Getting Your Car Ready for Sale
Major auto dealers sell millions of dollars of used cars every month. They make their vehicles as clean, tidy, polished, and attractive as possible. Some call it “curb appeal.” It works!
Whether you are selling a luxury sedan or an old clunker: a clean and spiffed-up vehicle will sell quicker and for more money than one with halitosis – unwashed, grimy, and strewn with unwanted papers and moldy fast food containers. You want to seduce your potential buyer, not turn them off with a bad first impression. It’s worth the time and effort to do it right.
Be appropriate for the value and condition of your vehicle. For example, a quick wash and vacuum is probably all that is needed for a $1200 Ford Taurus. However, if you are selling an $8,000 Toyota Camry, you probably want to invest in a wax job and deeper cleaning from grille to trunk. For a Lexus or Escalade, even more tasteful care is needed.
No matter what you want to sell, do what is appropriate for your vehicle. Fronting the cash to have it detailed by a professional may pay for itself ? and even put money in your pocket. Basic services run from $15 to $50, and $100 to $300 for a full-service, professional detail job that will leave it sparkling inside and out. Don’t be shy with a professional detailer: request a price quote. Then call around for the best deal – with them, you are a buyer.
HELP! NOW!
Why go to all the work of taking photos of your car, writing a great ad, and posting it on sites like Craigslist, Kijiji, AutoTrader or Cars.com if it looks dingy when a buyer comes to look at it.
If you have other questions about:
- how to be safe on the test drive
- what form of payment is recommended (hint: don’t take personal checks)
- how to price your vehicle so you don’t leave money on the table
- how to complete the paperwork
See my new book, HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW!
HELP! NOW! walk you through the NEW RULES for selling your vehicle online.
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L. James Johnson’s new book, HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW! New Rules for Selling Your Vehicle Online! is available for download at BayAreaCarGuy.com.
5 NEW RULES of Selling Your Vehicle Online!
Most used car buyers have been online before they ever walk into a car dealership. Car dealers have been forced to adapt (some kicking and screaming) – by building an Internet sales department, re-directing advertising budgets, and reconsidering how they price their vehicles.
Don’t tell them I said so, but many large auto dealers do a poor job of marketing their vehicles online. They know a lot about print advertising, but fewer buyers are looking in newspapers or auto/shopper magazines – and why bother? They’re out of date by the time they’re delivered. The cars pictured may have been sold before the paper went to press!
Many “old school” car dealers simply haven’t figured out the New Rules for effectively marketing their vehicles online. Unfortunately for them, they won’t get a second chance to create a first impression.
You Can Learn, Too!
If professionals are having a difficult time staying ahead of the learning curve, you shouldn’t feel bad if you are not clear on how to effectively sell your car, truck, or SUV on the Internet. It’s barely two years since I was asked to decipher the mysteries of online marketing, and to design the best method for selling used (my boss insisted on “pre-owned”) vehicles on sites like AutoTrader, Cars.com, Craigslist, and Kijiji. Luckily, it was a forward-thinking company that trusted me to experiment, knowing I’d make mistakes that we could learn from. How else to learn?
It took a year of trial and error to develop a clean, effective format for our online postings and ads. But that was only part of the learning curve. I discovered that there is a weekly shopping cycle specific to online buyers. Unless you time your ads correctly, much of your effort could be wasted. We also learned how important pictures and pricing are to attract potential buyers and complete the sale.
Developing New Rules for marketing used vehicles online increased our sales volume, and we drew buyers from farther and farther away. Customers regularly drove two, three, and, in one case, five and a half hours one-way just to check out a car we’d posted. And virtually every customer who drove that distance bought the vehicle they came to see.
Think about it. What would entice someone to drive eleven hours round trip to look at a used car?
James explains, other than great Photos, what is needed to have an effective online ad.
The New Rules
1. Bold Headline
First, the subject line has to grab attention away from all the competing ads – and for some models there may be hundreds posted.
2. Detailed Information
The text must be clear and concise, specifying all the information a buyer cares about in order to determine if your vehicle is worth the time to look at.
3. Personal Touches
Personal touches will sweeten your posting – information that only someone who cared about the vehicle would know. These make the seller seem trustworthy. Emphasize the positive AND tell the truth about the condition of the vehicle.
4. Specific Photos
Seeing the features and accessories that your buyer is looking for will catch her attention.
