Selling our car

Hi,
I have a question about my car. We have a 2003 PT Cruiser which is paid for, with 50k miles on it. We also have a 2005 Honda Rebel motorcycle which is paid for. I drive the car; DH rides the bike. We are moving in Feb.

We need to sell these vehicles before we go, but we need to use them until we go. This is obviously a conflict. I know I can't expect to sell my car the day before we need to leave. How can I manage this situation? Do used car dealers buy from private individuals on the spot? What is the quickest way to sell your car, without being taken to the cleaners? I really need help making a plan!

Thanks

Penny

Hi Penny,
I listed my car on CraigsList and told just about everyone I knew that I was selling my car. I also put signs on the windows and it ended up selling the next day to a coworker. All in all it took about 2 weeks for me to sell my car. CarMax will buy your cars on the spot and since yours are paid for, you should get a decent price from them. My parents let me borrow their car so I wouldn't have to worry about selling mine the day before I left.

Good luck!

Kim

We need to sell these vehicles before we go, but we need to use them until we go. This is obviously a conflict. I know I can't expect to sell my car the day before we need to leave. How can I manage this situation? Do used car dealers buy from private individuals on the spot? What is the quickest way to sell your car, without being taken to the cleaners? I really need help making a plan!

CarMax will likely give you Kelley Blue Book on your car, on the spot.  You can do a self appraisal at www.kbb.com to find out what you might get.  They will quote you as well.  They won't take you to the cleaners, but they won't be losing money on the deal.

If you don't have family/friends that might want to lend you a car, a lot of car rental places will do a monthly rate on a car.  It isn't "cheap" but it might give you more flexibility on when you sell your car.

There is Craigslist as OnMyWay stated, but also eBay motors and a few others if you wanted to go the online route.

Thanks! Does Carmax give you the trade-in value? Or the private sale value? Somewhere in between? The figures are about $2000 apart.

I am thinking... maybe.... we could sell up and move from Tulsa OK, and drive down to my parents' in San Antonio, list the car for sale on Craigslist and Autotrader there... depart for the UK from San Antonio, give my parents power of attorney and let them sell the car if we don't sell it right away.

OK... that sounds like it might solve some logistics problems. A week or two with my 2 kids & DH and my parents is a different story though!

Thanks!

I am thinking... maybe.... we could sell up and move from Tulsa OK, and drive down to my parents' in San Antonio, list the car for sale on Craigslist and Autotrader there... depart for the UK from San Antonio, give my parents power of attorney and let them sell the car if we don't sell it right away.

I did something similar, drove my car from Oregon to California and my parents are trying to sell it now. One thing to keep in mind is that some buyers would rather not deal with having to register an out of state car and it can be costly depending on what state you are bringing it into. If you do go that route, you might want to think about registering it yourself in the new state before you leave.

You should low-ball when you're trying to figure out how much CarMax will give you. You will almost definitely make more money if you sell it on your own. I took my car to CarMax just to get a quote. They quoted me the low KBB value (I still had a lien on the car and I was going to have to pay THEM to take it) and the guy admitted that I could sell it for a lot more on my own. I was able to sell it for the private sale value on KBB and I was pleased. I would try doing it on your own and if you're just looking to unload it in the end, take it to CarMax.

pdkgal does have a good point about selling an out of state car. That could be more difficult.

You should low-ball when you're trying to figure out how much CarMax will give you. You will almost definitely make more money if you sell it on your own.

I was going to say that as well.  We took our car to CarMax and they gave me a relatively low estimate based on what the blue book value was.  We decided to take our chances and sold it on our own for a higher price.  If I didn't have time, I would have considered CarMax but as it was, I preferred to try myself.

I sold mine privately and offered a bit off the price if they were willing to close the transaction the exact day I wanted (a few weeks away from finding the buyer).