What to do with old car: Private Sell or Trade in?

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JustSayin

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With a private sell, I'll net more money, but will have the hassle of showing the car, arranging a buy and worrying about fraud (not to mention craigslist killers).

With the trade-in, I'll take it in the shorts, but will save time/hassle.

Has anyone gone through this process lately?
 
Did carmax on my last old car.  Lower than private sale but higher than traditional dealer.  You can haggle it out with a dealer if that's your sort of thing but they're pros and we're not.  I haggle over new car purchase over email, but trading in an old car requires me being physically there in the dealer so that's a disadvantage. 

Why chance it over private sale where everyone brings a gun?  Go the route least likely to get shot. 
 
We also recently car maxed our last car. Easy peasy. Same $ as ps9 stated above. The process was relatively easy. The estimate was really quick. It was just a long wait to get "checked out" even on a random weekday afternoon.
 
To make me feel better, I got a carmax quote, then drove it around for almost a month (offer quote expires after a few days).  Went back and got another quote for the same price then sold it.  So I got a month out of it for free :)
 
ps9 said:
Did carmax on my last old car.  Lower than private sale but higher than traditional dealer.  You can haggle it out with a dealer if that's your sort of thing but they're pros and we're not.  I haggle over new car purchase over email, but trading in an old car requires me being physically there in the dealer so that's a disadvantage. 

Why chance it over private sale where everyone brings a gun?  Go the route least likely to get shot.
Click to expand...

I went to Carmax once and thought their quote was really low.
Also, like bones, had a crazy long wait time.

I may give it another chance though as I'd prefer not to get shot.  ;)
 
JustSayin said:
ps9 said:
Did carmax on my last old car.  Lower than private sale but higher than traditional dealer.  You can haggle it out with a dealer if that's your sort of thing but they're pros and we're not.  I haggle over new car purchase over email, but trading in an old car requires me being physically there in the dealer so that's a disadvantage. 

Why chance it over private sale where everyone brings a gun?  Go the route least likely to get shot.
Click to expand...

I went to Carmax once and thought their quote was really low.
Also, like bones, had a crazy long wait time.

I may give it another chance though as I'd prefer not to get shot.  ;)
Click to expand...

Craigslist is a viable option...just sent up an e-mail account and filter through all the bogus e-mails.  Meet up at the DMV or at a bank in the daytime.  Take cash only.
 
The last 2 times I went to CarMax it took forever.

But it was worth it, showed the dealer my CarMax quote and they matched it on the trade (YMMV).

My relative always sells things through Craigslist and private party deals, she's never had an issue (sold iPhones, sports tickets, her minivan)... but her husband always goes with.
 
I'm scarred from Craigslist. Dealt with a scammer a couple years ago. I actually uncovered his scam unknowingly and he ended up going to jail on fraud. More recently, I was selling a $300 item. Got an email from a seemingly legit buyer. I googled his email address and phone number. Turns out - he's a known thief of that particular item. Not sure how his scam works but didn't want to find out.  I did end up finding a legit buyer for the item but it took weeks of wading through hundreds of bogus emails.
 
Irvinecommuter said:
JustSayin said:
ps9 said:
Did carmax on my last old car.  Lower than private sale but higher than traditional dealer.  You can haggle it out with a dealer if that's your sort of thing but they're pros and we're not.  I haggle over new car purchase over email, but trading in an old car requires me being physically there in the dealer so that's a disadvantage. 

Why chance it over private sale where everyone brings a gun?  Go the route least likely to get shot.
Click to expand...

I went to Carmax once and thought their quote was really low.
Also, like bones, had a crazy long wait time.

I may give it another chance though as I'd prefer not to get shot.  ;)
Click to expand...

Craigslist is a viable option...just sent up an e-mail account and filter through all the bogus e-mails.  Meet up at the DMV or at a bank in the daytime.  Take cash only.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but even at trade in it's worth more than $15K.
Are people really willing to show up with that kind of cash?  In a paper sack?
 
JustSayin said:
Irvinecommuter said:
JustSayin said:
ps9 said:
Did carmax on my last old car.  Lower than private sale but higher than traditional dealer.  You can haggle it out with a dealer if that's your sort of thing but they're pros and we're not.  I haggle over new car purchase over email, but trading in an old car requires me being physically there in the dealer so that's a disadvantage. 