5. Video Walk Around
Finally, the secret weapon that induces someone to drive eleven hours is the video walk around. It’s a simple tool I love to use, even if my customer’s in the neighborhood, and it’s easy to put together. It builds an enormous amount of trust and rapport between buyer and seller, providing a load of information quickly. I know the video walk around sealed the deal for my buyers even before they came over to see the car. There’s a step-by-step guide on creating your own walk-around in Chapter 10.
HELP! NOW!
My new book HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW! walks you through the 5 NEW RULES of selling your car online. I provide a step-by-step guide for selling your car online, including:
- price your car so you don’t leave money on the table
- what sites to choose, and how to market your car for FREE
- which photos do you take and how do you shoot them
- handling inquiries and test drives
- how to negotiate like a pro
- handling the paperwork and counting the money
Your time and money is on the line. Learn from the pros – learn the NEW RULES of selling your car online. HELP! NOW! is on the way.
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L. James Johnson’s new book, HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW! New Rules for Selling Your Vehicle Online! is available for download at BayAreaCarGuy.com.
Is A “Bill of Sale” Needed To Sell Your Car?
Did you know that in most states a Bill of Sale does not actually transfer legal ownership of your car to the new buyer when you sell it privately? For those states, the actual transfer is done through the DMV.
However, some states require a Bill of Sale for a private deal to be completed. In my new book, HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW! I recommend that you complete a Bill of Sale if your state requires one or not. Here is why:
A Bill of Sale makes the sales transaction explicit by identifying what is for sale, any conditions attached, and the price.
HELP! NOW! also outlines what a Bill of Sale should include in case you want to take a stab at it on your own:
- The vehicle identification number (VIN)
- year, make, and model
- odometer reading (mileage)
- date of sale
- purchase price
- be sure to include the phrase “sold as is,” unless you have agreed to something else
- names and addresses of buyer and seller
- signatures of buyer and seller
To make sure you get it right it’s actually easier to download an attorney prepared Bill of Sale online. For a small fee, you can get a professional document that has been specifically designed for you state. Go to Find Legal Forms for an Auto Bill of Sale
.
Find more tools for buying and selling vehicle on my website at www.BayAreaCarGuy.com/tools.
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L. James Johnson’s new book, HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW! New Rules for Selling Your Vehicle Online! is available for download at BayAreaCarGuy.com.
The 8 Biggest Mistakes – #3
Buying a used car can be one of the most stressful things that you’ll do this year. Yet, here are specific steps to:
- make the buying process easier
- ensure you get more than a good deal
- find a vehicle that will last you for years to come
I have compiled a list of the most common mistakes my customers have made when buying used cars. Making any one of these mistakes can cost you hundreds – even thousands of dollars more than necessary. Finally, you can get ahead of the learning curve and buy your next car with confidence.
Mistake #1 – Not test driving early in the buying process.
Mistake #2 – Not checking the CARFAX report.
Mistake #3 – Not looking at the vehicle inspection report.
Don’t take the seller’s word that the car you want to buy is in good condition. Lives have been changed – and not in a good way – by taking someones word for this (see Brenda’s story, Mistake #8).
The dealership I work with uses a 150-point checklist to guarantee that every major component of every vehicle is inspected before it is offered for sale. A detailed checklist and a competent mechanic guarantee that most deficiencies are fixed before the car is sold.
Why spend $15,000 on a vehicle and not know that it needs a $4500 transmission job, or $600 for brakes? How do you protect yourself from making these kind of mistakes?
INSIDER INFORMATION – A vehicle inspection report is a basic, inexpensive tool that every used car buyer should use.
If you are buying a car from a private party have your mechanic perform a pre-purchase vehicle inspection. Most mechanics are familiar with this process and will charge you $100 or less. They can quickly tell you about any problems and the cost to fix them. You’ll need to factor these results into your buying decision.
STORY- A seller is asking $9800 for their low mileage 2007 Chevy Aveo. Your mechanic says it needs a $550 brake job. Show the seller the report from your mechanic and demand $650 off the asking price. That will compensate you for both fixing the brakes AND the time and effort to take care of a problem that the seller should have already fixed.
Reputable automobile dealers will gladly show you their vehicle inspection report. You save the effort and cost of getting one from your own mechanic.
RED FLAG – If a dealer refuses to show their vehicle inspection report:
- they may not have inspected the vehicle themselves
- they may be trying to hide something
Be ready to RUN – DON’T WALK – to the exit.
See the next article in this series:
Mistake #4 – Ignoring fuel consumption.
