This article will provide information on where to buy and sell your used car. Also listed are tips to decrease the chance of falling victim to the numerous scams prevalent in the used car industry.

First Things First: Your car should be listed on ALL Online used car classifieds. We reccomend Edmunds.com and YahooAutos.com

Blanket coverage on all major car sites will greatly increase the chances your car will be sold. Edmunds.com and Yahoo Autos are popular sites for crafty consumers. By selling your car on one of these sites you will find yourself saving upwards of $6000. Market value for a car tends to be $2000-$6000 more than trade-in value. This phenomenon extends to all varieties of cars. A BMW or a Honda traded in will lose out on thousands of dollars if the cars are traded in.

The growing world of online car advertising is proof that sellers are having success in this forum. Millions of people are able to see your ad at a click. Online car listing sites are user friendly. You specify what it is that you are looking for and their search engine will turn up with the best matches according to your criteria. Newspapers and local penny magazines are too spread out. With online advertising the focus can be narrowed much more easily. To maximize your potential, you should use a service which provides a money back guarantee or at least allows you to run the ad until the car is sold.

Below is a brief overview of the aforementioned Edmunds.com and YahooAutos.com. They are two major players.

Edmunds.com:

Has a network that will bring more than 10 million shoppers to its site every month. Thanks to helpful collaboration, your online ad will appear on over 180 affiliated websites as well. It is important that the picture of your vehicle be included in your listing.

Many sites offer premium service listings. Edmunds.com is no different. The upside to their premium service is the features you know have at your fingertips. You can add up to 12 photographs of your vehicle. This is important, as potential buyers will be able to see how the car looks from the inside. Another bonus is the free vehicle history report that is provided. This will be brought up again later, but it is important if a quick and seamless transaction is desired. The future owner can put their mind at ease with this information easily at hand. The premium and enhanced ad feature is helpful as well.

Yahoo Autos:

These guys are similar to Cars.com. Millions of people will have access to your listing at YahooAutos.com. The registration is essentially the same. You enter your car’s information and upload a photo. You pay for your online ad and it is on the Internet. Their site allows you to run your ad until your car sells. With the premium membership your listing will get preferred placement. This is much more efficient than simple newspaper advertising. People searching on YahooAutos.com for an ’88 Tercel will find yours easier with the preferred listing space.

Important: Upping Your Chances

• A more personalized approach is creating your own webpage. If you have an Internet connection, your service provider likely contains this capability through their server. You can really give your car a personality this way. You can provide several pictures as well as links to the auto report of the car. This approach really should be limited to those who are savvy enough to understand how to drive traffic towards your site. Though the potential for flyers exist. If you create a page with colored photos as well as information such as you are the only owner and a non-smoker than list these things, as they are important to potential buyers. You can print this colorful page out and carry it around with you. Post it in your complex or at the office. Sometimes a little extra work can help you in the long run.

• Your ad should contain the words “Firm Price.” This will prevent someone who has not nearly enough money from coming over and attempting to bargain. Never list the words, “Or Best Offer.” Amongst many things this also makes you look desperate. Not a good place to be when selling a car. Your ad should state that the price is firm and non-negotiable.

• Preparation is obviously important. Budget however is something that many people do not consider. A typical newspaper ad will cost around $35 a week. As mentioned above without the specific search parameters, you are essentially hoping that someone is looking for your car during that weeklong span. Another problem is that $35 will only buy you a certain amount of words. A full detailed newspaper ad will cost you closer to $50. A $75-$100 budget will go a long way in online advertising with some left over for a newspaper run. The shear number of people who could see your ad is exponentially increased in online listings. Newspaper ads are limited to the number of people in the area that receive that particular publication. On the other hand online listings can show vehicles hundreds of miles away that may pique a buyers interest.

• The best way to insure a sale is to provide the aforementioned vehicle history report. An Autocheck Vehicle History report will provide helpful information for the buyer. It will allow them to see that the mileage on your vehicle is correct. The number one concern for a used car buyer is hidden problems. A vehicle history report will ease these concerns by also showing the work that has been done on the car. No one wants to buy a car that was once submerged in water or at the bad end of an accident. The vehicle history report will provide all of the important information that a consumer could possibly want about your vehicle. By willingly providing this information you are also establishing a level of trust with the buyer. Your car listing will stand out amongst the others when you are able to provide the car’s history so easily.

• The fact of the matter is that you will make more money if you sell your car yourself. Dealers will always give you $3000 less than market value for a car that is less than 4 years old. Your car will then be placed on the wholesale market where they are certain to turn a profit. If your car is older than 4 years old the amount under market value will almost certainly increase. Banks will not finance cars over 4 years old making them invaluable to a dealer. A dealer will give you around 25% of market value for your older car.

• Something important to remember is that you will not make as much as your asking price. However, you will make more money than you would from a dealer. Any dealer will try to frighten you out of selling your car yourself. If you have the correct information and a vehicle history report there is nothing to be afraid of. Of course dealing with strangers can be an interesting situation and you will almost certainly deal with no shows and over critical buyers. The fact is that selling a car yourself is a much more profitable venture if you are willing to put in the leg-work.

• If you are set on selling your car to a dealer being mindful of their scams is important. Any dealer that is offering you market value for your car is making that up on the back end. They will charge you MSRP as well as needless overpriced extras. These can be negotiated and carefully reading all documentation will insure that you are able to greatly lessen the added on costs that dealers will try to throw at you. Dealers will make it appear that they are losing out on a deal. They will offer you up to $6000 less than market value. If you sell to them below market value you can be assured that your car will be on the lot the next week at significantly more than you got for it. They have already made money off of you by purchasing under market value. The next person who buys the car will purchase it at an inflated rate and the dealership gets paid twice.

