Selling Your Car
Trading It In
Selling Your Car
Everyone has thought about selling their own car at one time or another. The first thing you must do is to establish a value or price to ask for your vehicle. There are several sources you can use to assist you in establishing this value. Go to the library or the internet and find a used car price guide for your vehicle. This will give you a national value to start from. Next look in your local newspaper and see what others are asking for vehicles equipped like yours. Be sure to check the mileage, as that is one of the most important factors. This will help you set a price based on “your” local market condition, for example, a 4x4 pick up is worth more in Colorado than in Florida. If you need our help just click on this appraisal zone link.
Now comes the tough part, be honest with yourself when evaluating the condition of your vehicle. Most guides are based on vehicles in perfect conditions so don’t be unrealistic because you don’t want to scare away potential buyers.
Next you need to prepare your vehicle for sale. Have it cleaned or detailed by a professional. This $75 to $100 investment will make you money by setting your car apart from all the rest. Have small repairs that you have been putting off done so when the customer drives it, it will run and perform well. Finally, have your maintenance records available for your prospect to review. This will help you sell the vehicle since you cannot offer them extended warranties. It is also a good idea to run a Carfax or Autocheck on your vehicle to show your customer.
Last but not least, place an advertisement in your local paper or auto sales magazine. Be sure to list all the important options in addition to the make and model. Do not forget that mileage and your maintenance record could be the very thing that set you apart from 100 other ads. Now sit back and wait.
When your customer calls, spend a few moments telling them all the great things about your vehicle and then set an appointment. When they show up for the appointment show them all the maintenance records and offer them a test drive. If your customer won’t drive it, they won’t buy it! (We would recommend that you have a friend with you when you do your product presentation and demonstration.) Good Luck, and Good Selling!
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Trading in Your Car
Trading in your car with a dealer may be the best way to go; the only draw back being that you might not get the best price, but there are advantages to trading in your vehicle.
- You don’t have to do any of the paperwork or title transfer.
- You walk away cleanly from the car and have no contingent liabilities.
- You save money on the tax that you pay, because in Texas the tax is figured on the trade difference.
- You don’t have to pay to advertise the vehicle.
Remember: You will still want to prepare the vehicle for sale, because the dealer is also a customer. Therefore they will naturally pay more for a car that is clean and in good running order, especially with the maintenance records to prove it.
- You don’t have to worry about meeting and dealing with strangers.
- You don’t have to wait to sell it!
- Click here to view our appraisal process
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