How to sell a car nowadays?

I'll add the Nth vote for FB marketplace.

Or, do it the old fashioned way. Get a google voice or other VOIP number and drive around with a for sale sign in the car with the VOIP phone number listed.

If anyone calls, talk to them. Do the sale at a bank or police station, etc.

No one gets your real number.

Such a number is also useful when you MUST give a number for some retailer, etc.
Just turn off notifications once you've sold your item, or you'll get notifications for every new message that come in, etc.

I seldom hand out my personal cell number to anyone selling, or when I'm selling. I use my Google Voice number and can screen the calls. I.E. I get an e-mail or text when someone leaves a message.
 
atikovi said:
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.
Click to expand...

cars.com does take private ads :)

Click the tab that says "sell privately"

and yes, it is free to list.
 
I never thought there's be a market where a twenty year old Civic with 200K could be offered for sale with the expectation of getting any more than pocket change. A truly perverse market at the moment.
 
fdcg27 said:
I never thought there's be a market where a twenty year old Civic with 200K could be offered for sale with the expectation of getting any more than pocket change. A truly perverse market at the moment.
Click to expand...
It's called inflation. Used to be able to get $100-$200 cars from the auction all the time....20-25 years ago. $50 cars occasionally and once I got one for $25.
 
fdcg27 said:
I never thought there's be a market where a twenty year old Civic with 200K could be offered for sale with the expectation of getting any more than pocket change. A truly perverse market at the moment.
Click to expand...

Civics have always held their value well, and even older cars with 200k have been well over $1000 if not $2000
 
I sold one of my F 350s a week ago. I had the truck on FB Marketplace, received dozens of "is it still available", and likely twenty offers from people that never saw the truck. I suspect that when they saw the truck, they would come down on what they offered- likely flippers.

After ten days of FB, I decieded to put the truck on CL. Tem minutes after putting the truck on CL, I had a showing of the truck 45 minutes later, and sold the truck for full listing price.

I was shocked that FB was not able to facilitate a sale and had a lot of nuts contact me. Yet, Craigslist sold the truck in under two hours after posting. Lots of lessons for me learned there.
 
atikovi said:
It's called inflation. Used to be able to get $100-$200 cars from the auction all the time....20-25 years ago. $50 cars occasionally and once I got one for $25.
Click to expand...
It seems as though my value meter needs recalibration to current levels.
I bought my last car five years ago, when deals were easy to find on anything new or used while less desirable cars could be had for what we'd now consider stupid cheap new or used.
My, but things have changed.
 
slacktide_bitog said:
cars.com is still free :)

CL charges $5 now, but that's still not bad.
Click to expand...
Bargain. But I didnt know they charged non-dealers for car and bike sales.
It's amazing how "the early days of the web" that platform looks now more antique than AltaVista

I recall the Auto Classified's in the local city newspaper used to charge what I thought at the time was a small fortune to list.

I must be gettin' old :)
 
ARCOgraphite said:
Bargain. But I didnt know they charged non-dealers for car and bike sales.
It's amazing how "the early days of the web" that platform looks now more antique than AltaVista

I recall the Auto Classified's in the local city newspaper used to charge what I thought at the time was a small fortune to list.

I must be gettin' old :)
Click to expand...

CL started charging non-dealers after the dealers started posting as private sellers to avoid the fee :sneaky:
 
Since you can’t choose your relatives, dump old unreliable vehicles on nieces, nephews, or second cousins. Aunts and uncles are ok but not until the above has already been exhausted
 
I am leery of FB Marketplace. I got so many messages and odd trade request. Gave up for a while (car was only $11 a month to insure) until I moved to the new place which is on a main road. Stuck it out on the front yard and sold it within a day to the guy across the street. Handed me $100 bills and we signed the paperwork at the notary (how you gotta do it in PA). Was interesting to learn the guy paid me in drug money, oh well, they were real though. It was an even shadier deal why he was buying the clunker, but the place I signed over the title was legit :LOL:
 
I just went through this. I had a 2002 Jeep Liberty with 195k miles. Really good shape for its age except for some rust starting to get bad on the bottom of the doors. KBB's "Instant Cash Offer" is a joke, it is pending a dealers inspection but I was initially offered $1,200. I was trading it in and didn't feel like dealing with selling it locally. Automax, which is local to Massachusetts and is much like Carmax offered me $500. Fine. Goodbye. I probably could have gotten $1,500 for it selling locally if I wanted to deal with the headache. Maybe $2k with less rust on the bottom of the doors.

I've also dealt with Carmax. Had a 5 year old Tacoma and they gave me top dollar for KBB trade in value. Also got rid of a 2007 Nissan Versa and got hosed...but it had a bad transmission that I limped in there to get rid of it. The transmission survived thier test drive and that was about all it had for life left in it. (Jatco CVT).

If your vehicle is 10 years old and has say close to 100k miles or less... try Carmax or Carvana. If it has any mechanical or cosmetic defect or is older than 10-15 years you are better off going on Facebook Marketplace or CL. FB has a much bigger following than Craigslist nowadays.
 
GON said:
I sold one of my F 350s a week ago. I had the truck on FB Marketplace, received dozens of "is it still available", and likely twenty offers from people that never saw the truck. I suspect that when they saw the truck, they would come down on what they offered- likely flippers.

After ten days of FB, I decieded to put the truck on CL. Tem minutes after putting the truck on CL, I had a showing of the truck 45 minutes later, and sold the truck for full listing price.

I was shocked that FB was not able to facilitate a sale and had a lot of nuts contact me. Yet, Craigslist sold the truck in under two hours after posting. Lots of lessons for me learned there.
Click to expand...
You sold a work truck to someone who works.

If you had a VW bug with eyebrows on the headlights it'd have sold on FBM.

There's no harm in using both, except for losing five bucks.
 
Concerning the things I've sold, Facebook has become a much better option than Craigslist. Far fewer attempted scams, weirdos, and people wanting to make payments
 
Think it is worth noting two contributors in this thread had success selling a used vehicle in the last 30 days on Craigslist. maybe that $5 listing fee is actually helpful to all involved.
 
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