I bought and sold numerous BMWs when I was running a small automotive flipping business in college. I absolutely loved it, there was always a deal to be had somewhere in the area and overtime I figured out how to get the best bang for my buck when buying and then reselling vehicles. If your trying to sell your car, there are a few things I have noticed that have helped my cars move faster, and these tips can certainly help you in selling your car!
Check the Bluebook value but take it with a handful of salt.
I’ve mentioned this several times in my other articles, Kelley Bluebook is a good source of information but it only goes back to early 90’s models. It’s also not perfect, even if you factor in your immediate geographical information. Oftentimes for BMWs I find that many models sell for higher than the range listed on KBB. Use sites like KBB in conjunction with other sources such as Craigslist, Ebay and even Facebook Marketplace.
The problem with market value evaluations is that markets are changing faster today than at any time before because of the rapid progression in communications technology and the internet. In certain areas demand may overwhelm supply and you will notice that all of the E90 BMWs in a certain area sell for $1,000 more than the “fair market value”.
Pretty much everything I sell on the internet I use Ebay to help compare prices. If you use Ebay, don’t just go onto the site and search for your model vehicle. You want to filter out the listings that are ridiculously high and are never going to sell. Instead, search for Ebay Completed Listings and select only sold listings. This will give you a significantly better view of the average price people are getting for their vehicles.
List Through Multiple Avenues
There are a ton of websites to sell a car on. My favorite right now is Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. Marketplace is great because it feels like everybody young and old nowadays is on it looking for stuff to buy. Honestly, Facebook Marketplace in my opinion is even better than Craigslist because it’s so much easier to use on your cellphone and Marketplace is tied directly to the buyer and sellers Facebook profiles so it’s more difficult to run scams. Another issue with Craigslist is that it now charges $5 to post a car for sale whereas Facebook Marketplace is free!
Consider a Separate Email Account
Every time I sell or buy something on Craigslist whether its a car or an xbox I prepare myself mentally for the barrage of annoying automated emails from scammers. I also sometimes receive automated text messages and voicemails but unfortunately there isn’t much to do about the annoying cell phone issues. However, for the email address, if you don’t already have a separate email just for buying and selling things online than you should make one. This little trick just helps avoid your day-to-day email account from becoming clogged with mindless automated scammers.
Do Not Make Major Repairs
Transmission going out and you think that the car will be significantly easier to sell after you replace it? Think again. Yes, a car with a new transmission in it will likely drive a higher price and it will likely be a little easier to sell than a vehicle with a slipping transmission, however unless you make your own repairs its highly unlikely you will ever see that money you put into the vehicle again. Cars can be giant money pits when it comes to repairs and a big job like a major transmission problem can run up a $1000+ bill.
So What Do You Fix?
Honestly, in my opinion this depends on how mechanically inclined you are. If the car has a really obvious and relatively uninvolved defect, such as the windows do not work or a faulty door handle, than by all means replace it. If the oil is nasty change it, if the vehicle is overheating and the water pump or thermostat needs to be replaced it’s best to go and change it. Use your common sense here, would you pay a reasonable price for a car you can’t get out of the driveway without overheating? The point is to make the vehicle as sellable as possible without dumping to much cash and time into repairs that you likely won’t get back out of it.
Make the Vehicle’s Appearance as Desirable as Possible
This might seem obvious, but I have been buying cars off of Craigslist for to long too not take note of seemingly obvious things that too many sellers fail to do. I like to wash and wax cars, shine the tires and clean out the interior before I sell a vehicle. If the vehicle has leather seats that are torn to shreds buy some decent seat covers, if the paint has a highly visible scratch or two stop by the autostore or dealership and buy a $10-$20 car scratch repair. Little things like these are cheap, easy and it helps sell the vehicle significantly faster.
Be Up Front and Honest
There are two types of car sellers. Those that mask problems and those that are honest. Besides that, it is approaching fraud to knowingly fail to inform a potential buyer or even try and mask a serious problem, and it’s also counter-productive to getting a sale. Buyers are already more weary of private sellers than dealerships because of the heightened risk of scams. You should be taking action to make the buyer more trustworthy not less.
If your aware of some significant issues with the vehicle don’t wait to disclose them when the buyer comes out to look at the car. List known issues with the vehicle in the advertisement itself along with estimated repair costs. This strategy has two purposes. First, it establishes a trusting relationship with the buyer immediately. Second, people who contact you for the vehicle will be more interested than they otherwise would be because they are aware in advance what the problems are.
Not only should you list the known significant problems with the vehicle in the listing, you should also list any major repairs and maintenance that has been performed on the vehicle. Have you been keeping up with the oil change schedule, air filter, spark plugs? If so that’s great! State that in the article, even better if a mechanic has performed the maintenance and you’ve kept the receipts!
Phrase Ads Carefully
Online Marketplaces such as Craigslist, Ebay & Autotrader typically require that you list the condition of the vehicle your selling. To some degree the “condition” is open to interpretation. Marketplaces usually offer condition guidelines but they only give a rough estimate. Most people intuitively know the condition of the vehicle they are selling, but it’s a good idea to confirm this by doing some research on other for sale vehicles and their stated condition.
Use a Decent Camera
I would normally place this in the “obvious category” but once again all you’ve got to do is look up a few for sale vehicles and you will notice that people can take a great Instagram selfie but their for sale car photos suck. It’s really easy nowadays to take nice photos because most people have a high quality camera on their smartphone. If the vehicle’s paint is in pretty good shape make sure that your adjust the lighting and angle correctly so that any shady spots do not create an illusion that the paint is fading.
Don’t be an Unresponsive Seller
When your looking for a car online how many sellers do you contact before you make a purchase? 5? 10? Most buyers are looking at a variety of cars and waiting hours to respond to a text inquiry pretty much guarantees that the buyer won’t know what listing was yours. It’s easier with email on Craigslist because the original message typically has a link to the original advertisement. However I encourage you to respond to emails as quickly as possible as well.
Check out this video on Repairs You Should Do to Help Sell Your Car