Car Blog

There could be many different reasons why you  have decided it’s time to part with your car–from needing something newer to needing something bigger to needing something with “more-wheel” drive to needing more of a utility vehicle. You might have actually decided it’s time for a truck. Whatever the reason, once you decide to sell your car (or anything, for that matter,) your interest is in cutting to the chase and finding the most efficient and effective way to make a sale happen–and of course, in your favor.

What Buyers Want and Expect

There is a pretty predictable way of looking at what buyers should be able to expect from the items they might purchase. In car purchases, condition, use history and repair history are all quite important. If you decide that by selling your car on the online classifieds you will receive the most traffic to your ad, there are a few things you can do to ensure that the shoppers who view your ad and even take the next step by coming out to view your car, will like what they see. In fact, it’s the only way that you, in a highly competitive market, will even come close to receiving top dollar offers for your car for sale. Most sellers who are at all motivated to sell will have built in some “padding” to work with. In fact, negotiating is a large part of every kind of car sale across the board. It’s hard to say why car and home sales are always negotiated. You certainly don’t go into an appliance store, and upon finding a washing machine you want to buy, find a sales associate and begin to haggle over the price. You are expected to pay the price on the tag, unless, of course, it’s on sale. Now, it’s widely expected that when anything is sale by a private party/owner, and not in a traditional store, that the option for price negotiation exists. This explains why buying a home typically involves beginning the process by offering the lowest price you think the seller will accept and probably moving a bit up from there to find a meeting price somewhere in the middle.

Negotiating Car Sales

Regarding auto sales, when buying from a dealership, it doesn’t matter whether you are buying a brand new Mercedes Benz C-Class or a used car Nissan that’s on the previously owned area of the dealer’s lot –you know that there is a certain range with which you can play with the selling price. Typically, the added-in negotiating room that exists above the “bottom line,”” can go no lower” price is the money your salesperson stands to earn in the form of a commission. So by understanding how car sales are transacted, always make sure that you add in enough play room above the price you absolutely must get from the sale. Otherwise, you may either find it difficult to close the sale with an interested buyer, or you may wind up having to lower the selling price below what you absolutely need to get.

Make Your Car Shine

Before you place your seller’s ad in the online classified ads, make sure your car is in tip-top shape, spotless on the inside and outside, waxed, tires blacked and under the hood. You will never command anything near your asking price if your car is not–and you may not even be able to sell it at all!