The Auto Consumer Review

How To Successfully Sell Your Car:

The simplest and easiest way to change vehicles is to trade your present vehicle for a different one on a dealer lot. It certainly does eliminate the hassle of trying to sell the car yourself, but it also works to the advantage of the car dealer most of the time. In fact, used car trade-ins can be a huge source of revenue for the dealership, and it is just because of the convenience associated with just dropping off the keys to the old car and picking up the keys to the new car. But most often you pay for that convenience with making less on the trade-in of your car than you would on a straight sale. For those savvy car owners who wish to save that money, here are some tips on how to sell you car instead of trade it:

• The first thing to do is establish for sure exactly what your vehicle is worth. You can start this process by consulting the Kelly Blue Book and NADA buyers guides and make note of the price they list for your year of vehicle with the mileage and accessories that your car has on it.



• Next you should buy some local auto sales journals that are usually available at convenience stores and book stores. Then carefully look through and notice the prices that are being listed for your particular model of car or truck. By combining the figures from the buyers guides and the sales journals you should have a pretty clear picture of what you can reasonably sell your vehicle for.



• Before putting it up for sale, have your mechanic look it over and get familiar with potential repairs that may need to be done in the near future. If you choose you can make those necessary repairs now, or plan to adjust your sales price if a prospective buyer points out the problems needing repair. At any rate, you will be knowledgable about the shape that your vehicle is in and will know if someone is exaggerating the repairs that are needed for that vehicle.



• Once the advance preparation is done you need to give attention to how you plan to advertise that the car or truck is for sale. If you still use the vehicle to get around, a great free advertising tool is a "for sale" sign placed in the windows, or written on the glass with soap by hand. It's surprising how effective this can be if you provide your contact information and the car travels quite a bit. You may also be able to park it in a high traffic area if you know someone who will let you do so and get further exposure that way.



• If you choose to pay for advertising, you have many choices including local newspapers and shoppers, local car journals, and online car sales sites. Each has it's own pros and cons but lately many people are shopping more and more online and this is proving to be a very effective way for most people to expand the potential buyers market because those internet sites can reach far more prospective buyers than just local publications can.



• Once you have people coming to see the vehicle, make it and yourself available to them at convenient times and allow them to have the vehicle inspected by a reputable mechanic if they wish. Remember, you should already know what condition the car is in because you have had your own mechanic look it over as well. Be polite and answer questions that are asked, but don't hover or come off as trying to talk anyone into buying the car. That can turn off prospective buyers quicker than almost anything. If a test drive is taken, it is often best to come along to be sure that the car isn't abused on the drive, and simply refuse a test drive to anyone that makes you feel uncomfortable for any reason.



• Most often you should sell the car "AS-IS" with no warranty that can come back to haunt you. If they have done their homework, they should know what condition the vehicle is in anyway. If needed, you can offer to buy an extended warranty as part of the deal to ease a buyer's doubts and if your profit allows.

if you follow these tips and suggestions you can sell your vehicle on your own and most likely make a lot more money than trading it in at a car dealership.