If you’re looking for tips for selling a car privately, then you’ve come to the right place! Let us unpack all of the advice you need to sell your car, avoid scams and make a great car sale!
⚠️ If It's Broken, Don't Fix It - Get Paid Cash for Your Vehicle ⚠️
Selling a car can involve a lot of work, but if you have a system and a plan, then selling your car privately will be a breeze. Check out some tips for selling a car privately below!
Create A Great Car For Buyers
When you decide to sell your car, your job is to place the best car you can, in front of buyers. You want to make sure that you know what you’re selling, be honest about what you’re selling and offer a great deal.
Paperwork is Important
As you prepare to sell your car, be sure that you have all of the appropriate paperwork for your car. You want to make sure that you can place your hands on the title, odometer reading and other pertinent information. Each state requires a different set of paperwork so, be sure that you look on your state’s DMV or department of motor vehicles’’ website for a complete list of what is needed for a private sale. You don’t want to position yourself with an interested seller and then you lose the sale, because you lack a document.
Obtain a Vehicle History Report
Lots of car buyers will usually ask for a CarFax report or some sort of vehicle history report. Each potential buyer does have that right too. So, be sure that you can supply that for the perspective car buyers who have a watchful eye on your car. Sure, you may know your car well. But the potential buyer needs some sort of protection. For example, if your car was in a minor collision, or sustained some sort of water damage, your vehicle’s history report will outline such. Once you have your vehicle report, take the time to read it over, call any of the reporting companies that may have reported anything in error, request that they correct any incorrect information and keep the report to show to perspective buyers.
Meet in Safe Places
Now that you have sent word that you are selling a car, you will receive calls and emails about it. Once you do, make sure that you answer perspective car buyers promptly. Additionally, make sure that meet-ups are in safe places. Call your local police department and see if you and the perspective buyer can meet there. Many police stations are “safe places for internet /car sales”. And you can meet there to exchange goods and services for money. Police stations have cameras. So, the likelihood of someone making off with money without offering the goods, is slim to none.
Is It Worth Detailing A Car Before Selling?
This depends on the vehicle. Are you selling a classic car and looking for top dollar for it? Then, it may be to your benefit to spend a bit more time and money with the details. You want to display a great car for buyers and show your car in the best light possible. But if you have a junk car and are selling it as a great car because of its parts, then detailing your car may be a waste of time and resources.
How Do You Avoid Getting Scammed When Selling A Car?
Unfortunately, we live in a day and age where there are great and honest people, and then there are folks who live and work to scam others all day long. So, how do you protect yourself from scam artists when it comes to selling your car privately? We have the information you need, now!
Profile your Car Buyer
If you have a legit car buyer who is also reasonable, then you will have a car sale that will be smooth and profitable for you. So, how can you check? First, be sure that you can speak with your perspective buyer online. Sure, you all may have begun to exchange emails, but you need to speak with your buyer at least for a brief conversation. Lots of scammers like to hide behind “spoofed” or bogus emails that offer no information about who they are or what they are about. And if someone is just not into speaking with you by phone, at least for a few moments, then you may need to move on. A perspective car buyer should have nothing to hide. Ask buyers to for their phone number and set up a time to talk about the car. If you have a scam artist on your hands, just watch as they disappear in the blink of an eye! Text messages are also very common these days when communicating with a perspective buyer. But you should push for a phone conversation, even in the sea of text messages.
Payment? No Payment?
Another tip is to follow the money when it comes to selling your car privately. Just about all online scams originate from some bogus and weird financing appeal from the buyer. One of the most popular scams going around is the buyer will send you a “check”, with enough money to cover the shipping costs of your car. You go to cash the check, pay for the shipping, only to find that the check has bounced all over the city. When selling your car, you may request cash and you can even meet at a bank to ensure that all of the bills are legit. You may also accept a cashier’s check, drawn on a bank. Again, you can meet the perspective buyer at a bank and you both go to the teller window and request a cashier’s check. This way, you know that the money and the check are legit. If you tell a bank manager that you’re meeting a buyer for your car, he or she can arrange for you to receive a check for the car, that is a REAL check and not something that is fraudulent.
Place the Brakes on the Excitement
Lots of scammers tend to prey on car sellers who are overeager and willing to go the extra mile. You as a car seller need to play it cool and go with the flow. Don’t be a hurry to sell your car. This can contribute to you missing “red flags” and important paperwork that you need to fill out. Stay happy, calm and pleasant. But never be a hurry or be too excited to get rid of your car.
Forget The Stories
We certainly encourage peace, support and encouragement to others. But when it comes to selling a car, you don’t need to listen to the “sob stories” that a potential buyer has. When we say scamming is an art form these days, we mean it. Lots of scam artists will pose as U.S. military, requesting that your car be shipped to the base or fort in which they live on. Or you may find a scam artist tell you that they need help and they need the car shipped out of the country. Be weary of these outlandish requests and follow your first mind. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Anyone worth his or her word is not going to ask that you put in additional work to sell your car, by asking you to handle all of the shipping of a car.
Should I Accept Check When Selling Car?
If the buyer for your used car wants to pay you with a money order or a check- rather than cash- agree to the exact amount of the sale price of the car. And if you can, (as we mentioned earlier) accompany that buyer to the bank to get the funds. If he or she said that they received a check from “The Great Bank of The United States”, then you and that buyer need to go that bank and verify that the buyer did indeed purchase that check from that bank. You and the buyer can also go to the bank together to get the check. That way, the bank teller or manger can witness the funds being turned into a check for the amount of the car sale. Never take a check that looks like it was crafted on a computer, has no serial number, looks to dogeared or just doesn’t look legit.
Best Tip For Selling A Car Privately- Sell it to Cash Cars Buyer!
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- FREE junk car/ old car removal!
- Same-day pickup for many of our valued junk car sellers!
- Payment on the spot- once you sell your car, we pay you right then and there!
- Opportunity to sell a car without a title! Just have your registration and picture ID handy for the sale.
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