How to Sell Your Car for Top Dollar

Selling a used vehicle can be a bit tricky, especially if the vehicle is still rather new and/or worth quite a bit of money. You want to make as much money off the sale, but at the same time, you want to actually sell the vehicle, so you can’t ask for too much.

The good news is that you can sell your car for top dollar, but the bad news is that it will take a bit more effort than just throwing up an ad online.

How to Sell Your Car for Top Dollar

Determine the current value of your used vehicle. Check out the Kelly Blue Book value for the most accurate value. Use this number to determine your selling price, keeping in mind you’ll need a bit of room to negotiate.

Get your vehicle cleaned and detailed. It doesn’t cost much for this professional cleaning and it can go a long way in getting someone interested in purchasing. Never show an interested buyer a dirty car! They will either walk away from the sale, thinking you didn’t maintain it, or they will give you a very low offer.

Put up lots of ads. Don’t just stick up flyers at stores (do people still find this helpful?), but instead, post your vehicle for sale on Kijiji, Cragslist, Auto Trader and in local newspapers (both online and off). You should even consider social media sites, especially Facebook. Don’t forget to include lots of photos. The more photos, the better!

Allow a prospective buyer to test drive the vehicle if they ask, but don’t let them take it by themselves. They may never return!

Once you have found someone that has agreed to purchase your vehicle, make sure that they sign a Bill of Sale that states final sale. This is an important step that you don’t want to skip, just in case the buyers come after you later on, saying they want a refund because the car stopped working, or for any other reason.

Don’t give the buyer your vehicle until you have cash in hand, or if you received a cheque, that the cheque has cleared. Don’t forget to remove the license plates once you finally hand over the keys!

Be prepared to get some scammers. If you place an add online, it’s likely that a few scammers will contact you and ask you buy your vehicle via Paypal (they will give a lame excuse about why they can’t come see it in person, and will say that a courier will come and pick it up). Do not trust these people.

A legitimate buyer will talk to you on the phone and arrange to see the vehicle in person.

Have you sold a vehicle before? Do you have any tips to share?