Advice Needed -- Selling a Car

[Ski]

No, not the beloved T-bird. My daily driver. I'm curious about where to best advertise it: cars.com, vehix.com, autotraders.com, e-bay, craigslist or some other source I haven't run across yet.

I thought a poll was in order. You can vote for more than one choice if you want. It will be open for 15 days. Results will be shown but response will be private. Thanks for you input.

Also any advice about what method of payment to accept: cash preferred but not always practical, will be appreciated as well.

[David M 7173]

Re: Advice Needed -- Selling a Car

First know the wholesale value of your car. If the car is clean and runs good you can proably expect to get $500 to $1000 over wholesale. Local papers have worked really well for me.
David
P.S. Besure it has good tires

[wtxbird]

Re: Advice Needed -- Selling a Car

I advertise it in the local paper, and then maybe cars.com---As far as payment type, cash only, get a counterfeit marker from a office supply or direct payment through a local bank where the buyer has a account. Cash never bounces. Keeps down the dealing with payments of any type.
Never let the car out of your sight until your paid.

[Ol'Dave]

Re: Advice Needed -- Selling a Car

Craigs List is free and Local. Good starting point. CASH only!! (What are you selling???)

Also, local advertizing flyers that come in the mail for your community.

My basic advice, unless it is of a special nature vehicle, keep it local.

[Ski]

Re: Advice Needed -- Selling a Car

Craigs List is free and Local. Good starting point. CASH only!! (What are you selling???)

Also, local advertizing flyers that come in the mail for your community.

My basic advice, unless it is of a special nature vehicle, keep it local.

2004 Tundra double cab 63k miles, expect to ask about $20,000 (seems to be the going start price).

[Skip]

Re: Advice Needed -- Selling a Car

Ski:

I guess and Mary gave in on the Commander, huh. I would take it to Carmax for an appraisal and offer. That will give you a pretty good idea on wholesale as a starting point to where you want to price it. You may find they are close enough to what you are looking for that it is not worth the hassle of going any further trying to sell it yourself. As for as selling options, I agree with Dave, David & Scott . Local papers are a good source. Folks do read the classifieds in the Aegis and Sun even if they don't read anything else. Craigs List or ebay would be my next options. When I sold my '04 Explorer a few years ago, I got the most traffic and best offers on ebay. Good luck!

Skip

[Ol'Dave]

Re: Advice Needed -- Selling a Car

Here's an example of a local one at a Dealer, similar to your description.

http://www.carsdirect.com/used_cars/.../Toyota/Tundra

I agree with going to CarMax for a appraisal in your local area,

[Ski]

Re: Advice Needed -- Selling a Car

Not sure about the Commander, Skip. It's still a possibility, I suppose. Hit a Ford dealership on Saturday and drove an Edge, Escape, and Flex. Liked the Flex the best of the lot.

Dave, thanks for the comparable. I've got a bedliner and cap and rear DVD player plus backup warning and rear camera. Still am not sure I'll get more than $17-18 bottom line. I may run it to CarMax as well after I get it cleaned up.

Everything will be on hold for a couple of weeks. The Old Spooks & Spies reunion is in Carlisle this week plus my daughter and son-in-law are coming in from Little Rock for a couple of weeks.

[JAB02LHS]

Re: Advice Needed -- Selling a Car

I advertise it in the local paper, and then maybe cars.com---As far as payment type, cash only, get a counterfeit marker from a office supply or direct payment through a local bank where the buyer has a account. Cash never bounces. Keeps down the dealing with payments of any type.
Never let the car out of your sight until your paid.

Then go directly to the BMV and get the title transferred!
You are liable for anything that happens till the title transfers!
Do not just sign it and hand it to the buyer, if he just drives it and never transfers the title you could be in for some trouble!

[steelblue5505]

Re: Advice Needed -- Selling a Car

Well said, John!
Absolutely the best advice besides cash only.

[Skip]

Re: Advice Needed -- Selling a Car

John:

Another step here as well is to notify your insurance carrier/agent that the car has been, or will be sold, as soon as the deal is made and a transfer date determined. It is a good idea to advise the buyer of the same, and get some proof that they have added the car to their policy. Some carriers require proof that there is going to be continued coverage on the vehicle before they cancel because some states will hold them responsible for the car regardless until the car is on a new policy.

Skip

Then go directly to the BMV and get the title transferred!
You are liable for anything that happens till the title transfers!
Do not just sign it and hand it to the buyer, if he just drives it and never transfers the title you could be in for some trouble!

[Harry's Platinum 04]

Re: Advice Needed -- Selling a Car

John/ Skip--don't cancel your insurance until you turn in the tags--in Maryland you can be fined if valid tags are not tied to an insurance policy
Harry

[bwlewis]

Re: Advice Needed -- Selling a Car

Have to agree with Harry about the insurance. My company won't even cancel until they are provided with proof that the tags were turned in.

[Ski]

Re: Advice Needed -- Selling a Car

I'm beginning to remember why I've been willing to take a 'trade-in' bath everytime I got another car instead of dealing with all this. Maybe I'll consider what the 'price point' is for the excess aggrevation over the next couple of weeks.

I sold two or three cars privately over the course of the last 40 years, most of them about that long ago but they were all junkers. The last one, about 25 years ago, I did get burned with a parking ticket from Hagerstown because of my failure to take off the tags and turn them in, that will not happen again. Worse, several months later I got a call from the WV state police asking why my tags were on the back seat of a car involved in a drug bust.

[Skip]

Re: Advice Needed -- Selling a Car

Ski:

It does make you wonder sometimes if it is worth the effort to sell it yourself vs trading it in or selling it to someone like Carmax. I think that is why you see so many people buying and selling TBirds successfully on this site, and even through TBird clubs, because you can usually trust the other party to be fair with both the issues of representation of the condition of the car as well as license tag and insurance matters.Note that I said usually-there are always exceptions.

Skip

I'm beginning to remember why I've been willing to take a 'trade-in' bath everytime I got another car instead of dealing with all this. Maybe I'll consider what the 'price point' is for the excess aggrevation over the next couple of weeks.
I sold two or three cars privately over the course of the last 40 years, most of them about that long ago but they were all junkers. The last one, about 25 years ago, I did get burned with a parking ticket from Hagerstown because of my failure to take off the tags and turn them in, that will not happen again. Worse, several months later I got a call from the WV state police asking why my tags were on the back seat of a car involved in a drug bust.