Drive Virtually Free: Smart Used Car Buying Advice

Selling your car privately can be a hassle, but it is definitely worth the thousands of dollars you will save versus trading your car in or selling it to a used car lot.  Car dealers are experienced with negotiation and know how to get your car for as little money as possible so that they can increase their profits when they resell the car.

So, in order to sell your car privately, you’ll need to create an ad for it.  Your advertisement is like a resume – it just gets you an interview with prospective buyers.  Make it as engaging as possible to set your car apart so that you can attract multiple buyers.

Where should I advertise?

• AutoTrader
• Craigslist
• cars.com
• eBay Motors
• Local newspapers

How do I prepare my car for sale?

This is a critical component of selling which is overlooked by a surprising number of sellers.  To prepare your car for sale so that you can sell it more quickly and for a higher price, you should:

• Restore the car to factory condition as much as possible. Most people won’t want the same modifications as you – they are just looking for a car that is the same as the one from the factory.  If there are any small problems like scratched trim pieces which can be replaced.  You should also look at getting the car aligned and making sure that the tires are in good shape and are a matched set.
• Clean the car up! So many people show their car without washing it, with trash in the back seat and so on.  Remove everything from the car that you don’t need on a day-to-day basis.  Take a few hours to wash, wax and detail the car inside and out or pay someone to do it for you.  Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes – what would you think if you went to look at a car that wasn’t even kept clean?  You could be losing the sale or at least hundreds of dollars by not doing this.

What should my asking price be?

Look at Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds True Market Value and National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) guides to estimate the value of your car.  Kelley Blue Book tends to value cars higher than what they are actually worth, in my experience.

Also look at the ads of other similar cars in your area to get an idea of pricing.  Call some of the sellers and ask if they have sold their cars.  If they have sold them, ask what the final price was – don’t be shy.  If they haven’t sold them and they say that they’ve been on the market for a while, you know that their asking price is not competitive (or something is wrong with their car).  Print out these ads as well as the price estimates from the above sites for reference when people come to see the car so that you can show that you’ve done your research.

I like to price my car in the lowest third of similar cars (cars of the same make, model, and similar mileage and year, within the same generation).  So, if there are 10 similar cars, I will price mine to compete with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd cheapest.  This will move your car more quickly and also put you in a position to invite multiple buyers to get them to compete and perhaps start a bidding war.

How do I make the car look good in pictures?

Take pictures of the car just after it has been cleaned.  Find a suitable location for the photos, like a secluded mountain road.  In front of your house is fine as well, but just make sure that there is no clutter in the background.  The time of day will affect the lighting, and while I’m not an expert photographer, I find that pictures come out best at the beginning or the end of the day when the sunlight is not too harsh.

It’s important to take lots of pictures to make sure that the buyers don’t feel as though you are hiding anything.  To cover the entire car, I will typically take the following nine photos:

1. Front driver side 3/4 view
2. Front view, head on
3. Front passenger side 3/4 view
4. Rear passenger side 3/4 view
5. Rear view, head on
6. Rear driver side 3/4 view
7. Driver door open, with a view into the car
8. In the car, with a view of the entire dashboard
9. A photo of the instrument cluster, showing the mileage

Also take photos of anything else ahead of time that buyers will be interested in seeing, such as modifications you’ve chosen not to remove or damage to the car.

Good photos will set your ad apart from the rest, since so many people fall flat here, posting up poor quality and/or not enough photos.

What should I write in the ad?

You will be limited in the amount of space you have to write your ad, but try to focus on what makes your car stand out among other similar cars in the area.  Stress the strengths that your car might have, such as:

• Desirable, premium features such as a sport package, navigation or upgraded leather
• Premium wheels
• Low mileage
• First owner
• Kept in a garage
• Highway mileage
• Full maintenance history
• No dings or scratches
• No accidents
• Clean title
• Major scheduled service completed
• Remaining factory warranty or extended warranty
• No modifications (if this car is a favorite of tuners, this can differentiate your car)