Our car guy explains how to get top dollar for your used vehicle
Any mulyak with a phone can stick a car on Craigslist (actual text from a current ad: “Something on paint. If u scrub it seems like it may come off but I don’t have the time or energy”) or ask for $48,000 for a 2001 Suburban (“motor was replace 2 weeks ago truck runs great no mechanical problems at all tranny was replace 2 years ago”), but those are people likely to go unfulfilled in their car-selling experience.
A little more effort will make it easy for buyers to pick your car out from the herd. Here are some simple life hacks that can help you get top dollar for the car-child you’re abandoning to a stranger. You won’t believe #5!
DO: Get your car professionally detailed.
Budget about $200 for a detailing. It’s usually less, but you know how dirty your car is. Your dirty, dirty car.
I’ve promoted detailing several times before (thanks for the steaks, Detail Depot, conveniently located on Chapman Road. Detail Depot: It’s In The Deets!) as part of regular maintenance, but this is when it really counts.
You won’t get any extra money but it will ensure you’re not losing out on getting all you should.
DON’T: Leave your used heroin needles on the seat.
Ouch! No one likes a sharp needle to the butt. Be polite and put them back with your stash. Don’t forget to check under the seats, in the glove box, and around the corners of the secret compartment behind the left speaker!
Round up any leftover shell casings while you’re at it, too.
DO: Make a little extra effort with your photos.
It’s not brain science. Take them right after detailing, when your car is empty (see above). Get the whole car in the frame—don’t cut off the bumpers.
At the very least, go to an empty parking lot in the evening (protip: the back wall of a big box store makes a great neutral backdrop) when the lighting is good.
You want your car to be the only thing your eyes focus on. Half a dozen good photos are enough for an ad: Front, profile, front ¾, rear ¾, interior and engine.
DON’T: Have Baz Luhrmann make a video of your car.
The director of Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby likes lurid spectacle, which can really distract you from the car itself.
In 2005 GMC Yukon Denali—$8500, Luhrmann’s use of Nicole Kidman for what were totally unnecessary water ballet scenes made you forget the important stuff, such as the 22-inch Escalade wheels, navigation and DVD player.
A director with a more prosaic style—like Robert Altman or Steven Soderbergh—will focus on the car and less on frippery.
DO: Have a better car to sell.
Compare these two actual ads: “1997 Rolls Royce Silver Spur TURBO—Best in the Country;” and “1980 Ford Pinto—Bright Yellow—Almost Original.” Now guess which one is $32,500, and which one is $2,700? Hint: It’s the Rolls-Royce!
Some other good sellers in the area include 2015-and-up Corvettes and professionally lifted late model trucks. Even a really good 10-year-old Honda Civic is still only a $7,000 car, at best. Try owning, say, a cherry 2015 Lexus RX350, instead, and selling that.
DON’T: Actually have a donkey or mule.
How many times have you gone to look at a car, and it’s actually an ass?
Now, I actually really like donkeys and mules, but there are times when it’s a car or truck that I really want, and I’m going to be disappointed if I schlep myself out to the sticks for an F150 and end up looking at a bay mare, instead.
If you’re selling livestock, and not a car, just say so, people!
David Traver Adolphus is a freelance automotive researcher who recently quit his full time job writing about old cars to pursue his lifelong dream of writing about old AND new cars. Follow him on Twitter as @proscriptus.