Four Tips for Selling Your Car Privately

The D-I-Y way to sell your car!
Trading-in your vehicle is a relatively easy, straight-forward process. However, it does means that you’re letting the dealership take responsibility for selling the car. The dealership never gives you the fullest value of the vehicle because they deserve a small profit for taking the time to make a sale to the next owner.

Luckily, you can increase your earnings from your vehicle sale. Many people opt to sell their cars themselves as a private seller. This can pay off (literally!), but there are a few things you should keep in mind before embarking on this endeavor.

Is it worth it to privately sell your car?
The answer is it depends on a couple of factors. Ask yourself: Will I make enough money to make it worthwhile?

Find out how much your car is worth for a private sale versus a trade-in, and then you can make an informed decision about if you want to take the time to sell your vehicle privately, or if trading it in at a dealership makes more sense.

One way to view it is to think like an economist:

Consider how much you make per hour at work. Estimate how much time it will take you to do the research, meet with potential buyers, wait on offers and make the sale. Note that you would have to complete trade-in paperwork at a dealership, but will take significantly less time. A couple of hours of work versus days to weeks.

Would you make an equal amount or more for your time? Do you estimate it to be quick money or hardly worth your effort? The answer could be either. So, do your research first!

Is your answer still yes? Then read on!

Keep these four tips in mind

Here are four tips for successfully selling your vehicle privately to a buyer.

1. Get your papers in order beforehand
2. Do your research
3. Be smart about advertising
4. Don’t be paranoid, but be cautious 

Get your papers in order beforehand
Gather all the documents you need. That way you’ll have everything in place when you need them.

Documents to gather:

• As-is documentation
• Bill of sale
• Maintenance records
• Release of Liability
• Title
• Warranty documents (if applicable)
• Mechanic inspection report

Get the car checked out by a mechanic for an inspection report so you can show it to potential buyers. They’ll still probably want to take the car to their mechanic, but it’s always good to show buyers the good condition the vehicle is in while they’re deciding.

You can also purchase an AutoCheck vehicle history report to show prospective buyers at https://www.autocheck.com/vehiclehistory/.

Contact the State of Michigan’s Department of Motor Vehicles if you have any questions about what you need.

Do your research
Know what your car is worth. You want to know what the going rate is for your vehicle before you slap on a price!

General truths:

• Family sedans are in demand.
• Convertibles sell in summer.
• Trucks and vans command competitive prices.
• Collector cars have a high value but take a while to sell. 

Resources that will help you estimate your vehicle’s market value:
These websites can take into account the make, model, year, number of miles, etc. when determining the value of your vehicle. 

• Autotrader: https://www.autotrader.com/car-values/
• Consumer Reports: https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/types/used/a-to-z
• CR Used Car Marketplace: https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/car-prices-used-car-inventory/index.htm
• eBay: https://www.ebay.com/str/forsalebyownervehicles
• Edmunds: https://www.edmunds.com/appraisal/
• Kelley Blue Book: https://www.kbb.com/whats-my-car-worth/
• NADA Guides: https://www.nadaguides.com/
  

Be smart about advertising
Now that you know how much you want to charge, it’s time to advertise. There are many ways to advertise, including word of mouth, online, at a park-and-sell lot, or putting an old-fashioned “4 Sale” sign in the car’s window.

It’s always good practice to:

• Park the vehicle in a high-volume location.
• Get back to potential buyers’ inquiries quickly.
• Display critical information like a phone number, mileage, and price in large writing so passing traffic can see.

 Prepare the car
The first thing you want to do is clean your vehicle. Dirty cars don’t attract positive attention. Show that you took pride in your ride and cared for it properly. Nobody wants to buy a car that was treated like junk!

 Take pictures
Take many images from different angles and lengths. Think about if you were going to buy the car. You wouldn’t want to think the seller was hiding anything. You’d want to have a sense of the vehicle’s every condition so you would know you wouldn’t be wasting your time on a test drive.

To get a sense of how to do it properly, take a look at other people’s car listings. Note what you think are smart ideas and copy them!

Pictures to include

• Under the hood and the engine
• The exterior (front, back, each side)
• The interior (front and back seats, trunk, dashboard, carpet)
• Wheels
• Inside the trunk
• Shots of the whole car with an un-distracting background

 Putting together the ad
A detailed description will show your transparency and will also save time answering a lot of individual questions about the same thing to potential buyers. If other people have more complete listings, buyers might take their business there.

 Price a little higher than you’re willing to take, so there’s room for negotiation. However, don’t price it too high or you’ll scare off buyers. 

Be sure to include:

• Accident history
• Any damage
• Condition
• Mileage
• Modifications or upgrades
• Number of owners
• Price!
• Recent repairs
• VIN number

Remember: Be as detailed as possible.

Potential places to Advertise:

• Autotrader
• Cars.com
• Craigslist
• eBay Classifieds
• Facebook and Twitter
• Carvana
• Tred
• Zipflip
• Message boards
• Word of mouth
• A “For Sale” sign in the car window
• CarGurus
• Newspaper ads

Be immediately available to receive phone calls and texts from potential buyers.

Don’t be paranoid, but be cautious
This applies both to personal safety and financial safety.

Screen Potential Buyers
Insist on speaking to people on the phone so that you can get a sense of the buyer. Use your intuition to tell you if you think it’s a scam or the buyer isn’t that interested and isn’t worth your time. You can always say, “The car’s sold!”

Tips to safely showing your vehicle:

• Bring a friend or family member, so you’re not vulnerable.
• Meet in a highly-populated public space such as the parking lot of the police station or a shopping mall.
• Meet during daylight hours.
• Agree on a test-drive route ahead of time.
• Ask to see the potential buyer’s driver’s license.

 Make sure the payment is legit
A cashier’s check might be forged. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation created the website FakeChecks.org to help you avoid this. To keep it simple, a cashier’s check from a local bank that you cash before you hand over the keys works best.

The escrow account the buyer insists on could be a fraud. Make sure their company is listed on the Better Business Bureau website first.

Cash is best. If you can, use a currency authentication pen to ensure bills are not counterfeit.

Never accept a personal check. It could bounce, or the bank might accept the deposit, but it has 30 days to reject a fraudulent document if it is, in fact, fraudulent.

Don’t agree to a payment plan because you’ll have no way to enforce it without getting into legal complications easily.

Meet the buyer at their bank or credit union to complete the transaction.

 The following government agencies help with concerns about fraud:

• Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
• Better Business Bureau (BBB)

If your gut is telling you not to trust the person, it could be awkward to stop the meeting abruptly, but better safe than sorry.

Make sure to wrap up the deal correctly
Cancel your car insurance. Write down the odometer reading at the time of official sale. That way, if the buyer commits a crime, you’ll have proof you weren’t the owner at the time.

Remember, the overwhelming majority of people are honest, and you’re likely to have a pleasant experience. But with your life – and the large amounts of money – at stake, it’s important to be smart about things! If you’re dealing with honest people, they’ll respect your precautions.

Bottom line
Whether you decide to sell your car privately or trade it in at the dealership is up to you and has a lot to do with personal preference. Some people want to feel like they got the most money for their favorite ride that served them well. Others don’t want to be bothered by the process.

If you decide to sell privately, we hope these tips will make your life simpler and help you have a positive experience and a successful sale. Good luck!

Contact us
Are you planning on buying a new vehicle to replace the one you’re selling? Perhaps you know are considering a trade-in? Stop by Thelen today to see all that we have to offer!

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