car's condition. Nothing will kill your sell quicker than having a potential buyer show up and you (the seller) having to say "Oh, yeah" a bunch of times as numerous flaws are pointed out.

- Price your car reasonably and realistically. Kelly Blue Book and Edmunds are good tools, but do a little research - what are other, similar cars priced?

- Be ready for a lot of flaky responses.

Good luck!
posted by doh ray mii at 1:51 PM on August 12

A combination of things will serve you well. I'd try the local paper and Craigslist.

A word of caution about Craigslist: Depending on the value of the car you may get a call within an hour or so of posting. They'll offer you cash in an amount that is lower than you planned on getting with the argument that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. These are people who try to buy cars for cheap, shine them up and then resell them. Be prepared to hold out for what you think the car is worth.
posted by Quizicalcoatl at 1:59 PM on August 12

Try listing it in the local Thrifty Nickel / Penny Saver paper. That seems like a popular and inexpensive option where I live.
The two times in my life I had a used car to sell, I listed them in Penny Saver. Sold both cars within a week after the ad appeared.
posted by Oriole Adams at 2:08 PM on August 12

Thanks for all the good advice so far.

Man, this is more work than I thought!

In case anyone is interested, my current ad is here:
http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/1314804698.html

Critiques welcome, though I already have a good idea what I need to improve from the comments above.
posted by tippiedog at 2:43 PM on August 12

Critiques welcome

*More pics, more detailed pics, higher res pics

*More descriptive description.

*Describe any flaws. If there seriously are none, describe the closest thing to a flaw. Right now it looks too good to be true.

*Price is a problem. I checked out kbb.com using only the data you provided in your ad and the zip code for your town, and it indicated an excellent value of $4865 (and that was including the premium wheels, power everything, Onstar, etc etc). If I were interested in buying a car like yours, I wouldn't bother to go see it, it indicates that you're not being realistic.
posted by arnicae at 3:34 PM on August 12

Definitely add the VIN number so that, if buyers want, they can get a carfax.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 3:35 PM on August 12

A great car-selling story I read, I think in Cialdini's Influence:

Guy posts for-sale ad. Gets three calls from people wanting to see the car.

He schedules them to all arrive within 10 minutes of each other.

Bidding war ensues.
posted by mikewas at 9:18 AM on August 13

A couple years back, I was shown a very well executed fake cashier's check for $24,000. This check was attempted to be used as payment for a craigslist based car purchase.

Make sure that your buyer's payment clears before they get the title, or insist on cash.
posted by enfa at 11:12 AM on August 13