Now that I bought my Prius I need to sell my 2001 Infiniti (with only 30,000 miles). What is the best way to do this? Autotrader.com? My local newspaper? Ebay? Any suggestions & comments will be gratefully appreciated!
I would like to hear suggestions also. I have not sold a car in in years. I will be [strike:0a1a4f2a13]dumping[/strike:0a1a4f2a13] ahem selling my 1990 Jetta (bought new) whenever my black #6 comes in.
I figured a trade-in was the easiest. Hmm. I guess Buy & Sell may help. Local classifieds help too. Try advertising at work on the bulletin board and maybe the local community centre.
I did sell a car on eBay but the fees are a bit high. I specified that the buyer be local and pick up only, no shipping. That will significantly narrow your market. If you have a local print paper like "Pennysaver" or "The Reader" (In San Diego we have The Reader, it's a weekly) you might be able to list for free or under $10. We also have an "Autotrader". I'd also suggest the local major paper's classified ads, but for the weekend. Sometimes they have a special for just Fri, Sat and Sun. If not, sometimes it's for 10 days so try to list it for both Sundays. Not as many people read online and it costs too. But sometimes you can include pictures. Our local paper charges over $30 to list. Be sure to also put signs with price and phone number in the window so if you drive around anywhere it's advertising itself.
Sell your car on all of them., plus if you see any other sellers parking the car...try that too with a nice sign, use your local newspaper too, and E-bay and the rest of it...then patience...it is tough when a dealer is not doing it. You might see if your extended warranty, or an inexpensive one can be provided or transferred, then add that to the sell ad, that does go a long way in selling a car.
I got rid of my old car by donating it to a charity. There are several out there that will take a car as a donation, just pick one that suits your ideals. Most will pick the car up and take care of the paperwork. In my case I got a letter saying how much the car sold for at auction which is what I can use as a tax deduction. If you want the cash, then sell it via the methods suggested. If you don't, then a donation is just a phone call (or email) away.
Thank you for the suggestions. We have a "NickelNik" here that is probably like a Pennysaver. Maybe I'll try our "Wheel Deals" which sounds like the "Autotrader". On the donation thing, how large was the receipt compared to the blue-book price? I kind of like the idea of donating, but with this old of a car in this nice of shape, it seems to me like it should go to a VW enthusiast.
It was a 1990 Ford Probe with 194,000 miles in Fair condition. The blue-book trade-in value is $200 with a private party sale of $700. It sold at auction for $375. I would've been very lucky if I sold the car near $700. I simply didn't want to take the time to find an interested buyer and was happy to donate it. Prior to that I used Autotrader (in San Diego) to sell my 1967 Mercedes. My father has a 1964 Plymouth Fury for sale. The Old Car Price Guide says it's worth about $2,000. He would be happy with $1000. I've contacted the local Mopar club and let them know. For the moment it sits and has to be moved every 72 hours to avoid getting a ticket.
I sold my 1994 Subaru Impreza back in December of '03 when I got my Prius via craigslist (http://craigslist.org). You didn't say where you live, but craigslist is only available in most of the major markets. I took lots of photos and posted them in the free online ad. When I say lots, I mean lots. Every angle of the exterior, included a shot of the dash and center console and the flawlessly cared for upholstery and then the empty trunk. It seemed to work pretty well. I priced it at exactly its bluebook value (3,200) and sold it to a fellow who was willing to wait until my new car came in ($500 deposit, the rest when he picked it up) for $3K total. I showed it only at the office, never gave anyone my home info (except for the kid who bought it from me). Since your car is worth more than mine was, it might be a little more difficult than my situation. If money matters to you at all and your car is worth more than $1K, I don't recommend trading it in. (I traded in my '87 Camry with 170K miles for $2K when I got the Subaru and actually think I got a good deal on that one, about the same as if I'd sold it myself). Auto Trader is supposed to be pretty good - also, if you can set up a web page with lots of photos, I think that helps (well, if it's a nice looking car it would). I think getting the carfax info and posting that on a webpage with the photos is a sign of good faith too that impresses people (and saves them money, why make everyone interested in it pay for it when you can do it once).
Thank you everyone for all of your great suggestions! I will take tons of pictures & put it on our Craigs List, Pennysaver & probably AutoTrader.com and see what happens! Buying the carfax report was also a great suggestions. I didn't even know that existed as it has been awhile since I tried to sell a car. Thanks everyone!
If you have an extended warranty, sell it. You can call the dealer and cash it in. I sold a 2003 Impreza thru a consignment place. The first thing they said was call the dealer or the company that sold it to you and cash it in. She said in the used car market, an extended warranty is almost always worthless to the new buyer. Also, this is not a good market for used cars. When GM is giving them away, it's hard to compete with a used car.
I just put up a page for my Jetta: http://www.baxsie.com/jetta/index.html I plan to link to this from craigslist & wheel deals & etc. Oh ya, it is $2500 if anyone is interested.
