Having difficulty selling this car. My wife died suddenly and I am now 1 driver with 2 SUVs. Posted on Facebook and word of mouth. Are there other good sources to advertise. I live in a very small town. Last time I sold a car I advertised in a major daily newspaper. Appreciate suggestions. Thank you so much.
Iowa? Post it in nearest big city and see if you get bites. Might have to go there to meet buyers. You sell it one time. Worth a few trips?
You could also take it to a local car dealer, perhaps a CarMax is there’s one near you.
There’s a lot of demand for used cars right now, so I suspect a dealer would be happy to make you an offer.
I’m sorry for your loss, by the way.
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Thanks, ledhed75 for your sympathy. I was planning on driving that SUV for a long, long time. But life is fragile and things change.
Sorry for your loss. I hope you have other family to lean on.
Yeah, if the Rogue is in very good condition a low mileage, any dealer would be happy to put it on his lot. Just take it there and ask for an offer. Tell them you don’t want to buy a replacement. You might get more from a Nissan dealer.
Also do a web search for used cars for sale near you. That will give you on line ideas as well as some possible dealer leads. Craigslist is a possibility. If you check out Craigslist, read the advice they give about selling cars. Set up a meet in a heavily travelled area, like a Walmart parking lot at a police station. My County Mounties have several parking spaces on their lot specifically for selling cars. You meet there, go for a test drive, and negotiate a deal, all within shouting distance of the police.
Consider selling both SUVs and replacing them with something you like more or is more appropriate for your next life stage.
Craigslist is an excellent choice for selling an older car, not to exceed $5000. It is not a good choice for selling a newer model, worth tens of thousands of dollars. Anyone who is capable of paying a fair price for this type of vehicle with funds on hand isn’t going to want the risk of buying from a stranger, and would instead do business with a licensed dealer.
Yes, this SUV is in great shape. Lots of options including AWD and only 34,000 miles. In my experience so far, people don’t want to pay top dollar and rather go for high mileage and low price (which I can understand too if you are low on money). But as one car guy told me, it only takes one. I would like to sell it before license and insurance come up again.
That “one” may take months and months (or never) to wander by. If it is overpriced, it will not sell fast and possibly not at all.
I’d stay away from craigslist. Carmax will give you wholesale value for the car because they need to make money on the car when they sell it - it isn’t a charity. I suspect you are asking on the high end of retail value and that is a always a tough sell.
Possibly try AutoTrader. It is an online source. You can compare your price to other vehicles of similar year, mileage and condition. Look at the dealer prices, not private sales. If you are higher than dealer, you are asking too much. Private sale prices are always lower because you won’t offer a warranty and it is assumed you didn’t prep the car for sale (newer tires, brake pads, paintless dent removal ect.)
I am sorry for your loss.
I sold a 3 year old vehicle to Carmax . Amount was fair , process was easy and they give you 7 days to accept the offer .
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Cars are disposable. Appliances. Buy high, sell low. Car dealers and liquor stores. Pretty common.
I use Craigslist every time I want to sell something, and it works OK. Yes, you get a lot of stupid email replies, asking you if it’s still available. I don’t understand why they send those, but they do. Put a line at the end of the ad that says,
“If this ad is up, the car is available. I’ll delete it when it’s sold. Emails asking if it’s still available will be ignored.”
If you pay your insurance and then sell the car, tell the insurance company and then they will send you a rebate. Every state handles registration differently.
If you are uncomfortable meeting a potential buyer, check and see if your local police department will let you use their parking lot or if they can suggest another safe area. .
That’s a good suggestion, but in my experience, a HUGE percentage of the public never bothers to read the details. Back in the days when I was trying to sell my old cars, the only method was newspaper ads, and I was very careful to post the full details of the cars, including make, model, model year, odometer mileage, exterior color, interior color and type of seats, engine size/type, and transmission type.
Here are some phone conversations that I recall:
Caller #1: What color is the car?
Me: It’s silver, just as it states in the ad.
#1: Oh, I wanted a red car
Caller #2: Does it have an automatic transmission?
Me: No, as the ad states, it’s a 4-speed manual trans
#2: Manual? How do you expect me to drive that?
Caller #3: What type of engine does it have?
Me: As the ad states, it’s a 4-cylinder.
#3: A four? I would only drive a six or an eight!
Caller #4: Does it have a bench seat?
Me: No, just like it states in the ad, it has bucket seats.
#4: Bucket seats are stupid. Why would anyone want bucket seats?
… and then there are the people who call you at 11:30 at night…
The bottom line is that I will NEVER again try to do private party sales of my old cars, and will trade them in, even if–in theory–I get less in the process.
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All a bit familiar, except with CL you don’t give out your phone number, you communicate through a blind email address. People will try to extract your phone number, but you can stick to the email through CL.
Of course people will be stupid about stuff. If you want to avoid dealing with the public then what you do is the solution, and like all things you will have to pay a price for your choice.
Some years ago someone called me one night (no idea who) about 8 and said they heard I had an old Harley for sale. Yes, I have several of them but they are not for sale or trade.
Would you sell the 1950 FL cop bike panhead?
No; but if someone made the right offer I would at least think about it.
Would you take 500 bucks for it?
Forget it dude. Go away. The left side VIN engine case will bring 1500 bucks by itself.
I can buy them all day long for 500 bucks he says. Fine; you buy them for 500; bring them to me for a quick grand and I will take them all. I slam the phone down and end that BS PDQ. My faith in human nature is pretty thin.
Those bikes in pieces will bring 7 to 10 grand all day long
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Laughing really loud and hanging up works great and leaves me not feeling quite so PO-ed.
That’s your right, but anything over 15 years old should be sold private party if it runs. A dealer isn’t going to pay more than scrap value for it, and will usually sell it to a junkyard, which means one less low-cost car for someone to drive. What a waste.
Seems like some older trades go through copart or other auctions.
Not really . the ones the dealer does not want are sold through auction or as a group to lower tier used vehicle lots . Think ’ Buy Here - Pay Here ’
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Everyone likes CarMax it seems, and so do I. We sold two cars there and got great offers, considering what they needed. There is one in Des Moines, and no others in Iowa. If you don’t mind the drive, you will most likely get a good offer, and you don’t have to do anything else. Just deliver the car with clear title and line up your ride home. Make sure they know if you still owe anything on the car. They will have to pay off the loan before they give you your part of the payout.