Selling a car online

[Scuba]

I’m glad to hear that these companies make decent offers on older cars. We have a 2007 Lexus with almost 200K miles to sell. The engine only has about 80-90K miles, but still, it’s an old car. We shall see. Not planning to sell it until DH gets his new car in April.

 

[DrRoy]

Not in my case. Best offer by far.

You'll leave thousands on the table as compared to selling it yourself, not as compared to selling it to another dealer.

We listed our last car online and got $3500 more than the Carvana offer.

 

[finnski1]

We listed our last car online and got $3500 more than the Carvana offer.

That's fine but see my post #20. There is no way I would have gotten $3500 more than the Carvana offer. It would have put it at $1600 more than I paid new by just buying one off the Subaru dealer lots.

 

[Surewhitey]

I've sold 3 cars on Craigslist back in the day. 2 in Dallas and 1 in Los Angeles. All easy as none had dents & I didn't ask too much.

Caravana is a business model for profit, so you're trading your time for $ in the reverse. Our last car was sold to a friend and I'd consider that before giving the money to a big company. Also to consider, if applicable, is the reduced sales tax if you trade it to purchase the next. It could be substantial (hundreds) of $$.

 

[DrRoy]

That's fine but see my post #20. There is no way I would have gotten $3500 more than the Carvana offer. It would have put it at $1600 more than I paid new by just buying one off the Subaru dealer lots.

You had one situation and a data point; I had another.

 

[Teacher Terry]

That's fine but see my post #20. There is no way I would have gotten $3500 more than the Carvana offer. It would have put it at $1600 more than I paid new by just buying one off the Subaru dealer lots.

My situation was similar as maybe I could have gotten an extra 1k but no guarantee. There’s many older cars on marketplace that have been for sale for months because they are overpriced and have more miles than mine.

I would have had to have my son come over every time someone wanted to test drive it and then of course receive payment at the bank having the bills checked to make sure they were good. A lot of hassle for probably not much more money.

I’ve easily sold cars only worth 1k because most people have that much money. When you are asking 5-6k it’s entirely different.

 

[finnski1]

You had one situation and a data point; I had another.

I don't disagree. If my sale would have resulted in leaving $3500 on the table I would not have gone that route. Thus why I said "maybe" in my response.

 

[DEC-1982]

Has anyone ever used an online service like Carvana to sell a vehicle? Apparently they offer a quote and if you accept they pick it up at your house.
I'm sure it's not the greatest deal in the world, but I've had some weird dudes show up at my home in the past when I was selling a vehicle. I'm not dealing with that again.

Yes, I sold the last car to Carvana this way. Yes, the car was picked up from my home. No hassle sale ...
I was satisfied with the price but then I am not picky, the lack of headaches is more important to me. YMMV

 

[CaliKid]

Has anyone ever used an online service like Carvana to sell a vehicle? Apparently they offer a quote and if you accept they pick it up at your house.
I'm sure it's not the greatest deal in the world, but I've had some weird dudes show up at my home in the past when I was selling a vehicle. I'm not dealing with that again.

We have had very good look with online services. Way easier than Carmax as you don't have to go there and wait an hour for their appraisal. We have sold cars in many different ways, including private party, and in recent years the online ones are best in our experience. Carvana, Autonation, etc.... I believe private party sales are really a thing of the past. The delta between online and private party just isn't worth dealing with the hassles of private party to me.

 

[surprising]

I've used online places to sell several cars. It is quick and painless and prices seem OK. They don't seem to care about the condition of the drivetrain other than asking "does it drive?" so you don't need to explain that weird rattle or transmission clunk. I believe they price them so if they get clunkers, they will just sell them for auction and recoup their costs.

 

[sengsational]

The last two cars I sold ended-up in the hands of my neighbors.

I got some quotes from the "no hassle" companies, compared those to what the Blue Book would probably yield from a private sale, and decided to split the difference and offer the car on the Facebook neighborhood page. When neighbors were interested, I confirmed who they were, and I just give 'em the keys when they come to test drive it. Two test drives, two sold cars. I just walked into their bank with them to get paid and sign over the title. No middle man. Everyone was happy. I still see one of the cars, occasionally, driving in the neighborhood