Like any smart car shopper looking to trade in their current vehicle, you wanted some idea of your car’s value: an amount that will be applied to the purchase price of your new vehicle. When you’ve picked out your new car and went to a dealership to “sign up”, the dealer’s offer on your trade comes in $2,000 less than the figures you got from Kelly Blue Book or Edmund’s… and nowhere near what you feel you could get if you sold the car yourself to a private party.
The big discrepancy that consumers run into is the difference between “retail” value and “wholesale” value. “Retail” means the price that a person or dealership could get selling a vehicle to a consumer. “Wholesale” prices reflect the price a dealer would pay (less than retail) so they could re-condition the vehicle and then sell it at a profit.
I often suggest to discouraged customers that they try selling the trade-in themselves to get a retail price. I’ll even write an article about how to do it. You’re reading it right now: 5 easy steps to selling your car yourself.
Step 1: Determine your asking price.
This one’s easy, and can also knock out part of step 3 (…see “step 3”) in this process. Head over to Autotrader.com – a Kelley Blue Book partner – pick your ad plan, and enter all your vehicle details. This site will show you average asking prices for similar vehicles. Whatever price Autotrader comes up with, drop about 5-10% off it. You’re competing with car dealerships who offer customer support, financing, warranty products, etc. No offense, but working with a dealership can seem a lot less risky than buying from you, so your best shot is beating the pros on price.
Step 2: Prepare the vehicle for showing.
Plan on spending about $150 to get your car detailed. And any mechanical work that needs to be done on it needs to be done… including maintenance like replacing worn tires and changing the oil. “Can’t I sell it as-is?” Sure, but you’ll need to subtract the cost of these repair and maintenance items from your selling price… and then find a buyer who doesn’t mind getting this work done themselves after the purchase.
Step 3: Advertise.
If I had to narrow it down to three classified private car sales platforms, I would focus on these three:
Craigslist.org is going to require that you repost your ad about three times a day to keep your listing from getting buried by everyone else trying to advertise their used car.
Autotrader.com – now a Kelly Blue Book partner – charges $25/month for a simple listing up to $100 for an ad that runs until the car sells with varying numbers of photographs being permitted.
Cars.com has a free “basic” ad plan that runs your ad for 30 days with up to 5 photos… up to a $49 paid plan that runs the ad with 15 photos for 150 days. Both plans have “free renewals” and are neat because they offer ad-view analytics (for the digital marketer in you).
Keep in mind that these three platforms are quite cluttered, to say the least. Excellent photography and copy writing will really make your ad stand out, so it might be worth watching some photography tutorials on Youtube and reading some blogs on effective ad writing. At the very least, be sure to include these three key pieces of information: price, model year, make-model-features, and mileage.
Step 4: Working With Buyers.
Most people you meet through your advertising are going to be very nice indeed. Until they see your car in person – and then they will look for imperfections to use as leverage when negotiating price. Here’s the best response to such a person as they point out that your tires are too worn, or there’s a ding in the fender: “Yes sir, I am aware of that… and I factored it into the price I’m asking for the car.”
But in general, your apparent desire to sell your vehicle will be conversely proportional to the price you get for it. If you’re asking for $12,000 and you’re desperate to sell to the first person who comes along, you may end up selling them your car for $10,000 out of fear that they not buy. If there’s no urgent need for you to sell and you reflect this in your demeanor, you might be able to get that full $12,000.
For good measure, you probably want to provide potential buyers with a CarFax report, which can be had for around $40. These typically include accident reports, fleet usage, and number of owners – all of which are usually of keen interest to buyers.
Step 5: Handle the Paperwork.
In the state of North Carolina, the DMV needs the following completed documents for a lawful transaction:
Notarized Title – if it was lost or destroyed, you’ll need to apply for a duplicate at the DMV.Application for a Duplicate Title(Form MVR-4), requires $20 application fee and 15 days to process.
Eligible Risk Statement for Registration and Certificate of Title (Form MVR-615).
Title Application (Form MVR-1).
Damage Disclosure Statement (Form MVR-181).
Application for Removal of Lien from the Certificate of Title (Form MVR-8), if applicable.
Odometer Disclosure Statement (MVR-180), signed by you and the buyer, if the vehicle is less than 10 years old
A Bill of Sale is optional, but highly recommended. This form is essentially a receipt/contract, and includes the name and address of the buyer, date of sale, sale price and payment method.
Any Questions?
If you’re stuck selling your car, or are thinking twice about the proposition, send me an email an I’ll answer any questions that I can to help get your car sold and cash in your pocket.
