Best place to sell a car: eBay, AutoTrader, Craigslist, some other place?

[Chupa Chupa]

I need to sell my car before my new one comes in sometime in mid-June. The plan is to advertise it and hope it sells by then, and if not take it to Car Max. I'm perfectly willing to sell it below the Bluebook/NADA/Edmunds 3rd party avg. Anything $500+ above trade-in value is just gravy.

Question is where is the best place to sell a car these days? Also what is the best way to handle payment? With so much certified check fraud now my thought was to only transfer title and possession until after a cert. check or wire transfer has cleared. What is the "norm" for 3rd party sales now?

[Jp!]

easiest/fastest place is CarMax.

If you have a car you want to sell, and they offer you near what you want, it COULD be worth the time/hassle of trying to eek out a little bit MORE yourself.

I did that.

I'm not a carmax fan, but they gave me POSITIVE cash for a car whose needed repairs to keep it on the road were in excess of what it was worth.

I fully disclosed all the issues, that were near $4k-5k in repairs to fix it to be roadworthy/safe, and they STILL said they'd give me about what I wanted for it.

[blusubaru]

Purchased three on eBay, one in classifieds, one in CL and sold one over CL. Positive experiences in all places. Cash in most cases, personal check (with internet access to prove funds in account) and certified bank checks. In all cases, got a feel for the buyer/seller over the phone and then in person.

[lafinfil]

I've had great luck with craigslist - just sold my sisters Eagle Summit there two weeks ago
and that was the forth car I sold there in the last two years - the last one sold within
24 hours of posting it to a guy an hour away.

On craigslist you have people actively looking for bargains so if you are aggressive on your pricing
you can turn them fairly quickly (in my experience)

Being the bargain hunter that I am I'm always looking for deals on there too and in fact
picked up a 4x8 trailer (type to carry lawn tractors on - flip down ramp) and the guy
was in a little town a couple hours away - showed up and paid him $60 for a trailer
that would be over $350 new

[davester]

I buy/sell all my cars through craigslist. Never had a problem. Cash only or do the transaction at the buyer's bank so you know the check is good.

[lafinfil]

oh - and don't let a guy named Jp! test drive it

; -)

[Jp!]

[quote lafinfil]oh - and don't let a guy named Jp! test drive it

; -)
It's a STRESS test...if it survives ME, it'll last at least another year. (not to be confused with a DESTRUCTIVE test)

[bhaveshp]

I just sold our old minivan on Craigslist last week. I priced it $500 below private party value and the first person bought it at full asking price the day after I listed it.

I've used Craigslist to sell 5 of the family cars over the years. Great quick experience each time.

My strategy is to clearly state the car condition, admitting known issues, at least 4 clear 640x480 photos hosted off craiglist (image shack) for clarity.

Use http://www.craigslistwatch.com to monitor similar car ads in your area for a few days to get an idea of asking prices, descriptions.

My sample query was: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/sss?q...ysler+town&srchType=T&minAsk=2000&maxAsk=7000

Also, I have the buyer sign a 'Bill of Sale doc' to make it appear official.

[grad]

Just sold my car on Craigslist, albeit being a little caustious at first.

However, it was a great, and easy experience!

I stated all the known issues with the car, and just made sure that we could meet at a bank to get cash for the car at the time of title transfer.

It rocked!

[Chupa Chupa]

I'm a little uneasy by the cash aspect. It just seems a little unnatural to carry a suitcase of cash out of the bank, and then pile it up at your bank for deposit like in a movie.