I'm looking to sell a truck that we've had since purchasing in '08, but don't really want to accept a low-ball offer from a dealer. I've posted it on Cars.com, but have been significantly underwhelmed with the results so far and was wondering if there's any brethren out there that may have had better luck on other sites and if so, which ones? I've also listed it on Craigslist and have had a lot of inquiries, but as you'd expect, have run into several flakes since having posted it. Besides Cars.com & Craigslist, I've posted it on Nextdoor & Facebook Marketplace, but haven't had much success on either - are there other hyper local sites that I'm overlooking or anything else that folks have had success with?
I've used Craigslist to sell a couple of cars had a few flakes but it wasn't too bad and the cars sold fast. I'm about to sell another one in the near future and was going to use it again, but I'm going to look at Auto trader -- it seems like they have really improved recently. Anyone have experience with Auto trader they would like to share?
I've heard good things about autotrader, at least less junk replies. And overall better experience finding cars there vs Craigslist. I'm not against Craigslist but man.... Plenty of fake junk, - I've literally had to detail to someone else how a deal was too good to be true... ie "the car is in a crate and it will be delivered after a down payment" - yeah - right, hahah. I told the person if it was a real car I'd personally buy it and just trade it in at dealership. Then I was asked if I was sure... (I seriously don't know why I kept trying to tell them)... But Showed them a Google image search, exact same car image (like the ad was even the same... Scammers just getting lazy). Anyway image from different sellers all over the states, haha. Sadly it must work on some people.
I've sold 2 on Craigslist - One for $1200, the other for $1500. Both were gone within hours of posting.
So, I wound up selling the truck last night to a private party that found the post through Facebook Marketplace of all places. Based on my limited experience, I would shy away from Cars.com in the future - I actually chose them because the posting fee was a bit less than Autotrader, but in hindsight, I wish I had sprung for the posting on Autotrader... Craigslist generated a ton of emails, but only one person ever came out to look at it. I didn't get anything out of Nextdoor and only a two inquiries from Cars.com. Going into it, I would have never guessed that Facebook Marketplace would have been the channel that wound up being successful, considering that posting was free, but there ya go. Appreciate the feedback all!
Sold my wife's Acura RDX on Craigslist, or at least it was posted on Craigslist (cant remember how exactly it was sold). You'll get spam emails, but they're pretty easy to identify. Person who purchased the car lived a few streets away and had mutual acquaintances, so we got lucky.
I still think nothing is more effective to sell your car then posting a For Sale sign with a phone number on the back window of the car. People that call have already seen the car live and are serious about it. Just commuting around, going to the store, going to the gym, getting gas, you are exposing your vehicle to a more targeted crowd then you'd think.
What were you selling, and was it in working condition or part of a future rebuild/restore for the buyer? Just curious... I have a few cars and too many projects lately to bother trying to flip them, so just trying to get an idea. Like on one of mine.... It's probably about $200 in parts I'd need but could flip it for a decent profit, I just don't feel like dealing with a headgasket atm.. I work on cars on the side, so doing it for others where I'll get paid for sure or on my own vehicles is fine. I just don't like undertaking a project like that unless I have a buyer in mind or money from the work coming in (I used to do it for basically free but people take advantage, so I turned it into a small side job). Not into cruising neighborhoods finding busted cars from someone else's mistakes on not fixing a car right etc. but was just curious.
Especially if the tags are current, always a plus. Haha seeing a for sale but no registration (or inspection sticker before) was typically not a good sign, hahha
Did you get decent value, just to add one time on Craigslist I got tired of all the people kicking tires and basically gave a car away (price wise), sure it was better than trade-in but I should have just kept it...
I had a '98 Saturn with 186,000 miles on it. I was the original owner and there was nothing mechanically wrong with it that I knew of. Cosmetically the paint was wearing off around the top of the doors and the bumpers, and the ceiling was sagging. Ran well. This was in 2012. Also had a 98 Chevy Cavalier with about 179,000 miles on it. Nothing mechanically wrong, just cosmetic. It was an ugly burnt red color - we were the 2nd owner of it. This was 2009. Both sold for cash the same day I listed them.
Sold a Lexus on Craigslist once within a half a day of posting it. The guy who bought it didn't even bother taking it for a test drive. Thought it was odd, but the money was real.
Sold a 3 year-old Honda Fit on Autotrader. Took two weeks but the one inquiry I got, he ended up buying it. Manuals take longer to sell. Made $2k more than dealer offer. Craigslist was full of flakers. I opted for the featured option in autotrader which bumps your car to the top of the list regardless of visitor’s sorting settings.
Put mine on autotrader, and a dealership bought it for the listing price, wasn’t expecting that but it went smooth.
The truck I sold was a 2008 F150 XLT w/ almost 223000 miles on it. Even with the high mileage, it was very well maintained. Wound up selling for 5400, which was slightly less than my asking price, but I didn't want to deal with the hassle of potentially having to get new tires when the registration ran out in August. I'm pretty sure the truck is going to wind up in Mexico, but dude paid me cash on the spot, so I can't complain. I was only getting quotes for 2-3k from dealers, so I'm pleased at what I got for it.
Awesome, it's always great to beat dealer trade ins, you basically doubled your money, so that's a huge win!
