If you're interested in how to sell a car with a check engine light, follow these steps:
⚠️ If It's Broken, Don't Fix It - Get Paid Cash for Your Vehicle ⚠️
- Step #1: understand whether you want to fix or sell your car
- Step #2: Get your car appraisal
- Step #3: be honest about the check engine light
- Step #4: highlight other features
- Step #5: price your car competitively
- Step #6: sell your car to a reputable buyer
Your vehicle contains lots of warning lights on the dashboard. It's important for you as a driver to keep an eye on the dashboard, and whenever any of these warning lights are triggered, you have to take care of the problem before it gets more complicated and requires high repair costs.
The check engine light is one of the most critical lights you should never ignore because all you're doing is making the problem more severe and resulting in significant issues that could damage the entire vehicle.
While you have chances of fixing the vehicle with a check engine light, in some instances, many drivers give up on their vehicles and look for ways to sell them and get a decent amount of money.
Understanding how to sell a car with a check engine light is a must because otherwise, you can get drowned in the classified websites without finding the right buyer or hearing a good offer.
This article provides a step-by-step process to help you find the right buyer who is willing to buy your car considering the check engine light problem and pay the top dollar your vehicle deserves in your area.
What is the check engine light, and why does it matter when selling your car?
Before we dive into the details about how to sell a car with a check engine light, it's important that you understand the severity of this check engine light and what it means in the first place.
The check engine light allows your vehicle to communicate with you. It's your car trying to tell you that something wrong is happening in the vehicle. Although the check engine light is called this way, it doesn't necessarily mean that there's a problem with the engine itself. Instead, it could be something related to other components.
Many drivers underestimate the value of immediately taking care of the check engine light. If you ignore the problem, all you're doing is evolving the problem, resulting in more complications.
In many situations, a check into light indicates a severe problem in your engine or other important components. However, this is not always the case, and that's why before moving forward with selling your car, you have to confirm whether the check engine light is related to a severe problem.
How to sell a car with a check engine light?
Now we have a good idea about the check engine light; the next step is to determine what exactly is needed for you to answer the question of how silicon with the check engine light.
According to one of the experts, selling a vehicle with a check engine light is not complicated, although it might sound like one. As long as you follow the right procedure, you should be able to sell the vehicle fast and for the most money without any hassle.
Here's what you need to do to sell a vehicle with a check engine light:
1. Step #1: understand whether you want to fix or sell your car
The first and most critical thing you need to do before finding somebody to buy your car is to understand whether you want to fix or sell your car. We understand that you are dealing with a big problem, and it sounds like your engine is in terrible condition, but that's not always the case, as we indicated before.
Have a conversation with your mechanic and check whether the check engine light is related to a big problem or a minor issue. If the problem is minor, you might have a chance to fix the vehicle and continue to drive it. However, depending on your goals and financial capabilities, it's your call to decide whether you want to get rid of this vehicle or continue driving it.
2. Step #2: Get your car Appraisal
After you confirm that you're ready to sell your car, considering the check engine light problem car, the next step is to get the right appraisal for your car. Without getting multiple codes, it can be very challenging to determine how much your vehicle is worth.
You can check by calling multiple buyers willing to buy your car, considering the check engine light problem. You can also check online tools like Kelley Blue Book that could help you provide a minimum and maximum value for your vehicle, and then you can do the math by subtracting potential repair costs.
You can also talk with your mechanic, who might have a good experience, about how much to expect for your car. The mechanic might know exactly how much to expect because he knows the ins and outs of the engine problems and why your check engine light is illuminating.
3. Step #3: be honest about the check engine light
After having a good sense of how much your vehicle is worth, it's important before posting your vehicle for sale that you be honest and upfront with the buyers. The last thing you want to do is to hide this big problem and take advantage of people who might not have experience.
Even if you decided not to show and mention that your vehicle has a check engine light problem, many buyers might be good enough to determine that your vehicle has a problem. Any buyer looking to purchase a used vehicle and who knows that it will be a big investment knows that the check engine light is never a good thing.
Therefore, by being honest with the buyer, you're saving time and finding the right buyer interested in buying your car. Even though your car has a check engine light illuminating, it doesn't mean no one is interested in buying it because many mechanics might be looking for project vehicles, and others might be interested.
4. Step #4: highlight other features
Although your vehicle has a check engine light illuminating car, it doesn't mean that the transmission is in bad condition or the other important items are not working enough. Therefore, support that you highlighted the good things about the vehicle and mention that you have some ideas about repair costs that the buyer might take advantage of.
The other thing to consider is that even if your car is not in good shape, you must highlight everything properly and honestly. In other words, if there is another problem in your vehicle other than the check engine lights, you also need to mention that because you have to be honest and don't want to waste people's time and scam them.
5. Step #5: price your car competitively
Once you know whether your vehicle is worth coming to, you should know how much to post your car for. The price is very important when it comes to selling your vehicle because it has to determine how fast your car will be picked up depending on your competitive price.
Start by looking at existing postings for people who are trying to sell vehicles similar to yours. Please read the description carefully and confirm that they have the same situation as yours and that the vehicle has a check engine light illuminating.
Once you look at the existing listings, you can post a price slightly less than what these people are asking for a while, allowing room for negotiation. Then, when the buyer comes to you, he will ask for a slight drop in your price, and you will show that you're flexible to do that.
6. Step #6: sell your car to a reputable buyer
Finally, at this point, you should get some requests from people to check your vehicle and buy your car. Be careful when screening the buyers, and ensure you're selecting reputable buyers. There are many resources that you can look into to help you identify buyers who were not really about the person in your car and could be scammers.
After identifying the buyers, be ready for somebody to come and see your car physically. Appeared. No one will accept buying your vehicle without checking out, and that's why you have to be prepared for the meat meeting location and time.
Experts recommend meeting in a public area with many people around you, and it's not a good idea to meet with strangers at night. Therefore, be mindful about when and where you want to meet with the buyers considering that the vehicle has a check engine light, which might mean that the vehicle doesn't move.
Final thoughts
Selling a vehicle with the check engine lights illuminating can be challenging, especially if you've never done it before. However, the process is not impossible as long as you follow the recommendations of automotive experts.
This article provided a step-by-step process to help you determine how cell a car with a check engine light is illuminating. If you're interested in An immediate offer for your car today and want to remove it within one to three days, call Cash Cars Buyer at 773-791-4363!