Why chance it over private sale where everyone brings a gun?  Go the route least likely to get shot.
Click to expand...

I went to Carmax once and thought their quote was really low.
Also, like bones, had a crazy long wait time.

I may give it another chance though as I'd prefer not to get shot.  ;)
Click to expand...

Craigslist is a viable option...just sent up an e-mail account and filter through all the bogus e-mails.  Meet up at the DMV or at a bank in the daytime.  Take cash only.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but even at trade in it's worth more than $15K.
Are people really willing to show up with that kind of cash?  In a paper sack?
Click to expand...

What people do is go to the buyer's bank and get a cashier check or cash. ( never accept a personal check or a cashier check/money order - if you don't go to the bank yourself.)
 
ps9 said:
that wait at Carmax sounds pretty short now.
Click to expand...

HAHA! 

Definitely go to the bank and see the cashier's check being handed over in person.  I've heard stories of people selling their cars only to find out that the cashier's check was fake. 

Be careful - one time a guy I know was selling his car and during the test drive, the interested party took out a stun gun and started "stunning" him. He ended up opening the door and freeing himself before he was severely injured.  The thief ended up getting caught shortly after.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
The last 2 times I went to CarMax it took forever.

But it was worth it, showed the dealer my CarMax quote and they matched it on the trade (YMMV).

My relative always sells things through Craigslist and private party deals, she's never had an issue (sold iPhones, sports tickets, her minivan)... but her husband always goes with.
Click to expand...

Did you buy a new car from the same dealer as well?  If so was the trade in brought up before or after the new car price was settled?
 
Actually leased a new minivan.

I know the numbers (lease factor/residual/cap cost) before I lease, it's similar to a sale (get the lowest on everything other than residual, which you want the highest).

I tell them up front I have a trade, the last time I bought a vehicle was about 10 years ago, so when I traded it 5 years ago, I ended up getting a check from the dealer because I only needed a portion of the trade for the lease.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Actually leased a new minivan.

I know the numbers (lease factor/residual/cap cost) before I lease, it's similar to a sale (get the lowest on everything other than residual, which you want the highest).

I tell them up front I have a trade, the last time I bought a vehicle was about 10 years ago, so when I traded it 5 years ago, I ended up getting a check from the dealer because I only needed a portion of the trade for the lease.
Click to expand...

Interesting.
I've considered leasing a bad financial decision, unless you're the type that gets a new car every three years or so.
Has leasing worked well for you?
 
@JustSayin

Yeah. It's really just the reverse of buying with a loan. You can either put a down now and make payments or lease (no or little down) and then pay off the residual if you want to keep it.

I always say, this is the car I will buy but when the lease is up, the newer model is better so I end up releasing. I've had the same make minivan through 1 buy and 2 leases. My wife likes the luxury badges, so leasing turns out better for our cash flow as she also does the same dance where she thinks she's going to keep it and decides otherwise.

The last one she was sure she was going to keep it but all the maintenance costs made her think otherwise. Her current vehicle may end up being a keeper but in 2 years we'll see. Her 2 cars previous, she bought but she ended up trading in after 4-5 years each anyways so it's the same thing.

When I used to write off my vehicle for business, it made more sense, now it's just a convenience thing. When our kids are old enough, those will be purchases probably. And my retirement vehicle will be a purchase too (that's a long way off).

It's probably bad financially but unless it's a car that appreciates like USC buys, "renting" seems to be a better choice for us.
 
JustSayin said:
irvinehomeowner said:
Actually leased a new minivan.

I know the numbers (lease factor/residual/cap cost) before I lease, it's similar to a sale (get the lowest on everything other than residual, which you want the highest).

I tell them up front I have a trade, the last time I bought a vehicle was about 10 years ago, so when I traded it 5 years ago, I ended up getting a check from the dealer because I only needed a portion of the trade for the lease.
Click to expand...

Interesting.
I've considered leasing a bad financial decision, unless you're the type that gets a new car every three years or so.
Has leasing worked well for you?
Click to expand...

Leasing make sense if you don't plan on keeping your vehicle for more than 5 years.  Also, not an option if you drive a lot or tend to get dings/chips. 
 
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