I need to sell a 2018 Jetta. Solid car, relatively low miles.
What's the best way to avoid having a goofy cavalcade of Craigslist people moving through my life?
Thanks,
Okie John
I need to sell a 2018 Jetta. Solid car, relatively low miles.
What's the best way to avoid having a goofy cavalcade of Craigslist people moving through my life?
Thanks,
Okie John
“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's
I have a google number for these types of transactions. It helps to filter out some of the scammers and you aren't putting your cell phone number out on the internet.
You'll always get goofy people but unless you sell it to Carvana, consigment, etc., it is something you will need to deal with. If the price is right, it will sell quick with little hassle.
The last car that I sold was kind of interesting. I had placed it on the local classifieds but wasn't getting a lot of bites. In the meantime we had a garage sale and I put a for sale sign on it. By the end of the sale, I had two interested people, and one of them bought it.
-Seconds Count. Misses Don't-
You could always sell to a dealer. Try Vroom, Carvana, or CarMax.
Peer to peer it's kinda unavoidable. That's just the pain of selling and the price you pay for getting max value. Doesn't matter what service you post with.
ETA: The best luck I've had is posting high levels of detail. Lots of detailed photos, all known issues/repairs, summary of service history, previous owners and Carfax report. That level of detail usually attracts good buyers. As a buyer I'm turned off by listings that show ~ 3 photos and the mileage.
At least get a quote from CarMax.
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Not another dime.
I think the car would sell for ~$18k. I'd take $16k to move it quickly.Originally Posted by OlongJohnson
The online services are offering $10k or less. At least one is willing to bargain. I suspect that I could get them up to ~$12k. Not sure that I want to leave $4k or more on the table.
On the other hand, it might be worth that to mitigate risk.
Okie John
“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's
I've sold 6 or so vehicles through Craigslist. Cars and motorcycles.
I simply ignore the obvious scammers and only use the Craigslist email service for initial contact. Never post my phone in a CL ad.
All physical meetings are at the local PD, in front of their cameras set up purposely for such meetings.
Last car I sold a few years ago, dealer offered me $3500. Sold it on CL in a few days for $7,000 (full asking). Had one guy upset with me for selling it before he could see it...
YMMV
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776
I sell on CL as well. I've always gotten top dollar by maxing out the number of photos and taking them in a scenic area, and using long, detailed, honest descriptions. At the beginning and end of each ad, I put a short sentence saying to contact me using the CL email relay, include name and phone number, and whether they want a return call or text.
I've got no complaints about my experiences on CL, and I use it fairly often.
My last experience last Fall was putting the vehicle on a highly visibile local FSBO lot, part of a fenced complex (storage units) that you could walk in and look but not drive in to see. Only used my burner cell phone number, no on line listing at all. I only got a few serious calls, and it got sold quickly. I listed it about 5-10% below what I believed the current local market was based on autotrader, and it did not last a week.
I’ve been involved in buying/selling a small pile of vehicles on CL over the years, both for myself, and also riding shotgun with friends. Others said it best; email through CL internal for initial contact; a well-written and detailed advert; decent pics; trust your gut.
Also, if it’s been a while since you sold a car privately, you now need to remove and keep your plates when you sell in WA. Just in case you don’t already know that.
Good luck!
”But in the end all of these ideas just manufacture new criminals when the problem isn't a lack of criminals.” -JRB
I sold a car a couple years ago using my wife's Facebook account, I think they call it Marketplace. The benefit there is some degree of being able to 'see' who you are meeting, assuming it's not a fake account. I did well on the sale and had no regrets and it sold quickly once I had the price in the right ballpark.
That said, my wife and I are separated now and my FB account was purely for work so has no friends, etc.... which appears shady from what I gather. I'm looking to sell my other car soon and wondering if I should try Craigslist again, I used it a lot many years ago for sales and it worked well enough and had no problems.
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