How to Sell Your Used Car and Get What It’s Worth!

Just about a year ago I found myself in a predicament.  My beloved Isuzu Rodeo (Suzy)  was getting on in years and starting to cost me money.  A little at a time over the course of a year or so I found myself pouring money into her repairs.  I got her all her tires and brakes, fixed a broken axle, and a transmission leak among many other things.  As much as I loved my car though I was beginning to feel like I was sinking and had to get rid of her.  Feeling like I needed to replace her with a newer (or at the very least more reliable) car I headed to a dealership.  Much to my dismay I was she was a beautiful car but was worth a mere $700!  I was disgusted and walked out of the dealership with the sales lady running to catch up to me.

I knew my car had a few little things wrong with her but I had spent the money to fix her and with new tires and brakes and a built in DVD set I couldn’t see selling her for $700!  What did I do? Well, I researched to see what she was worth.  There is a web-site called “Kelly Blue Book” (and probably a few other similar sites) that you can go to for an estimate of what your car is worth.   I wrote that number down and then went to Craigslist.org to see if anyone was selling the same car.  As it turned out a few other people were and their prices were much higher (insanely higher actually).  I took a few flattering pictures of my car and posted her in the website just to see if anyone would bite.  Within minutes I had 3 phone calls.  Of course 2 of them were people asking me to pretty much give my car away.  The third however was someone who was genuinley interested in buying!

In an hours time the man and his family came to take a look at the car.  I was honest about every bit of work that had been done to the car since I got her and we all took her for a test drive.  Knowing that anyone who was a potential buyer would try to talk down the price I had listed her for a little more than what I actually wanted for her.  The buyer did talk me down about $500 but I was pleased with the sale price in the end.

The key to selling your car on your own is to be honest and smart! First off, don’t try to hide things that are wrong with the car as the buyer has the right to inspect the car before purchase.  Make sure to find out what your car is worth as the buyer will already know this and isn’t going to pay you $5000 for a car that is only worth $3000.  When the sale goes through make sure to give the new owner all the keys you have as well as signing the title over (make a copy for yourself too).  Oh and make sure before he drives off that you empty your belongings out!