Do you have a car that you no longer want? Maybe your payment is too high, or the car no longer meets your needs, or you have another car that you’d rather have. Maybe your car is too high-maintenance, doesn’t get great fuel economy, or you’re underwater on your loan. Whatever your reason for wanting to unload your current vehicle, you’re probably wondering what your options are. Some common ways to get rid of a car include the following:
- Donate it to charity
- Sell it privately online
- Consign it
- Trade it in for another car
- Sell it to a dealership
- Sell it to a wrecking yard
Depending on your car’s condition and your situation, not all of these options are feasible for everyone. One of the most tried and true methods for getting rid of a car is to sell it privately. However, with the economic conditions uncertain and concerns over COVID-19, that might not be the route you want to go. If you have a loan on the car or are underwater on the loan, selling privately might be even more difficult.
Let’s take a look at how to sell a car privately and what that entails.
Steps to Selling a Car Privately
The hardest part of selling a car privately is attracting buyers. You can do that through online ads, but you have to make sure that your car is fully clean and presentable. You’ll need to take plenty of photos and put down as much honest information on the car as possible. Unless you have an in-demand vehicle, your goal is to make your car look attractive to buyers. From bringing a buyer to closing the sale, these are the steps if you don’t owe money:
- After the buyer looks at the car, you’ll need to accompany them on a test-drive
- Fill out the title for a transfer and then accept payment
- In many cases, you’ll need to accompany the buyer to their bank to ensure cash transfer
- Report the sale to your DOL to protect yourself and cancel your insurance on the vehicle
Selling a Car if You Owe Money
If you owe money on a car, the steps to selling it are a bit different. You’ll first need to find the payoff amount from your lender as the car must be completely paid off in order for the lender to release ownership. In most cases, you’ll have to go to your local bank where the loan is housed to sign paperwork. If you have a loan with an online lender, then they’ll likely direct you to a local partnered financial institution to sign paperwork.
What If Your Car Has Negative Equity?
Negative equity is commonly known as being underwater in a loan. This means that you owe more on your car than it’s worth. This can happen pretty easily if you take out a loan with a high-interest rate or have a long payment period. When this happens, you’ll have to get what you can from the car sale and then pay the rest off out of pocket in order for the lender to release ownership.
Selling To A Dealership
In times past, many prospective car sellers figured they could get better value in selling a car privately. However, these days many dealerships are offering to buy used cars for a good price while also offering excellent incentives on new vehicles. Selling to a dealership has a lot of benefits, including:
- Taking the hassle and stress out of running ads and finding buyers
- You don’t have to put yourself at risk test-driving with a stranger
- Secure financial transaction
- Perks for getting a new vehicle
- Quick process (vs. spending days and weeks waiting for a buyer on your car)
If you’re in the market for another vehicle, then selling to a dealership makes more sense than selling privately. Especially in the current climate. However, even if you’re not in the market for a new car right away, you can still save yourself some time and stress by selling to a dealership.
The possibility of getting a higher price privately may simply not be worth it in terms of the legwork required as well as the risks.
AutoCenters Nissan Cash For Cars Event
What if everything came together even easier with a Cash for Cars Event at your local dealership? AutoCenters Nissan is offering the following:
- Top market dollar paid for your vehicle with appraisers on-site
- You can sell your vehicle with no obligation to buy
- All trades and finance applications accepted
- Zero % financing available with no payments until 2021
- Get an additional $1,000 off any new Nissan
If you decide to buy a new car after trading in your old car, you can immediately benefit from no payments right away, lower maintenance on a new car, new car lifetime warranty, and good fuel economy. The entire Nissan fleet features some of the best MPG on the market.
Are you on the edge of wanting to get rid of your old car and buy a new one? You can do both at once with the Cash For Cars Event at AutoCenters Nissan! Save money immediately, and get the car you've always wanted for a great price.
Want an idea of what you can get for your car, right now? Click the image below and we’ll text you a value-range.
