Anybody ever advertised/sold a care online (Autotrader, etc.)?? My retired dad needs to sell his car and I am not interested in it....
Sell car online?
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I would start with Craigslist before I paid for advertizing. Be aware that many people from online advertising places (Autotrader) scan CL and will call and tell you how much quicker you will sell your car if you list it with them.
With a little effort you can list the car in several nearby CL sections.
I assume the vehicle is a "southern" car, many people in the rust belt are looking for southern no salt cars.
With a little effort you can list the car in several nearby CL sections.
I assume the vehicle is a "southern" car, many people in the rust belt are looking for southern no salt cars.
My parents advertised a car on Autotrader once. They lived in a rural area at the time, and didn't expect much response. The only call they got was from cars.com trying to get them to pay for a listing there.
They wound up selling it to my neighbor's mom, whose 80s Pontiac 6000 finally gave up the ghost.
They wound up selling it to my neighbor's mom, whose 80s Pontiac 6000 finally gave up the ghost.
I've sold 2 cars on CL. both sold fairly quickly. without much drama.
but what drama can be expected for a clean, well maintained 10yr old car w/ around 100,000mi for around $2grand?
my Sonata(2000, 2.4l auto, 105,000mi $2500) wasn't even listed for 24hrs before i sold it.(to a HS Classmate, who lives right around the corner from me, for his little bro in college who had just been t-boned)[late Jan.2010]
mom's Taurus took about a week.
(99, one owner, Vulcan, 126,000mi, $2000)[late Jan 2012]
but what drama can be expected for a clean, well maintained 10yr old car w/ around 100,000mi for around $2grand?
my Sonata(2000, 2.4l auto, 105,000mi $2500) wasn't even listed for 24hrs before i sold it.(to a HS Classmate, who lives right around the corner from me, for his little bro in college who had just been t-boned)[late Jan.2010]
mom's Taurus took about a week.
(99, one owner, Vulcan, 126,000mi, $2000)[late Jan 2012]
craigslist is a mess how it's set up and viewed by the average person. In my area, people expect deals too goo to be true when listed on craigslist. craigslist doesn't much believe in capitol letters.
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
craigslist is a mess how it's set up and viewed by the average person. In my area, people expect deals too goo to be true when listed on craigslist. craigslist doesn't much believe in capitol letters.
This is my experience as well. I think quite a few used car dealers spend hours each day browsing CL and making low ball offers, thinking that if you are using a free listing service, you may be desperate to sell. We tried selling two cars on CL, didn't get much in the way of real interest and ended up paying to list them on Autotrader and they then sold pretty quick. It is much easier to find cars on Autotrader, particularly when in a major metro area that may have four CL sites for areas within a 50 mile radius.
craigslist is a mess how it's set up and viewed by the average person. In my area, people expect deals too goo to be true when listed on craigslist. craigslist doesn't much believe in capitol letters.
This is my experience as well. I think quite a few used car dealers spend hours each day browsing CL and making low ball offers, thinking that if you are using a free listing service, you may be desperate to sell. We tried selling two cars on CL, didn't get much in the way of real interest and ended up paying to list them on Autotrader and they then sold pretty quick. It is much easier to find cars on Autotrader, particularly when in a major metro area that may have four CL sites for areas within a 50 mile radius.
I've sold two cars using cars.com.
The first was a Neon. I got it for next to nothing, gave it a timing belt, front pads, bulk oil and a Champ filter, some Turtle Wax and enough gas to fill the tank. I listed it on cars.com for $100 less than the highest asking price for the same year and model. A week later it was sold for my asking price with no haggling to a young kid who acted like I was somehow making all the problems in his life magically disappear.
The second was a Kia Sportage with a leaking head gasket. That one took almost two weeks to sell and to make the deal I had to accept $200 less than I asked. The buyer explained that he was buying the car to resell overseas and I was still getting a [censored] more than I put into it so I was happy.
The first was a Neon. I got it for next to nothing, gave it a timing belt, front pads, bulk oil and a Champ filter, some Turtle Wax and enough gas to fill the tank. I listed it on cars.com for $100 less than the highest asking price for the same year and model. A week later it was sold for my asking price with no haggling to a young kid who acted like I was somehow making all the problems in his life magically disappear.
The second was a Kia Sportage with a leaking head gasket. That one took almost two weeks to sell and to make the deal I had to accept $200 less than I asked. The buyer explained that he was buying the car to resell overseas and I was still getting a [censored] more than I put into it so I was happy.