• The appraiser at a car dealership is someone to be wary of. A dealer will bring this person out and they will proceed to examine every facet of your car. They will say things like “This doesn’t look good.” They along with the dealer will attempt to make it seem like they are losing money on your car. Let them know firmly that this is normal wear and tear for a car that age. They are trying to low-ball you so that you will begin to devalue your own car. They will make money on your car or they wouldn’t be going through all of the trouble to put this elaborate show on for you. Do not allow a dealer to convince you that no money is going to be made on your trade-in.

• A good rule of thumb is to treat trading and purchasing separate. By trading in your car you are acquiring cash to negotiate with later. What you should do is negotiate a price for a new car saying that you’re not planning on trading in but you’d like to pay in cash. This way all of the money is on the table and a dealer can’t get you on the back end of a bad finance deal. After a price is negotiated for the new car tell them you would like to trade in your car. This way even if they are unwilling to take the trade-in for fair market value, you know how low they will be willing to go in selling a new car.

• Another caveat to trade-ins is the potential tax advantage. You usually must pay sales tax on the difference between a new car and the trade-in. If you are able to sell the car independently for more than a dealer than savings are certainly in line. If you can’t get more money than the dealer is offering you are better off trading in the car because you will benefit in savings in sales tax.

• Do not however be enticed by glitzy ads promising max dollar for your trade-in. These commercial dealers are simply going to offer you wholesale value for the car. Even if they offer more than market value they probably just screwed you with full MSRP and useless dealer extras. The business of buying up used cars and reselling them is big business it is important to see through the mirage of top dollar that these advertisements are promising.

• When dealing with putting a deposit down at a dealership a few things should be mentioned. First, do not pay cash on a car deposit. If the deal were to fall through you will never see that money again. A credit card transaction can be disputed. If you are one of the many Americans dealing with credit issues currently however, this may not be the ideal time to be in the car purchasing market.

• There is hope for people trying to sell and transfer the title on a car where money is still owed on the auto loan. The lender will appear on the title of the car as a lien holder. They hold the title. In order to sell the car you will need to get a hold of the title. You will get it from the lender after the loan is satisfied. After the loan is paid off the title is marked as lien satisfied. This brings up a number of important issues. The title cannot be retrieved until after payment. So if a car is going to be sold while money is still owed on it, the lender must be paid first. If a car sells for $5,000, but you have a loan that is worth $7,000, that $2,000 must be paid before the title is transferred. If you are in a position to pay off the lender than a settlement amount should be reached. After this happens the lender will send you the title, which you would then turn over to the new owner of the car. Cars can be sold without the title initially as a temporary tag in place of the title can be issued. This is however temporary and quick dealings in these matters always make for a better business transaction.

• If you are hoping to buy a new car after selling your used car a little bit of research can go a long way. First price compare using the various car sites online. Secondly, you should know how much money you have and how much after your trade-in you will be able to spend. Qualifying for a loan is a first step. Banks will want to know how much the new car will cost and how much you will have to put upfront. Remember however that cars over four years old are essentially worthless to banks and finding a loan to purchase one will be very difficult.

In General: Selling Tips and Tricks

• General good car selling practices call for you to fix your car up before you sell it. You should get your car waxed and vacuumed. A large purchase such as a car will bring out the critical side in a person. The last thing you would want is for a burnt out light bulb on your dash to be the deal breaker. Fixing little problems like that can go a long way towards the sale of your car

• Another powerful selling tool is an organized maintenance record sheet. This should contain all information regarding maintenance that has been done to your car as well as oil changes. When a potential buyer sees this they are much more inclined to move forward towards a purchase. They are able to essentially see the history of the car right in front of them. If your car is widely popular this becomes even more important in the race to stick out in the used car-selling crowd.

• Preparation as always is important. Before a buyer comes over you should be prepared. Have all of the necessary documentation available as well as printouts of the market value of your car. Do not print trade-in values, as this is what a dealer would list. If a buyer begins to list every nick and crack in your car simply let them know that this is just normal wear and tear for a vehicle of that age. If they attempt to grossly undervalue the car tell them that the market value you have is in consideration of the depreciated value of your car.

• When a buyer comes to you to purchase your vehicle a few things should be kept in mind. First never let a buyer drive your car alone. Insurance will not cover any accidents and you could be held liable if the driver is unlicensed. It is worth repeating that someone leaving their car as collateral is not enough. You should ride along with anyone who wants to test drive your car. Many buyers will want to take a car to a mechanic. A mechanic is not an appraiser so do not let them appraise your car.

• People will come but some will not honor your non-negotiable stance. If a buyer tries to tell you that the price is too high you have to understand that most people are blindly ball parking a value. If they tell you other people are selling for less ask them why they are here then. If you have the vehicle history report and the maintenance records you should be a confident seller. Do not let a car go for $1000 less than market value because the buyer won’t budge. You have done all the proper research on your car and you should let them know that. As a matter of conversation if negotiations go sour remind them the risk they are taking by possibly purchasing a car that does not have such a stellar background portfolio. This will stick in a buyers mind and they will from then on remember your car as being the most detailed and organized. After seeing other similar cars your stellar organization will likely pay off if the price is right for the buyer.

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