Freeper Advice for Selling My Car (Vanity)

My Fast and Furious Fingers | 06/02/2016 | Jagermonster

[Jagermonster]

Hey Fellow Freepers –

I’m getting ready to sell my car, and planning to sell private party. I’ve never done this before (First car traded in, second car totaled . . . ) so I’m hoping to tap the wisdom of the Freeperverse on how best to go about doing it.

I have a few questions, in no particular order:

(1) Is it better to go with a craigslist ad, or to use one of the paid auto listing services like Autotrader or Cars.com?

(2) Where do you look, and what do you look for when you shop for used cars?

(3) Is it better to spend some money for minor repairs, or just sell it in its current condition? (It’s about due for new brake pads, and has some small dents.)

(4) How important is having the vehicle maintenance history available? (I hadn’t ever planned to sell it, so I didn’t keep good records, even though I have had regular oil changes and recommended maintenance done).

(5) How do you all handle meetups with potential buyers and test drives?

(6) I know it is important to have the car clean, but how clean is clean enough? Do I need to go whole hog with stuff like a wipe down of the engine compartment and armor-all on the door seals, etc., or is a good wash and wax, with a vacuum and scrub of the interior sufficient?

I’d appreciate anything you all would care to share about these questions, or other general advice, comments, or stories about about selling a car to a private party.

Thanks!

[neefer]

SwapALease.com works best if you're in a major city. We recently moved to Parkersburg, WV from Cleveland and there are no cars in our area that are leased. You may have to contact the person listing the vehicle to find out original down payment and buyout price. I'm sure any leasing company would let you purchase before the end of lease. Ford has a reputation of making lease swapping easier although it took about a month and there was plenty of paperwork. The original dealership was Klaben Ford in Kent, Ohio and even though they didn't make a dime off of us, their customer service was outstanding. That surely can't be true of every car dealership in the country.

My advice to you would be to go to every used car dealership in your area once every week or two for three to four consecutive months. Get to know the sales guys. Tell them you can't make up your mind. Talk about the other dealerships. Hem and haw for a while then tell him you might be back. After several months of doing this, one of them will lose their mind after seeing you come through the door and make you an offer you can't refuse. Avoiding a lemon isn't always easy. Read up on makes and models is the only advice I can give.