Auto Trader .com: Checklist for Selling Your Car
Like many "sell it yourself" sites, Auto Trader .com is only as effective as your auto ad. Therefore, when trying to sell your car to a private party, whether in print or online, you need to make sure you've covered all your bases and provided exactly what your potential buyer wants to see.
What You Need to Get the Best Price
When private buyers evaluate your car, they use services like Kelley Blue Book. If they're using Auto Trader .com, they're NADA Blue Book. These vehicle valuation tools warn buyers that the highest valuation is based on strict guidelines your vehicle must meet. To get the best price for your vehicle from a private buyer, your vehicle must:
Less than 5% of vehicles meet these requirements.
What You'll Need for Your Auto Trader .com Ad
What Will an Auto Trader .com Ad Cost You?
Unfortunately, selling to a private party almost always costs money. A three-week ad on Auto Trader .com, which includes a detailed description of your vehicle, an email link, a featured listing, and a single photo, costs $39.
What to Expect When Dealing with Buyers
Once you've placed your ad, your work has only begun! As potential buyers begin contacting you, you'll have to schedule appointments, answer questions, be aware of fraud schemes that target online car sellers, and negotiate pricing. Once you settle on a buyer, you must transfer title and handle other DMV paperwork.
Sound like a lot of work and quite the headache?
Auto Trader .com is a valuable resource for researching the vehicle buying market, understanding what vehicles like yours are selling for, and even looking for a new vehicle to replace the one you're selling. However, selling to private parties is difficult and time consuming. You often spend in ad costs, paperwork, and man hours the amount of money you would have made vs. selling to a dealer.
So we recommend a far easier way to sell your car that won't even cost you a penny. It's free, with no paperwork, smog check, or other hassles to face, and it's called an auto buying service.
We at Cash4UsedCars.net are the largest and most respected auto buying service in Southern California, and we have over 25 years of experience in the business, having bought and sold over 50,000 used cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs. We can buy yours too, and you're guaranteed to get more for it than a dealer would pay. Find out how here.