Are you planning to get rid of that old car sitting at the back of your garage? Well, you’ve finally made the righteous decision, so why don’t you make the righteous cash out of your car too?
Sounds exciting, right!
We can help you make the most money out of your old junk car with all the incredible tips in this 2021 guide to selling your old car that doesn’t even run anymore.
Top Ten Steps to Sell Your Old Car & Make the Most Cash
Dive into the blog post and get inspired!
Decide the Medium for Selling
There are multiple ways of selling an old car, and each of them comes with individualized pros and cons. The ideal way is to decide your medium based on these pros and cons and the one that ri9ghtly compliments your needs and requirements.
Let’s take a look at the most probable mediums you could use for selling a car!
Dealer Trade-In
The most convenient way of selling your old car is trading it with the dealer you’re buying the new car from. It calls you for the least of efforts and could potentially help pay some part of your new car’s cost.
However, you have to be very cautious when dealing with such traders. Most of them are likely to mix up the cost of your new car, the trade-in value, towing finances, and so on into a single confusing amount that certainly helps them overcharging and paying almost nothing in the end.
Dealers might also not give you the accurate price for your old car for multiple reasons. Firstly, they have to take care of all the background paperwork for title transfer and trade-in-sale, etc. – saving a lot of your precious time. Secondly, they’ll have to refurbish and advertise the car for reselling and both the things will cost them some dimes. Selling your car through a dealership has some pros to offer too. For instance, you can save sales tax.
In case you’re not buying a new car, the dealership option won’t work for you at all!
Instant Cash Offer
With all the innovations happening across the globe, the automobile industry has a cone with this great tactic. You can now sell your old cars for instant cash. Whether your vehicle is running or not, there are always some amazing sell car fast services available that allow you to win some money against them at the ease of your home.
In an ideal situation, these services would likely ask for your car’s license plate number over the phone, sent in an assessment team to check your vehicle’s condition, and boom – your old and barren car would be towed against instant cash.
Sell Old Cars Yourself
If you aim to yield the most cash against your old car and have enough free time to handle the process adequately, selling your old car yourself is the most iconic idea. From preparing your car for sale to putting together all the paperwork, meeting potential buyers, and getting the sales to deed to prepare, selling it yourself calls for all the lengthy tasks you’ve been avoiding. However, if your car is pretty old and certainly not in running condition, selling it yourself could be the worst idea.
Prepare Your Car for Selling
Once you’ve picked the medium for selling your old car, it’s time to get it ready for the deed. Well, the amount of time and money you spend on the preparation of your car depends upon your buyers. You have to maintain the balance here – you don’t have to spend a lot of time and money on the car if you’re supposedly getting paid low and vice-versa.
For instance, you’re selling a 20-year-old junk car that you’ve driven up to 200,000 miles, no investment in waxing or washing would help you win big cash against it. However, if you’re selling a 4-year-old SUV, spending some time and effort to recondition the cosmetics of your car would surely result in paying off better at the time of negotiation.
There’s a standard of protocols available for selling old cars in some states, so you’ve to prepare the car in their compliance.
Set a Realistic Expected Price
A crucial step for selling your old car is setting a realistic estimated price. If you’re not sure of your car’s value, checking through the online valuation tools is a great idea. They can help you learn about the market rate of a vehicle whose features and condition resonates with the one you’re selling.
They often come up with multiple numbers, such as a wholesale price (you can expect when selling your car through dealer trade-in) and retail value (the price your dealer might set it for reselling). When selling it yourself, you can put a price in between these two. Instant cash services, however, quote the prices themselves based on your vehicle’s condition.
Show Your Car Safely
Trading your car in a dealership or availing yourself of instant cash offers saves you from the hassle of showcasing your car the right way. All you need to do is just hand over the keys to the dealer or the inspection team, and they’ll take care of the rest. However, selling the car on your own might calls for additional effort and time.
When showcasing the car to your potential buyers, it’s always important to be cautious and alert. Not everything responding to your offer comes with good intentions, and so you shall always ensure financial and personal security. Your home is never an ideal place to call these potential buyers instead; a busier location such as a market’s parking lot could work better. No wonder the final buyer would get to know about your actual address through the paperwork, but you don’t have to make it public for all the potential buyers.
Prepare For Pre-Purchase Inspection of Your Car
Buyers would never purchase a used old car without a thorough inspection, and your car shall be ready for that beforehand. Even when you sell car fast via dealer trade-in or instant cash offers, they sent in a team for inspection. If you’re to sell a running car, it’s always better to make sure that it’s ready for a test drive. However, if you’re selling an old junk car, keeping it the way you’ve demonstrated to the buyers is fairly enough.
Put Together All The Paperwork
If you’re selling the car via dealership or instant cash offer, you probably don’t need to put any effort into filing and preparing your paperwork. The dealers usually do it themselves and save you from the hassle.
However, if you’re selling it on your own, always check through the standard guidelines for car selling implemented in your state. It will let you know about the possible documentation required for the process. From the automotive Bill of Sale to the Transfer of Title and Sale Deed documents, you shall ensure performing every action with a clear mind and thoughtfulness.
Grab Your Payment Instantly
The last stage you’d come across in the process of selling your old car is payment. Payment isn’t a thing to worry about when selling through a dealership or via instant cash offers. Dealerships automatically apply your trade-in value to the amount of your new car and make a deduction. While instant cash offers either add that up to your new car’s purchase or simply hand over a check that you can get cashed instantly from a bank, as per your choice.
When selling your car to a private party, payment is certainly not a hassle-free task. You’ll have to meet the buyer at their bank, get a cashier’s check from them, and sign through the paperwork before leaving. With the rising cases of forged checks, you must know about the issuing bank before you officially sign off the ownership of your vehicle.
