Would you like to get rid of your current car for one reason or another? If so, one of the options that you’ll have when it comes to parting ways with it is taking it down to the dealership where you bought it and selling it back to them. There are many people who will sell a car back to a dealership when they don’t want to drive it around anymore.
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Before you decide to sell a car back to a dealership, though, you should learn all about the pros and cons of doing it. You should also learn all about the different steps that you’re going to have to take in order to sell a car back to a dealership successfully. It’s a little bit more complicated than some people might think.
Are you ready to get started? Great. Here is everything you need to know about how to sell a car back to a dealership.
Can You Sell a Car Back to a Dealership?
The easy answer to this particular question is “Yes.” You can sell a car back to a dealership if you would like to do it. There are people who take this approach to selling a car that they don’t want over time.
With that being said, there are some things that you should keep in mind as far as selling a car back to a dealership is concerned. The main thing you’ll want to keep in mind is that, if you still owe money on a financed vehicle, you might end up having to pay money to sell a car back to a dealership. If you still owe, say, $5,000 on your car and a dealer agrees to pay you $2,000 for it, you’ll be responsible for paying the other $3,000 to whichever lender helped you finance your car in the first place.
Not everyone realizes this when they go to sell a car back to a dealership and it sometimes leads to confusion on the part of a person who is selling their car. They don’t know why they’re facing a big bill at the end of the sale when everything is all said and done. You should make sure that you keep the fact that you might have to do this in mind before you sell a car back to a dealership. You ideally want to sell a car back to a dealership when you’ve paid it off and own it yourself.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Selling a Car Back to a Dealership?
While you’re more than welcome to sell a car back to a dealership when you’ve had enough of it, there are going to be some pros and cons that will come along with doing it. You should be aware of them so that you’re able to decide if selling your car back to a dealership is the right option for you.
Some of the pros of selling a car back to a dealership are:
- It’s way easier to sell a car back to a dealership as opposed to trying to find a buyer to purchase it from you
- It’s the quickest possible way to sell a car in a short period of time
- It’s a good way to get your hands on a new car if you’re going to be in the market for one since you’ll be at a place that sells cars
Some of the cons of selling a car back to a dealership are:
- You’re likely going to get a lowball offer from a dealer since they’re in the business of trying to make as much money as possible
- You might not be able to sell a car back to a dealership if they already have a huge used car inventory
- You may get pressured into buying a new car even if you don’t necessarily want one
Prior to selling a car back to a dealership, you should let these pros and cons rattle around inside your head. It’ll allow you to make the smartest choice possible in terms of what you should do with your vehicle.
How Can I Sell a Car Back to a Dealership?
Do you think that trying to sell a car back to a dealership would be the right decision for you to make? Then you should go ahead and try to get the job done. You’ll just want to make sure that you take the right approach to doing it. Here are the 5 steps that you’ll need to take when selling a car back to the dealership.
1. Drive Your Car Down to a Dealership and Speak With the Right Person
The first thing that you’ll want to do when you decide to sell a car back to a dealership is drive the car down to the dealership with all the necessary documents for it (title, registration, etc.). You might want to go on a weekday when it’s not too busy so that you’re able to get the full attention of whoever it is that will be helping you to sell a car back to a dealership.
In some cases, you can speak directly with a salesman at a dealership about selling your car back to them. But you might also have to ask to speak with whoever it is that’s in charge of buying used cars from those who want to sell them. There is typically one designated salesman or financial person who handles doing this. You should see who it is and sit down with them to talk about how you want to sell a car back to their dealership.
2. Give a Dealership a Chance to Check Out Your Car
Once you let someone from a dealership know that you want to sell their car to them, they’re going to ask you for the keys and then have someone who works in their garage area take a closer look at it. They’ll see what kind of condition that it’s in by checking out the tires, brakes, and more.
While this is going on, the salesman who is working with you will also take down your car’s vehicle registration number and use it to pull a vehicle history report for your car. This will let you know if your car has ever been in any accidents or suffered any serious damage. All of these different things are going to have an impact on how much a dealership will pay for your car.
3. Let a Dealership Know If You Want to Buy a New Car
Is your plan to sell a car back to a dealership and then buy a new car from them? If it is, they’re going to look a whole lot more favorably on you when making you an offer for your car. More often than not, they’re going to provide you with an offer that will be higher than it would be if you were to just sell your car to them outright without buying a car from them.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should always buy a new car when you sell a car back to a dealership. It just means that you should consider doing it since it could get you access to a better deal overall. It’s worth at least considering if you’re going to need a new car to replace your old one.
4. See What Offer a Dealership Gives You for Your Car
If your car checks out and a dealership is interested in purchasing it from you, the salesman that you started working with back at the beginning will come back to you and present a formal offer. They’ll let you know either how much cash that they would give you for your car or how much money that they would put towards a new car if you decided to go in that direction.
5. Decide Whether or Not to Accept an Offer From a Dealership for Your Car
After you receive a formal offer for your car from a dealership, the ball will then be in your court. You’ll be able to check out the offer that you’ve received and decide if you want to sell a car back to a dealership after all.
A lot of times, people are surprised to see how low of an offer they receive from a dealership. Dealerships have gotten into the habit of lowballing those who want to sell them cars. You should know that they do this because, in a lot of cases, they have to put work into these vehicles in order to be able to resell them. It’s why you’re not usually going to get top dollar from a dealer.
If you don’t mind getting a little less for your car than you would otherwise, you can sell a car back to a dealership by accepting their offer. But if you want to see if you can get better offers for your car, you should explore some of the other options that you’ll have.
What Other Options Do You Have Besides Selling a Car Back to a Dealership?
If you get an offer from a dealer and realize that you don’t want to sell a car back to a dealership because of how low it is, you should then set out to see how else you can sell your car. There are at least three other good options that you’ll have. Take a look at them below.
1. Put a For Sale Sign on Your Car and Park It on a Busy Street
If you’re not in a huge rush to sell a car, you can take the old-school approach to doing it and put a “For Sale” sign in one of its windows. You can then park it on a busy street where plenty of people will see it and hope for the best. With any luck, someone will see your car and want to buy it. Make sure that you put your phone number and/or email address on the “For Sale” sign so that people know how to contact you.
2. List Your Car for Sale Online and Try to Find Buyers for It
If you want to open your car up to a wider audience in the hopes of selling it a little faster, it’s never been easier to sell a car online than it is right now. You can list your car for sale for free in a lot of cases on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. You can also pay a small fee to have your car featured on a site like Craigslist or eBay. These are all excellent options for those interested in trying to sell a car online instead of trying to sell a car back to a dealership.
3. Sell Your Car to a Junk Car Buyer for Cash
If you have an older car on your hands that has seen better days, you might have a hard time selling it with a “For Sale” or online. You might also have a hard time when you attempt to sell a car back to a dealership. So, why not sell it to a junk car buyer instead? When you sell a car to a junk car buyer, you’ll find that it’s so easy to do!
How Can You Sell a Car to a Junk Car Buyer?
Does the idea of selling a car to a junk car buyer intrigue you? Cash Cars Buyer would love to show you how it’s done! We have an easy-to-use form that you can utilize to sell your car for cash. All you’ll need to do is:
- Tell us what kind of car you have and how many miles are on it
- Wait for us to prepare a formal offer for you
- Accept our offer if you like it and arrange to have your car picked up and your cash dropped off
Contact us today for more information on selling a car to a junk car buyer rather than trying to sell a car back to a dealership.