Dear Friends I Need your Help - How to sell a Car?
@whiteheather39 (24403)
United States
March 6, 2007 8:42pm CST
Sometime ago I posted a discussion and the topic was what to do about a car I had co-signed for my daughter to buy and she was supposed to reimburse me for the payments I was making on the car. She only did that sparodically and then finally not at all. She and her family moved out of state and did not give me a forwarding address so I did not know where she or the car was. I had many responses from all you great people with advice. I made Jan and Feb payments (which had to come out of my savings account) on Feb 2nd I emailed her and told her if I was not reimbursed for both months by Feb 28th I would report the car as stolen. This decision I made from the responses my discussion brought me. Last Friday night (March 2nd) between midnight and Saturday morning the car was deposited in my driveway with the keys on the front seat.
Now I am stuck with a 2004 Monte Carlo I dont need and cant afford. I have never sold a car in my life so could you please help by giving me some info or tips? It a beautiful car as can be seen in the photo.
Photo: 2004 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
6 people like this
14 responses
@pebbles_cubbie (3789)
• United States
7 Mar 07
I would stick with reporting it stolen first of all which it looks like you did. Since the vehicle ended up in your driveway. She made a good decision by bringing it back or she would have been in jail. It shouldn't be hard to get rid of. It looks like a nice vehicle. Before telling you what you can get for it I need a few more bits of information. Like the mileage, the condition, if it's a SS or base model, if it has leather or cloth interior and things like that. You could get an accurate appraisal from www.kbb.com. Choose the retail value not trade-in or resale value. I sold cars for a while and my boyfriend has been selling cars for over a year.
1 person likes this
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
7 Mar 07
Thank you I'll check out that link.
1 person likes this
@pebbles_cubbie (3789)
• United States
7 Mar 07
no problem and good luck. From the looks of it you should get around $14,000 tp $16,000 for it if you sell it yourself.
1 person likes this
@classy56 (2880)
• United States
7 Mar 07
what you need to do frist is call the bank or whoever finance your car an see what the payoff is.before you try to sell it..an then go to www.kellybluebook.com an see what your car is worth in your state.if the payoff is $8,000 then you need to sell it for a little more to get some of your money back.after you get the payoff amount.than just put a for sale sign it the car..or you may be able to take it to a dealership an they will buy it from you.
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
7 Mar 07
Thanks Classy, I am waiting of a phone call from the dealship where we bought the car. More great advice. I'm trying all the options.
@wmg2006 (5381)
• United States
7 Mar 07
I just sold my car a few months ago and it was not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I had always just traded my cars in, but this time i did not need an extra car, so first I listed it in the paper for one week, I had an option to list it at a higher cost until it sold. If you have that option go for it. Then I went and bought 3 for sale signs, they make them expecially for cars. I put one in the back window, one in the fron window and one on the side. I live on a quiet street, but I still parked it on the street hoping for some bites. The garbage men and the mailmen are good people to go tell their friends about cars for sale. I also drove the car to big parking lots like Wal-Mart or a grocery store with the signs in the window.
Well I sold the car to someone who wrote the number down from a parking lot. When you sell it all you have to do is go online get a bill of sale and fill it out, then get the title and sign it over. If the bank has the title, then the bill of sale will hold until you get the title from the bank.
1 person likes this
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
7 Mar 07
Goodness, this is very difficult for you. I am not experienced with selling cars, and I expect there are a lot of my Lot users who can help you more, but I do know a couple of things.
Do you have the registration papers to the car, because in our country you would need them to sell it.
One method of selling cars here is becoming quite popular. People park their car on a main road, where there is ample off-road parking, and put a for sale sign on it. They leave a phone number. Generally this would be near your home so yiou can keep an eye on it. I don't know if this would be risky where you live?
Other than that, hopefully a My Lot user living i your state can acqaint you with the laws.
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
7 Mar 07
Try ebay. Try craiglist. Try your local papers.
Alternatively, there are used car workshops all around and you can just ask them to help you with it.
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
7 Mar 07
Thanks, I went straight to Ebay as I buy from there and got all the info on selling it. Another piece of good advice. You and everyone has been so helpful.
@margieanneart (26423)
• United States
7 Mar 07
I am sorry that your daughter did this too you. I had that happen to me from my daughter too, but it was a house.
The best way to get the maximum money out of it is to sell it privately. Put a for sale sign with phone number and price on it. Put it in the car in all four windows. Drive it. If you cannot, park it in a shopping center so people will see it. The dealers will not give you as much. Good luck honey.
@pearl23 (243)
• United States
7 Mar 07
Sometimes you can get someone to take over your payments. They assume the loan. I did that with a little Vega back in the 70's my first car. It was perfect for me. If it goes back to the dealer, or repossessed I think you will have a negative report for your credit rating.
@flpoolbum (2978)
• United States
7 Mar 07
To get a good idea of the value of a car, use the Kelley Blue Book website (www.kbb.com). Be brutally honest about the cars actual condition.
If KBB says it's valued at (just picking a number off the top of my head) $12,053 ask for $11,995. In most cases, in the buyer's mind it will be $11 thousand not $12, especially if they are trying to sell the car to someone else in the final decision making process.
@itsprocessing (1)
• United States
9 Mar 07
It really depends on how much you owe on the car, compared to the book value. Try kellybluebook.com to get the value, then call the bank and see how much you owe. Then you can put a plan together. If you owe less than it is worth then list in in your local papers and sell it. In most states you can just write up a bill of sale on the computer then print it, then you would sign it over, if the buyer pays with a check make sure it clears before you sign it over.