Quote:
My retired dad needs to sell his car and I am not interested in it...
Some here may be.....
My retired dad needs to sell his car and I am not interested in it...
Some here may be.....
If it really is better than average you may have a hard time getting good money on craigslist. Lots of chiselers and lowballers there.
Autotrader intrigues me, I got a couple dealer cars from there before CL made it big. The prices were higher and competition less. You could zig when others zag and list with them.
If it says toyota or honda, it'll sell itself for ridiculous coin on either venue.
Autotrader intrigues me, I got a couple dealer cars from there before CL made it big. The prices were higher and competition less. You could zig when others zag and list with them.
If it says toyota or honda, it'll sell itself for ridiculous coin on either venue.
I had great luck with Craigs list selling cars. You'll get your shoppers and tire kickers, but knowing how to screen calls can just about eliminate that.
Craigslist is the way to go, don't waste your time or money with Autotrader. Price it right, post plenty of clear pictures and a short but informative description and it will sell. The newer/more expensive it is the longer it will take - just have patience.
Craigslist is where it is at. Be patient, ignore lowball offers and the right buyer will come. Sold my old Mazda3 that way to a couple sending their daughter to college. They talked me down $500 which I had already built into the price as negotiating buffer!
This is a used car sellers market, work it accordingly.
This is a used car sellers market, work it accordingly.
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
craigslist is a mess how it's set up and viewed by the average person. In my area, people expect deals too goo to be true when listed on craigslist. craigslist doesn't much believe in capitol letters.
Oh, the irony!
craigslist is a mess how it's set up and viewed by the average person. In my area, people expect deals too goo to be true when listed on craigslist. craigslist doesn't much believe in capitol letters.
Oh, the irony!
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I've sold 2 vehicles on Cars.com to private parties and had no problems. I also had them listed on Craigslist and attracted weirdos/scammers. The scammers all sent emails to the effect that they were out of the country, but had "agents" nearby that would wire me the money. They were going to pay full price without even seeing the car, after I emailed them all my personal info and bank routing numbers of course
. Since then, I wouldn't even list my toaster on Craigslist.
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In 2010, we sold my wife's 2001 Accord coupe that had 115,000 miles on it on Craigslist. It took a month to sell, and we got about exactly what Edmunds TMV said it was worth. (KBB is always high in my area)
We're currently trying to sell either my Cobalt or my wife's Subaru on Craigslist, since we got the Mazda5. Been listed for about 3 weeks at this point and I've gotten a few nibbles but only one test drive and they didn't wind up buying it.
Here are some things I've learned about selling on CL:
-In my experience, you have to be patient.
-Make sure your text looks nice (proper capitalization, punctuation and spelling) and you have pictures. So many people on CL put no effort into their posts, so that's an easy way to stand out.
-Be sure the price you're listing it for is realistic. Don't just put up the KBB price - check Edmunds, NADA, etc.
-List it in adjacent metro areas, if possible.
-Don't put your phone number in plain - i.e., instead of typing out (010)555-9876, write out (zero one zero) five five five - nine eight seven six.
-Always use Craigslist relay email - some scammers will try to get you to respond directly to a different email address.
We're currently trying to sell either my Cobalt or my wife's Subaru on Craigslist, since we got the Mazda5. Been listed for about 3 weeks at this point and I've gotten a few nibbles but only one test drive and they didn't wind up buying it.
Here are some things I've learned about selling on CL:
-In my experience, you have to be patient.
-Make sure your text looks nice (proper capitalization, punctuation and spelling) and you have pictures. So many people on CL put no effort into their posts, so that's an easy way to stand out.
-Be sure the price you're listing it for is realistic. Don't just put up the KBB price - check Edmunds, NADA, etc.
-List it in adjacent metro areas, if possible.
-Don't put your phone number in plain - i.e., instead of typing out (010)555-9876, write out (zero one zero) five five five - nine eight seven six.
-Always use Craigslist relay email - some scammers will try to get you to respond directly to a different email address.
I have sold a 1999 Toyota Avalon (11 years old when sold) and a 2007 Toyota Tundra Double Cab (1 year old when sold), both on E-bay and with very little hassle. I set a fair reserve, posted decent pictures, an accurate and detailed description, answered a few questions on-line, and sold both at a higher than expected price without either buyer seeing them until I traded the cars for payment. It helped that both cars were clean 1 owner cars with no title issues and that both sales were fairly local. I have sold some bicycles and purchased furniture on CL before, (all transactions went well), but never anything as large as vehicle.
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