Selling my car - SOLD

Carol Reed

In Memoriam
Messages
5,533
Location
Coolidge, AZ
It seemed so simple. Clean it up, get the paperwork in order, bring all the service up to date, take some pictures and put it on Craigslist.

Then the craziness started. Within 2 hours I got a low-ball yahoo. I say no thanks. He is 25% lower than my asking price. Then he asks my lowest price. I tell him, and he comes back with $400 less than that!. And he is in a real hurry. He'll pick it up after work, etc. I tell him no, thanks. Maybe texting is not such a good thing.

Then come the yahoos with bad English (not Hispanic like I would have expected) and we play games with the English language. It all boils down to they want to steal the car.

Lastly, tonight, comes another. Wants to 'borrow' the car to take it to his mechanic. Right! Then he wants me to take it to his mechanic. Right! Then he want both of us to take it to his mechanic and wait around for it. Like I got time for that.

All this in two days. So what it the right protocol for a buyer wanting his mechanic to check it over. In principle I have no problem with that. But what are the logistics? Please remember that I am 50 miles from a foreign country that does not return stolen cars.

Maybe I should get the scattergun and sleep in it tonight.
 
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That is a tough place to be in, I'd not buy a car that I did not have checked out by a shop. We recently bought a used car for our eldest daughter, it is a Mazda Milennia, seems to be a good car, private sale, the seller met us at the Mazda dealer and they did the 150 point check, we paid for the check up. Now we had agreed on a price at that point, there was a known problem a CV joint was bad, so as long as there were no other major issues with the 150 point check up, we would have a sale, if there were any issues we would talk about it. There were no major issues, we paid for the check up and bought the car.

Maybe you can go to a reputable dealer and have the check up done and just add that to the price, then if someone want to have the car checked over you can just give them a copy of the paper work?

I don't know if this helps.

Stu
 
I think Stu has it as far as letting a mechanic look it over. Take it to a dealer of your choice and if that's not agreeable to potential buyers, so be it! Also, I'm sure your aware, but anyways...try not to have folks come to your home to look it over. Too many nutcases out there, meet them at a police station parking lot. If they don't like/understand the idea, they're either not really that interested, or they're possibly up to no good....Safety beats inconvenience any-day! Just my opi.....Good luck on a quick and satisfying sale. :thumb:
 
Sounds like its too late but, I agree that having the car at a neutral location for potential buyers to come look at is best. Too many crazies use any excuse to get a lock on your location, after sale harassment, possible follow up burglary, etc. I'm not paranoid; I just sometimes accidentally see the news shows on TV.

As to having a mechanic check the car out, that depends on how close I am to blue book. If I just want to move the car, I set a low price and it is as it is. If I am going for maximum value I have to allow for a concerned buyer. I have been fortunate to have children who are more than willing to take a car off my hands when I am done with it if I have not driven the life out of it ;-)
 
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I went through half the nutcases in NY when I tried to sell a car in the 90s, after that, I gave up the difference and only turned them into dealers when purchasing a new one.
If I figured out the hours wasted with every person and the time I spend at 3 different mechanics getting 3 different opinions, and then each person trying to squeeze me down to basically giving it to them for charity, I decided I will never do it again.
 
When I sell anything on CL I only take phone calls. I don't respond to emails or texts. Too many nut jobs out there who just waste your time. They have no intention of buying whatever you're selling. Serious folks will take the time to use the telephone and speak to you in person.

I sold my truck. I had all the receipts for all the service work, warranty work, oil changes, etc. If the buyer wanted a mechanic to look it over than he could bring one with him to look over the truck and test drive it. I wasn't going to spend the time or energy to take it to a dealer. Way too many buyers around. Ultimately my honesty about any concerns I had with it mechanically, supplying all the service records, the clean and shiny condition I kept it in and my offer to supply a car fax gave him the confidence to buy it.
On your bill of sale be sure to state that the car is sold in "as in" condition with no expressed or implied warrantys or guarantees. Don't turn over the title until the check has cleared.
On a sales technique note. Don't fall into the trap by answering someones question on what is the lowest price you'll take. Because they know you will actually take less than that price. If they do then say "what will you offer" refuse their offer and give a token discount if they buy today. The key is having your vehicle priced realistically to begin with.
 
Thanks, guys. I should have asked first. Car stayed in the driveway overnight. A good thing. Later I will check with the Honda dealer about their check services. And if there are any more lookieloos, I will have a neutral place to meet. Only two of the crazies where here. The first one never got past texting.

What's the lowest price you'll take? What's your best offer?

Mantra for now.
 
Gee, it was so simple to sell a car when I was in my 30's. You advertised it. People came and looked at it. The car was taken for a short test drive. The potential buyer purchased it or didn't. I had it priced right and (I think I am correct in the next statement, but not positive.) the first looker always purchased it.

Just keep in mind the apprehensions, the questions, your feelings, etc. when you purchased used vehicles. These same things are going through the mind of a legitimate prospective buyer.

