If you're looking to sell your car online the most convenient way, there are a few things you need to do before you start the process of choosing the best car buying company.
1. Locate the title - Make sure you have possession of the vehicle title which is necessary for you to convey the asset to the buyer. The title has to be in good shape and should not be signed or executed in any way until you are ready to proceed with the sale. Any written mistakes, strikeouts, whiteout or correction fluid, or erasure marks will deem the title non-negotiable.
2. Making the vehicle ready for sale - remove all personal effects and clean the vehicle thoroughly inside and out. Detailing definitely helps. Remember the better the vehicle looks the more prospective buyers will pay for it. There is a 3:1 return on investment for what you spend cleaning the vehicle. If it looks nice, people will presume it was cared for and be more inclined to pay your desired price.
3. Decide which method - if you want to sell the vehicle to a private buyer yourself or choose to sell it to a car buying company or a dealer that purchases vehicles that do not require a purchase as a contingency. If you decide to try to sell your vehicle to a private buyer you really should calculate how much more you think you could get for your effort. Consider the following example:
2017 Ford Explorer 4WD V6 Limited with 105,000 miles
KBB - $12,514
CarBuyerUSA - $11,880
Assuming the vehicle is accident free and has minimal wear & tear, you really don’t have a great deal of upside for taking on the burden of selling the vehicle on FaceBook Marketplace or Craigslist. After you spend the time and money to clean it, take the images, build the ad description and pay for the listing…your upside is about $700! How many phone calls, no-shows, missed appointments, scam emails and low-ball offers are you willing to endure for $700? What is your time worth? What is lost family time worth like missing games or practices for your kids? This step is really important because you need to “know before you go”. Is the ROI worth your time and money?
4. Get some cash offers first – visit some car buying sites and record the initial offers.
a. Is an inspection required?
b. Is it free (the offer & the inspection)
c. What kind of ratings does each company have? (reviews matter)
5. Use the Car Buying Site Offers to formulate your FSBO price. No matter what the offer is, a Cash Offer is a solid barometer of what the vehicle’s true value is…Guidebooks and Vehicle Valuation Sites Do Not Buy Cars. There is no guarantee you will get someone to pay what KBB or JD Power says your car is worth.
6. Cash is KING! - everyone wants the most for the least in this world. Get the most you can for your car with the least amount of effort, haggle, hassle and headaches.
Get your Cash Offer NOW and get your car sold today!
