Everybody knows you’ll make more money if you can bother pulling yourself together and selling your car yourself instead of taking the easy way out and driving it into the dealer and saying “whatever, take it and let’s get me a new, shiny one.”
We want you to muster a little effort here. Try. You won’t find anybody in the known universe who will dispute the monetary reward. So, before you do, this might get you in the mood: According to www.consumernet.com even if your car is less than 4 years old, the dealer will give you at least $3000 less than you can get selling it privately. If it’s over 4 years old, he’ll give you about a quarter of what you could sell it for yourself.
Thing No. 1 Find out the market value.
Go to kbb.com and offer
printed copies to buyers as well as printouts from car pricing sites edmunds.com, consumerreports.com. Take a look at similar
cars being sold privately in the event that it supports your price but
don’t rely on other sellers to know how to price the car.
Thing No. 2 Even if the dealer says he’s giving you full
market value…he isn’t.
He’s making it up somewhere else.
This is more of that shell game that we have discussed in
www.5things.com/car/buy
Thing No. 3 Preempt the fear.
Order your own CARFAX
Vehicle History Report for $24.99 and provide a free copy with the
car. If you have been so organized as to have saved all your
maintenance records including regular oil changes (yeah, right) then by
all means, put them in a nice little binder and offer it up. This
will give buyers the illusion that a neat, upstanding citizen who keeps
things in binders previously owned their new car. Instead of you.
Thing No. 4 Give it one last dose of love.
This will
make a huge difference in how the potential buyer feels about the car
in the first impression. Get it detailed. And, get those
niggling little things that you’ve overlooked for years – like the left
turn signal that’s stuck – fixed. Make sure the tires are in decent
shape and are properly inflated. People are going to picture
themselves in that car and they want a nice picture. Body work is
a big one. We guarantee that you will pay less to get it fixed
than the amount that the buyer will negotiate off the price if you
don’t. That is, if they buy it.
Thing No. 5 Advertise on the web.
Forget about the
newspaper. Nobody will call. Everybody goes online to type
in what they’re looking for. Web sites for local newspapers are
fine but make it electronic. It’s cheaper. It stays up
longer. And more people use it. You can also use
www.autotrader.com www.recycler.com definitely post a photo of the
vehicle and if possible, post the CARFAX report. Do not use the
expression “Or Best Offer,” instead; refer to the price as “firm.” You
can decide if you want to take the best offer you get on your
own. You should plan to spend about $100 to advertise the car
before it’s all over.
Thing No. 6 Nobody likes a hardass.
Price your car
fairly but be prepared to take a few hundred bucks less on the final
deal. At the same time, don’t take any crap off these fools who
point out every tiny scratch and try to negotiate half the price.
This is called “normal wear and tear.” Remind them that this is
already accounted for in the depreciated value. If you have to,
push ‘em down and kick ‘em in the face. Don’t say we told you to.
Thing No. 7 Send ‘em home with something to remember you
by.
Start with a hard copy version of your online ad and perhaps
add more photos, more detail – don’t forget things like “original
owner” or “non-smoker” or “only driven by a little old lady back and
forth to church.” That stuff makes people feel good.
Thing No. 8 You go wherever the car goes.
We never like
to be too uptight but we can’t let you hang back and smoke a cigarette
while a potential buyer takes the car for a test drive. You must
go with them. That counts for visits to a
mechanic…anywhere. And, as long as you’re being a car Nazi, check
their driver’s license and insurance. Consider this, if they’re driving
your car and they run over a baby and they don’t have a valid driver’s
license or insurance… you are so screwed. And, while we’re at it,
single females living alone may want to consider meeting the burly
potential buyer somewhere other than home. We’re just
sayin’. If you do meet him at your home…for the love of God,
remember all the horror movies you ever saw and don’t let the killer in
the house!
Thing No. 9 Accept payment that pays.
Everything can be
faked. Cashiers checks, wiring money into your account, escrow
companies, phone numbers on cashiers checks and of course, even cash.
This is hardcore but there’s no way around it: you have to meet the
buyer at the bank that is issuing the bank draft and confirm the funds
with the bank. In fact, you need to cash the check on the spot
and deposit the cash into your account. Only when the cash is safely
snuggled into your bank account and the buyer’s mug is recorded on
grainy videotape and you’ve verified that he has a valid driver’s
license (see dead baby reference in Thing No. 8_ it also may apply if
you sell your car to an unlicensed driver.) are you allowed to
turn over the title and the keys. Sorry to say, if he refuses to meet
you at the bank, the deal is off. This is absolutely the only way
that you cannot be scammed. Trust us, we are inherently lazy
people who do not like to be hassled. If there was another way,
we’d tell you.
Thing No. 10 Wash your hands of the whole thing.
Provide
the buyer with a Bill of Sale. The guys at carbuyingtips.com/sellused have drawn one up that you
can download and print. Make sure that your Bill of Sale states
that you are selling the car “AS IS.” This prevents the buyer from
coming back to you with any complaints later.