Enjoy & Good Luck,
JimB
 
I've only sold one vehicle privately.... I had an old beat up '71 Chevy truck that I inherited from my step father via my half sister and her husband... my SF had "borrowed" some money from me with a promise to repay - which he did not and which I did not really expect him to - so my sis thought I should get the truck... it was an ugly faded blue, rusted out under both doors and had a hole in the floor board, plus it had a God-awful chrome swan sitting on the hood.... and if you shifted too quickly, the shift rods would drop out of the sockets until I put a piece of wire through the ends to prevent that.... it was sitting in the drive way and one day a young Mexican fellow knocked on the door and wanted to know if I wanted to sell the truck... at the time I didn't and said no... he asked how much would you take if you did want to sell it... I replied no less than $500 (it was really a beat up truck -- I'm sure my neighborhood and the HOA was glad to see it go)... he pulled out a roll of bills and counted off $500 -- money talks and he bought the truck.
 
Haggle it for a jetski on a trailer or something else?

Looks like a car a young lady of about 20 going to school might like to have. Room for freinds and pets, etc...

Advertise it on flyers at the local community college maybe? (Daddy I need a new car and its only X$) :)
 
My second car and the first 'new' car I ever bought was a 1980 Toyota Supra. Loved the car. After it got about 20+ years old I had to face the truth about it. Would have been a lot of hassle to try to sell it. But (ding-ding-ding) I lived in California and they paid me $600 to turn it in for their environmental program. I gave it it's final bath and all the folks in the junk yard asked me if I really wanted to do it because they thought it looked beautiful. I shed a tear on the way home, but got a lot more money and less bother than to try to sell it independently.

Carol, never let any stranger come over to your property. Where we live we get random people (not that many...only two in the last eight years that we know of), but we're sure they were scoping out if anyone was home during the day time (after all you know how long our driveway is and it would take a brazen person to travel up it without business being there). And you don't want them to get an eyeball full of what else you have laying around outside. I don't want to be disparaging, but sadly that's the way of the world now days.

Brent has done some CL deals where he just meets them at the local grocery store parking lot. Easy for everyone and neutral territory.
 
Carol i think u have way too much info of personal nature on that advert. I would edit it , you setting yourself up for crazies that are ready to push over a little ole lady. You selling the car (car details) this is the price done.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk
 
Calls have fallen off. Plan was to pull it on Tuesday and keep the car until May when the insurance is again due. Holiday weekend. Don't expect anything this weekend. People here play on the weekends. If another call comes, we will meet at a neutral place. Next ad will be considerably more sparse. Might be another yahoo on Monday or Tuesday thinking I am desperate. I'm not, but it will be interesting to find out.
 
I don't have a problem buying or selling a car on Craigslist.

Mechanic - sure - bring him to come look at the car.

Drive it - sure - as long as I am in the car

Look at it - sure - come look at it.

NEVER - invite them into your house - never give personal information.

Lowball - simple - answer - NO

Price it correctly and stand on that. If the lowballer does not want to pay - no problem - they are not your customer.

There are lots of scammers - simple to detect - they just do not play ball the honest way - just say NO

*** WARNING ***

!!!!!! Carol - IF you read noting else I typed - READ THIS !!!!!!

THIS IS A **MUST** do.

Have a form ready - simple form - you make it.

On the form

BUYERS - Name and Address and phone number - - show me photo PROOF of ID please - mandatory

Make and model of car and VIN - photo is good

The buyer MUST - sign the form --- MUST --- mandatory --- PEN

You KEEP that form - it is PROOF - that you released ownership of the car to the buyer.

Without that - there is NO SALE - ABSOLUTE - MANDATORY.

I sold a car one time - and never got information about the buyer. They never registered the car and drove it unregistered. GUESS who the registry had as owner of the car??? ME. There was a HUGE storage fee on the wrecked car and a collector trying to collect money and dispose of the car, and stated aggressively that I was responsible, with legal actions. I am VERY lucky that they did not rob a bank or kill someone. I was LUCKY, and got off without paying.

There is NO WAY on this green earth I will sell a car - of perhaps anything without that form

I did talk to a laywer about that and the form will protect you.
 
Out here, Leo, the seller must send a sold form with all the buyers info to the state within ten days of the sale. That takes care are of that. When I was in Arizona, the motor vehicle department was not so busy and the buyer and seller could meet there and finalize the deal with the buyer transferring ownership immediately. In any event, the title must be notarized by the seller as having the right to sell the car. Then the sold form gets sent in with the information the buyer provided. The seller is in the clear, even if the buyer lies. And the VIN number is on everything. I keep copies of everything. So far no problem, and I have sold more than a few cars and trucks and trailers over the years. Sold the motorcycle two weeks ago with no problem. Its plate was expiring the end of August as well.

That's why the yahoo who wanted to drive on my Arizona registration in California went on his way. At the end of August the Arizona registration expires. On Wednesday I have an appointment to re-register it in California. Then I keep it until May when the insurance comes due.

Unless an appropriate buyer shows up by Tuesday night.

I really do thank everyone for their comments. Especially for caring about be careful to meet people at a neutral setting.

Funny story with that though. A number of years ago I bought a Jet mini lathe off of eBay and met the seller in a shopping mall parking lot. His wife didn't want anyone coming to the house, sez he. And he was trafficking a lot of stuff on eBay. While we were talking and then transferring the machine into my car, the cops rolled up. They saw it as a stolen property transaction. We had quite a hassle there for a while. If the lathe was stolen, I didn't know it. He had to convince the cops it was a legit deal though. We live in interesting times.
 
Carol that is a smart move on the state level - that policy should be invoked in every state - unfortunately it is not. I sold a car just a couple of years ago and I still needed to cover my own backside.

In case anyone else in another state reads this - if your state does not have a policy like California does - take heed.
 
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