HOW TO SELL A PRIVATELY

Looking for help on how to sell a car privately? While selling a car privately is more work on your part, you should be able to sell the car for more than you would receive trading it in at a car dealer. Selling a car privately is like running a business. You need to price your car right, advertise, and follow through.

1. Asking Price. The most important aspect of selling a car privately is placing a reasonable price on your car. If you overprice your car, you will be driving customers away. When pricing your car for sale privately, you need to take into account the make and model of your car, the age of your car, how many miles are on your car, the condition of your car, and if your car has any special features. You may want to consider using Kelly Blue Book (kbb.com) or Edmunds (edmunds.com) as a general guideline when pricing your car.

2. Where to Sell. You need to decide how to advertise your car. When it comes to selling a car privately, you have many avenues for advertising your car. The old fashion away is to place a 'For Sale' sign in the back window of the car and place an ad in your local newspaper. However, your best bet is to advertise your car online. There are companies that are geared towards selling a car privately. By advertising your car for sale privately online, you will be able to list all of the features of your car, post multiple pictures, etc. Craigslist.com is a good place to start and it's free.

3. Bill of Sale. When it comes to selling a car privately, you should never sell the car without a bill of sale. The bill of sale should specifically state that the vehicle is being sold as is. The bill of sale should contain the make and model of your car, the year of your car, and the odometer reading of your car at the time it was sold. The bill of sale should also contain the Vehicle Identification Number of your car. The bill of sale needs to be signed by the buyer and the seller and both parties should have copies. 


4. Payment. Never accept a personal check when selling a car privately. You have no way of knowing if the check will bounce or not. You should only accept cash, a cashier's check, or a money order. If the buyer is unable to acquire a money order or cashier's check, go with the buyer to his or her bank to get the money transferred into your account.


5. State Paperwork. Every state requires that you fill out their own paperwork in order to transfer the vehicle from your name to the name of the buyer. Most states require that the title be signed by both the buyer and seller in the presence of a notary. If you still owe money on the vehicle that you are selling, you will need to contact your loan originator and/or the motor vehicle department for your state for more information