My first experience in selling car, so looking for some advice.
I bought the new 2015 ACURA RDX AWD in September 2015. Current miles are 36,000 miles. It is well maintained except few minor cosmetic scuffs. I will need to sell it after 2 or months.
My friend says that when you sell it (to private parties), usually they will go with kbb price. I check kbb price for 38,000 miles (considering that I will drive for 2 more months), it gives me two options:
“My Car’s Value” - $19,824
“Price New/Used” - $22,526 (I selected used)
What should be my starting point of discussion, when I quote kbb price to a private party?
Also, I see some ads saying that they will beat kbb price. Do they?
Mr. Mopar has the solution . If you have a CarMax near you just sell it to them . They gave us more for the vehicle we sold them then any dealer offered in trade. Sure a private sale might get you more money . But they could stop payment on the check and you are out of the country - they might not change the registration and total the vehicle while still in your name without it being insured . Make life as uncomplicated as possible.
Ok, if this is the same guy who needs new tires, some of you are telling him to spend $1000 on tires and then dump the car at Carmax… Wouldn’t be the route I’d want to go, but OK.
Last used car I bought had a range of values, trade in, personal sale, used car retail. I offered $500 over trade in value and bought it from a private seller. Seller was looking for dealer retail, I think he was not happy with the trade in value decided to sell it for more, but after time was glad to be done with it.
I think the tire brand is not that important so I agree 1000.00 for 2or 3 months is not needed . As for dumping at CarMax they usually pay a fair price , you can depend on their check being good and you are done with in about 30 minutes . We sold a vehicle to them and did not have to deal with tire kickers and people who could not afford the vehicle in the first place.
Of course they do. Dealers need to make a profit re-selling the car. The biggest problem you have is time. You need to own it for 3 more months. When you list it for sale? In one month? 2? 3? It could take you a month to sell it. Or may take 2 months. Car Max and others, will do the deal in about 30 minutes. You can drive the car nearly until your plane leaves with no stress at all.
On that, unless you personally know the person you’re selling a car to, never take anything but cash. Even cashier’s checks can be faked, and private car sales are chock full of scammers. I just spent a month selling a car, and I ended up selling it to the one legitimate bite I got. I had about 25 scammers try to fool me.
+1
Twice in my life, I have done private sales of my old cars, and it took… many months.
IIRC, it took ~3 months to get rid of my '74 Volvo, and–even after drastically dropping the price–it took ~7 months to unload my '81 Chevy Citation.
And, then there is the factor of bizarre people who either can’t–or won’t bother to–read the details of your ad. My ads always clearly stated the model year, the odometer mileage, the color, the engine type, and the type of transmission, but… here are some calls that I recall:
Moron #1: What color is it?
Me: It’s silver-gray
Moron #1: Oh, I wanted a red car
Moron #2: What year is it?
Me: It’s a '74
Moron #2: Oh, I don’t want a car that old!
Moron #3: Does it have an automatic transmission?
Me: No, as the ad states, it is a 4 speed manual transmission.
Moron #3: How do you expect me to drive it?
Moron #4: What type of engine does it have?
Me: As the ad states, it has a 4 cylinder engine.
Moron #4: I would only buy a 6 cylinder!
One advantage in some states (Like Massachusetts) of trading in a vehicle and then buying one at the same time from a dealer (it can be a used or new vehicle) is you only pay the sales tax (6.25%) on the difference in values. Just putting that out there. Selling a car to CarMax and then later buying a new or used car elsewhere negates that tax advantage. The tax in my state on that higher valuation above is $1,408. All that said, I love the CarMax option, have almost used it myself, and plan to in the future when I am letting go of a car, but not also getting another.
Agree, Carmax is no doubt the easiest solution. It depends on how much they offer. The hassle of selling yourself is a pain, but I might tolerate that pain for several thousand dollars. I can’t imagine Carmax offering much over wholesale or trade in value…? If selling it there, I’d use the Wal Mart tires
Yeah I have to say that has been my experience. My 68 Dart took 6 months and my one Riv I never was able to sell it until I gave it away for $50. Others have been in between from a couple weeks to a couple months. Now though, no one advertises in the local paper anymore so there is no good way of dealing just with local people.
+1
I forgot to add in my previous post that my ongoing newspaper ads cost… a LOT of money, so in addition to the inconvenience of having to deal with time-wasting weirdos, the cost of those ads cut severely into whatever price advantage I might have theoretically had with a private sale, as opposed to simply trading the cars in on my new car purchases.
