Review of your experience selling a used car

[BGold]

My DW and I are ready to let go of our 2001 Honda Civic, which we bought in 2011. Since we live in NYC, where mass transit and walking are the way we travel, and we’re not comfortable driving long distances in an older vehicle that doesn’t cushion the road (yikes) it’s time to let it go.

I’d appreciate your experience with online used car company buyers.

Many thanks!

- Brian

 

[OldShooter]

I have always sold to private buyers. Like any investment, I am trying to maximize the price I get when I decide to sell.

If you go that route, make the exchange at the buyer's bank and don't sign over the title until you have good funds in your hot little hand. Also do what is necessary to ensure that the buyer transfers the vehicle to his name. Our state's titles have a block where the buyer is identified and he signs, then the block is detached from the title and kept by the seller. An alternative is to go together to the DMV and effect the transfer.

 

[Midpack]

WADR it won’t make much difference with a 12 year old Honda Civic. You’ll get more selling private, but there are significant risks there you skip selling online.

 

[harllee]

A couple of years ago I sold my 15 year old Lexus SUV with 200,000 miles. I tried Carmax, I think they offered me $2000. I then took some pictures and listed it on my local Nextdoor and got $6000 for it. I felt safer using Nextdoor than Craigslist because the buyer was in my neighborhood and I checked him out.

 

[disneysteve]

I don't want the hassle of selling to a stranger, even if it gets me more money. In the past year, we sold 2 cars to Carmax, and I sold a third in 2020. The process was fast, easy, and painless. Yes I could have gotten more but I didn't care to do it all myself. I used their app to request a quote, then drove over there, handed them the keys and title, and walked out with a check.

 

[Willers]

Carvana offered us 40% more than a dealer, Carmax or Vroom. You might want to check them out. Our vehicle was a 2014 so they offer good deals on older cars. You might want to check with them. The selling process was soooo easy.

 

[finnski1]

WADR it won’t make much difference with a 12 year old Honda Civic. You’ll get more selling private, but there are significant risks there you skip selling online.

Yeah and it will make even less difference on a 22 year old car.

 

[disneysteve]

I forgot I sold a 4th car. When I was closing my cousin’s estate in Florida in 2021 I had to sell his car. I got a quote from Carmax. Then a neighbor there told me about a place called CarDrop right across the street from Carmax that aimed to beat Carmax. Sure enough they gave me a few hundred more. Again, quick and easy.

 

[audreyh1]

I was quite happy selling our 17 year old Jeep Liberty to CarMax a year ago. We dropped it off on the way home from picking up our new car, and had a recent quote so no waiting to sell (new car delivery date had been uncertain). I prefer not to deal with private buyers.

 

[Aerides]

WADR it won’t make much difference with a 12 year old Honda Civic. You’ll get more selling private, but there are significant risks there you skip selling online.

22 year old at that!

 

[COcheesehead]

Not directed at the OP, but if you trade in on another car, you pay sales tax only on the difference which adds value overall.

 

[njhowie]

We sold mom's 2014 Honda Civic exactly a year ago to Carvana. Best experience ever. No hassle, no haggle, agreed to everything online, they came with a check, drove off with it 15 minutes later. Couldn't be easier, faster, or more convenient/pleasant. Weeks later I was still getting messages from local dealers to bring the car in so they could have a look and make an offer.

 

[Lakedog]

Many people do not like Craigslist for selling autos but I have had great luck over the years selling autos, boats, and RVs via Craigslist. Very recently sold my 2007 Honda Element for $13,500 which was several $1000 more than Carmax offered. The buyer even drove over 500 miles from an adjoining state and paid cash.

 

[BGold]

Looks like Carvana has gotten good marks. I’ll call for a quote and if they pickup in NYC.

 

[njhowie]

Looks like Carvana has gotten good marks. I’ll call for a quote and if they pickup in NYC.

All online through the website.

 

[MC Rider]

I've sold cars and motorcycles and stuff via Craigslist of Facebook. Never got robbed or murdered. I sell cash only. The only problem is a lot of people are flakes. But otherwise it went fine every time. The highest price was north of $6000 iirc.

