Private Car Sale-Pricing

[rooster222]

I'm in the market for a new (to me) car. I've found a few I'm interested in and I'm ready to start the process. I typed my current car info into CarMax and it came back at $3100. Kelly Blue Book is saying $5-6000. Similar cars on cars.com are priced up to $12000 on the high end. How the heck do I price my car?

I'd be happy getting $8k, I think, but of course I don't want to leave money on the table. Dh suggests I attempt to trade it at $8k but I feel like that may complicate negotiations and I'd rather just have my down payment handy.

I'm thinking about listing it at $9k to see if I get any traction. Good strategy?

[heygrey]

Are there any comparable cars listed for sale in your area? I’d check Craigslist, Marketplace, etc. and see if that gives you a ballpark to start in.

Otherwise, I think your plan of starting at $9k and seeing if you get interest is a good idea.

[winemaker06]

Remember that just because they are listed at a certain price, it doesn’t mean they are selling. You’re seeing them on the sites because those are the ones that haven’t sold yet, so they very well might be priced too high.
It can’t hurt to try to get what you want first, and lower the price if needed. But I haven’t seen that much of a discrepancy between KBB and NADA values, unless the car you’re getting rid of is quite new still.
But, it is a very different market now than last time I did this! We had a hard time getting any interest trying to sell private party and I ultimately got lucky and sold to a coworker.

In my state, if you trade in, that reduces sales taxes paid on the new car by the trade-in amount. If that applies to you, it might be worth doing that math also.

[rooster222]

Thank you both! I did check FB and Craigslist. FB skewed closer to KBB prices and Craigslist a bit higher than FB. There are very few in my area and it does have a third row (SUV) so I'm hoping it's a sought after vehicle. Nothing is wrong with it, it's just older.

[ellipses84]

With a private sale you may have issues with buyers that can come up with $9k cash which is what most private buyers use, in my experience. For an SUV, I don’t think it’s crazy to price it high to start in this market though. If you aren’t in a hurry to sell you can lower the price if it doesn’t sell right away. You can also list it $/OBO.

[neonpink]

Lurker here. My husband and I love cars. We used to have a license and buy/restore/sell. Our friends and family ask us to source cars a lot.

The used car market lately has been insane. There is not a lot of inventory in the market. Even new cars. I found a Toyota for a friend this week. Told her she needed to move on it and poof it sold. If it looks decent and runs you can sell it.

I personally would start higher and land at the price you want to sell it for. My husband and I both work from home and he sold his car on Nextdoor in a day! Also depending on you area and age of your car you may also look into selling your car to carvana. At the time they offered us 3k less than what we sold his car for but it seems very hassle free.

[sparty04]

A dealer is likely going to low ball you. I know you said you tried Carmax, but we sold both of our cars recently to Carvana. The dealer couldn't even come close to their offer and it was a super easy transaction. Make sure you give them your vin for an accurate quote (when I tried it without a vin, the quote was much lower).

I do wonder if they give more $ for newer cars though. The oldest car we sold was 7 years but I'm not sure how they determine pricing.

[rooster222]

Jun 23, 2022 21:39:53 GMT -5 sparty04 said:

A dealer is likely going to low ball you. I know you said you tried Carmax, but we sold both of our cars recently to Carvana. The dealer couldn't even come close to their offer and it was a super easy transaction. Make sure you give them your vin for an accurate quote (when I tried it without a vin, the quote was much lower).

I do wonder if they give more $ for newer cars though. The oldest car we sold was 7 years but I'm not sure how they determine pricing.

I did try Caravana too and it was in the same range as CarMax.