How to Sell a Car: 10 Steps for Success

Why Trade in Your Car?

• Fast and convenient
• No costs for listing and selling
• No texts, emails, or personal calls
• Potential to reduce sales tax on your new car

Why Sell it Yourself?

• Negotiate directly with buyers
• Get paid more for your vehicle
• Save money because no dealer overhead costs

Why Use Instant Cash Offer?

• Quick and easy
• Can be redeemed immediately at a participating local dealer
• No obligations

To get a sense of what you can expect from any of these methods, compare the Kelley Blue Book Private Party Value and Trade-in Value. Then check out the Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer. The difference could also be the deciding factor.

RELATED: 5 Best Ways To Sell a Car

2. Documents to Gather to Sell Your Car

The selling process begins with collecting your car’s paperwork. Do not overlook this crucial step. It’s important to tackle this before you offer to sell your car. You’ll be glad you did. 

What Documents Do I Need?

3. How to Prepare Your Car to Sell

A broken door lock lever, a cracked windshield, the clattering of a noisy exhaust pipe — it’s in your best interest to fix these things before putting your vehicle on the market.

You’ll want to address the bigger mechanical issues unless you plan on selling your vehicle “as is” at a reduced price.

Basic detailing can cost a few hundred dollars, depending on the size, condition of your car, and where you live. So be sure to shop around for a price and know what you’re getting.

If detailing costs are out of financial reach, you can always do the detailing yourself.

Interior Tips to Sell a Car

• Remove all personal items and debris
• Shampoo carpets
• Clean the dashboard, seats, and mirrors, and otherwise put a shine on all surface areas
• Address and eliminate any odors in your vehicle

Exterior Tips to Sell a Car

• Remove all stickers and magnets 
• Repair dents, dings, and scratches
• Replace any burned-out headlights or taillights 
• Fix windshield chips and cracks 
• Check the brakes and consider replacing them if they’re worn down  
• Inspect your tires and determine if replacement is needed  

You may think your car drives and shines like new, but its value depends on its actual condition. It’s important to be knowledgeable and realistic about the sales price when determining how to sell a car.

Some owners tend to overestimate the value of their car, which can lead to unrealistic expectations. If you ultimately set your asking price too high, you could experience trouble selling it.

Tools for Setting the Asking Price

The sites also let you list your car on a private seller exchange. It allows you to transact safely since it only works with verified buyers and sellers and sets triggers to stop scammers. The site also follows strict payment protocols, including using a secure escrow service for exchanging private funds in a safe environment.

Selling your car online also allows you to field questions first, which will help you weed out any unlikely buyers and limit your time showing the car in person.

What to Include in a Car Advertisement

• Start with a brief description. Highlight your car’s most in-demand features, such as low mileage, high MPG, any remaining warranties, and special features.
• Mention why you’re selling the car. Buyers want to know this most of all, so deal with it up front.
• List the vehicle’s condition. Be honest about the vehicle’s condition and list the vehicle identification number, or VIN, to reassure buyers that you’re not hiding anything. The VIN allows potential buyers to easily search vehicle history.
• State your asking price and negotiating terms. Begin by posting your car’s Blue Book® Value followed by your asking price, then explain why you’re asking more or less than the Blue Book® Value. State whether the price is “firm,” “negotiable,” or “best offer,” as this will help you target buyers.
• Define acceptable payment forms. Include information about the types of payment you can accept, including touchless online payments, certified checks, or an escrow service.
• Include lots of images. Buyers love to feel like they’re inside the car, so include several exterior angles and close-ups of the interior, dash, and engine. Take a few videos inside and out for serious buyers that you can send during the process.

Learn about posting ads and costs now on Kelley Blue Book.

6. Safety Tips When Selling a Car Privately

When you sell a car to a private party through an online marketplace, you’ll want to remember these safety tips to ensure a positive outcome for everyone involved. By following these tips, you’ll be better prepared to make decisions as you navigate the sales process to a private party.

Expert Strategies for Safe Transactions

• Meet in a safe area. Meet potential buyers in safe areas, such as well-trafficked retail or restaurant parking lots with security cameras. Local police department “online safe zones” can also be an option.
• Bring a friend. Always bring someone with you for a test drive or even the sale of your car.
• Tap into a verifiable escrow service. For a fee, an escrow service takes a buyer’s payment until the deal is done. This type of third-party service protects both parties from fraud. If the buyer suggests one, check the source first before agreeing to anything and determine who pays the fees. Beware of fake escrow services. Use only verifiable and trusted escrow services.
• Choose only legitimate forms of payment. Cash is king but not so much for large transactions. Stick to online forms of payment, if possible, or escrow services. As a last resort, only accept cashier’s checks from reputable banks or credit unions. However, it can be hard to distinguish between a real cashier’s check and a fake one. So to ensure a safe transaction, take a cashier’s check only when you can meet the potential buyer at their bank because you can verify the funds on the spot.

PRO TIP: Never take a money order, certified or personal check from someone’s bank account. If you encounter a problem, you may not find out until your car is long gone with its new owner.

Create a Paper Trail

When selling through a dealership, the paperwork is handled for you. You must keep track of the paperwork when you sell to an individual.

Buyers often ask for pre-sale inspections. A pre-sale inspection is worth the investment because it’s just one more tool you can use to put buyers at ease. 

Buyers often want their mechanic to take a look under the hood. Getting a pre-sale inspection of your vehicle before you put it up for sale will equip you with information that a buyer will find if they want an inspection. It may also head off a buyer’s need to get their own inspection.

If the buyer still insists on using their own mechanic, meet the person only at reputable businesses, and drive separately.

The benefit of using the instant cash offer or selling your car to a dealer is that these methods can take price haggling out of the equation. When selling your vehicle to a private owner, let the buyer take the lead in negotiations. Ideally, you’ve given yourself some padding on your asking price, so the buyer can either accept the price or counteroffer.

9. Paperwork Checklist

When the buyer decides that your car is the one for them, and you’ve agreed on a sales price, the smartest next step is determining which payment option works best. For example, touchless online payments, such as Zelle or PayPal, or cashier’s checks, are safe ways to collect payment. All these payment options keep your bank information hidden and your personal information safe as the buyer pays you directly for the car. Any of these methods will help protect a seller against fraud.