 

[OldShooter]

Many people do not like Craigslist for selling autos but I have had great luck over the years selling autos, boats, and RVs via Craigslist. Very recently sold my 2007 Honda Element for $13,500 which was several $1000 more than Carmax offered. The buyer even drove over 500 miles from an adjoining state and paid cash.

I've sold cars and motorcycles and stuff via Craigslist of Facebook. Never got robbed or murdered. I sell cash only. The only problem is a lot of people are flakes. But otherwise it went fine every time. The highest price was north of $6000 iirc.

I have no idea how many used cars I've sold to private parties over the years. Guess: ten or twenty. I represent them honestly, price them fairly, and they sell. Never had a significant hassle and, really, very few flakes.

I can understand why some people don't want to "hassle" with selling privately and that's fine, but I also think most of the fears are unfounded. Do what works for you.

 

[Souschef]

Carvana offered us 40% more than a dealer, Carmax or Vroom. You might want to check them out. Our vehicle was a 2014 so they offer good deals on older cars. You might want to check with them. The selling process was soooo easy.

I am in the process of selling my 2016 Hyundai Accent through Carvana. They are offering almost what I paid for it in 2017. The car only has about 30,000 miles on it.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I've donated numerous cars like this to charity.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

If you do decide to do a private sale, I prefer to list on community email listservs, Nextdoor (which does try to enforce residency, supposedly requires real names, and allows you to limit the area to which your for sale item is posted), and maybe post it on Farcebook, but NOT the Marketplace. Last time I posted a car on FB I made a regular post to friends and asked them to share. Those methods reduce the noise and improve the chances that you have a connection (maybe 3rd or 4th degree) to the person. When I got responses on community groups to people I didn't find a connection to, I could see their posting history and that they were involved in and knowledgeable about our area, which gave me confidence that they were who they said they were.


But then Carmax and Carvana are a lot less hassle for somewhat less money, so it really depends on what your priorities are. There's nothing wrong with paying more (or, rather, getting less) in exchange for speed, safety, predictability, and convenience.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Carvana is well known for paying a lot of money for cars, much more than Carmax. It's partly why they've had such financial troubles in the past couple of years. I'm a bit surprised to hear that they still are paying so much.

 

[Ian S]

We sold our 2005 Camry last year using Craig's List. Got $4000 cash for it. There seem to be many who express interest but never follow through. Oh well, it only took one! I think next time we will try something more local as CL has us lumped in with a city 50 miles away. We keep our cars a long time; if we had newer cars to get rid of we'd look at trade-in or the Carvana type service.

 

[Teacher Terry]

By the time I sell my car it is really old. I always post online and usually have it sold in less than a day. I have also sold my friend’s old cars for a 10% commission. I also sold my friend’s old pop up camper that was not in good shape for a flat fee of 200 and it was gone in a day.

 

[Souschef]

I am trying to sell my car through Carvana. There have been a few bumps in the road, however.
I had to upload my odometer reading from the dash-no problem, and my driver's license- no problem.
Then found out I had to upload the entire title document, both sides-no problem after I rescanned it and uploaded it.

Then they required the registration be valid for 75+ days. I was a little less than that, so I had to renew my registration, for over $200. I uploaded the DMV receipt, and we will see what is next

 

[rk911]

My DW and I are ready to let go of our 2001 Honda Civic, which we bought in 2011. Since we live in NYC, where mass transit and walking are the way we travel, and we’re not comfortable driving long distances in an older vehicle that doesn’t cushion the road (yikes) it’s time to let it go.

I’d appreciate your experience with online used car company buyers.

Many thanks!

- Brian

We sold our '03 Jeep Wrangler TJ in 48-hrs. My buddy is the lead tech/mgr at an independent automotive garage where we have our vehicles serviced. He let us park our Jeep out front with a 'For Sale' sign in the windshield and acted as our 'agent' fielding questions. It helped that he had complete service records to show prospective buyers. Cash deal with no bills larger than a Benjamin. 48-hrs later the buyer...who was personally known to my buddy and a shop vendor...handed me 89 Benjamins in exchange for a signed title.

I was dreading the process and was just going to take our Jeep to CarMax when my buddy made the offer to host our Jeep.