Selling or buying a car privately can be an overwhelming experience. Especially, if it’s your first time. It can be a very energy and time consuming process.  From meeting with buyers, answering questions, negotiating price, the paperwork, and the list goes on-and-on. We know the process well, because we’ve done it thousands of times. To save you time and headaches we would like to share our top 5 tips on what to do when selling a vehicle privately.

1. 1. Know your car and its value – This might sound silly to most, but we literally mean, know your cars year, make, model and milage. That way you can research your vehicles current value on a website like Kelly Blue Book to ensure you’re not leaving money on the table. It’s hard to negotiate wisely if you don’t know what the market value of your vehicle is.
   2. Clean Your Vehicle – If your car is in proper working condition, be sure to clean it before listing it for sale. Give your car a little TLC or higher a professional detailer to give it a good cleaning. The buyers want a car that they can use right away, not a dumpster on wheels. Having a clean car will attract a high quality buyer that is more likely to buy your vehicle.
   3. Finding Buyers – After your car has been cleaned be sure to take pictures of the interior and exterior of the car. Use the photos to post on social media outlets and other similar sites to reach a local audience of potential buyers.
   4. Meeting with Buyers/sellers – Don’t go alone if possible. Bring friends or family when meeting potential buyers/sellers. Try to meet in a well lit and occupied public area. If they ask to take the car on a test drive ask for collateral. Possibly their car keys or and ID. Never hand them BOTH the car keys and title until you have received payment.
   5. The Paperwork (Get it in writing) – Be sure you have a lien-free title for the car and that you fill out a Bill-of-Sales for the transaction. A bill of sale can be used to prove you legally purchased the vehicle and can also serve for tax purposes.

If that seems like too much of a hassle, you can always call a local car buyer like Auto Recycling Denver. We pay same-day cash for cars in Denver, CO. We can make you an offer over the phone.