How to sell a car nowadays?

[mclasser]

Is posting on Craigslist and Cars.com still common?

I'm helping a friend private party sell his car and this is his first experience with such a thing. The last time I sold a car using one of those sites was over 10 yrs ago via Cars.com and it worked out well.

I wanted to ask the group to see if things have changed since then, especially in today's wacky car market.

Of course, we'll have to look out for scammers and time wasters. I've heard of people selling on Facebook Marketplace but neither of us have a FB account, and would rather not create one, to be honest.

 

[PimTac]

How about Carvana or CarMax?

 

[Quattro Pete]

What specific car are you trying to sell?

If it's relatively new / higher value, try Carvana. If old/low value, maybe try facebook marketplace or Craigslist.

 

[CarDoc66]

Craigslist only if it's a clunker.

 

[Leo99]

I'd take my car to CarMax and see what they offered. A clean and easy transaction is worth a lot to me.

 

[mclasser]

What specific car are you trying to sell?

If it's relatively new / higher value, try Carvana. If old/low value, maybe try facebook marketplace or Craigslist.

It's a 2003 Civic with 200k miles.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

It's a 2003 Civic with 200k miles.

Easy sell to a 200 hungry customers within a 50 mile radius at the fair market price ~ $3000.

Kids want 'em bad; k24 swap in the near future BUT, probably a four door auto? Less desirable, pedestrian design - but a desirable college runabout nonetheless.

 

[Dave Hess]

Easy sell to a 200 hungry customers within a 50 mile radius at the fair market price ~ $3000.

Kids want 'em bad; k24 swap in the near future BUT, probably a four door auto? Less desirable, pedestrian design - but a desirable college runabout nonetheless.

Yep. Craigslist and you will get lots of cash buyers.

Will CarMax or Carvana buy something with 200K miles ?

 

[SatinSilver]

Yep. Craigslist and you will get lots of cash buyers.

Will CarMax or Carvana buy something with 200K miles ?

Yes, but they will offer something minimal for it like $500. Then send it to their auction since they won't retail it.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Offerup is another easy place to sell old cheap cars

 

[JeffKeryk]

Easiest sale in the world, unless it is a total beater. Even then, actually.
If you are near Silicon Valley, lemme know. I am looking for something like that right now but they seem to be made outta gold around here.

 

[Rmay635703]

All of the above is dependent on your area

In my area everything sells for $500 private party unless your a dealer with financing.

If you live in a crap area like this try all the sites including facebook marketplace then understand that if you don’t want to wait a year with crack heads and scammers bring it to a caravan or similar.

Selling a car now involves sorting out the 99% that are scams from the 1 or 2 who will buy without bs hassle

 

[tbm5690]

Might be worth finding a friend with a Facebook account willing to post it and send any inquiries your way, if you don't want to create an account. FB marketplace has slid into Craiglist's old spot for the most common platform for local sales from what I have seen.

 

[dishdude]

Offerup is another easy place to sell old cheap cars

This. Craigslist is dead, at least around here.

An old Civic will sell quick, just don't price it like it's a brand new Rolls Royce.

This isn't a Carmax car. Carmax pays good for cars they will put on their lot, they'll make an offer on any car but the old stuff goes to their auction so you're going to get an offer that's less than wholesale.

 

[UncleDave]

Is posting on Craigslist and Cars.com still common?

I'm helping a friend private party sell his car and this is his first experience with such a thing. The last time I sold a car using one of those sites was over 10 yrs ago via Cars.com and it worked out well.

I wanted to ask the group to see if things have changed since then, especially in today's wacky car market.

Of course, we'll have to look out for scammers and time wasters. I've heard of people selling on Facebook Marketplace but neither of us have a FB account, and would rather not create one, to be honest.

Yup, what works best for me is auto trader.

I didn't have a problem with time wasters for some reason.

 

[eljefino]

FBM is tops here, CL a distant second.

I surf CL at work, but won't pull up facebook until I get home. If you stick to CL you'll probably just get old nerdy dudes who don't feel like they need FB, eg, people like yourself.

You can always sign up for FB with a fake name and see what's on marketplace. The flaw is if your account was created in 2023 with zero friends the customers might think you're a scammer. So yeah have a friend list it and direct calls your way.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

cars.com is still free

CL charges $5 now, but that's still not bad.

 

[JohnnyG]

Checks can take 7 days to clear, cash would be my choice these days.

 

[atikovi]

It's a 2003 Civic with 200k miles.

Last I checked cars.com didn't take private ads. Craigslist has way better filters and organization then FBMP so you get what you pay for. Buyers also seem to think if you're paying $5 you're at least serious in selling. People on FB post dream prices for junk which turns off many people, especially those priced free or $1234. If it's half way decent, list it for $3000 and take the first offer around $2500.

 

[georgemiller]

Just get a Facebook with a fake name. I don't use my real name and have sold many items on face book.