Car selling question

[ChampagneBlossom]

We have a 1999 Nissan with about 80K on it and a 2002 Ford Explorer, also with 80K that we use as a family car. I hate the Explorer, and DH is getting a company car so he will no longer need the Nissan. We want to get rid of both our current cars and in turn get a 4 door sedan, slightly used (or even new, if we can get a good deal right now), probably a Honda. We're obviously not always upgrading cars; we want to get a newer car so we can have a guarantee on it and probably drive it for the next 10 years or so.

Anyway, what do you all think is the best option to get rid of our cars? Trade them into a dealership? Sell them privately? I don't think we'll get a GREAT price for either, but I'm half inclined to just sell them as-is to get them out of our hair. It's not really a seller's market, but we need to get rid of them now while there's still a *chance* we can get *something* for them.

[Novella]

It's pretty common advice on car websites and even through car dealerships themselves that you will do better by selling privately. Often in my part of Canada, dealers say you will likely do $2,000 better selling it yourself. Many dealers are just using a wholesaler who takes all their trade-in vehicles.

Selling it yourself is certainly more work. Spending several hours detailing your vehicle yourself is WELL worth it (voice of experience) but then you have the problem of not messing the vehicle up if you have to continue driving it while it's for sale. As with so much else, first impressions count.

Many people simply can't consider the option of selling privately, because they still owe money on the vehicle they are getting rid of and need to flow the financing (and commonly residual debt) through the new deal = using the dealership and trading in. That's why trading in is so much more common.

Perhaps you can "split the difference" and sell the more expensive vehicle privately, while driving only the other vehicle. Then you can trade in the other vehicle, which also prevents the possibility of being car-less if your private sale closes before your new vehicle purchase is completed.

As a side note, when cleaning cars for the sale, get the colored polish. Unless your vehicle is white, many older cars look pretty crappy after being polished, because the white polish settles into the microscopic scratches in the paint. Using a color-tinted polish mitigates this problem. It's in no way "deceptive" of the vehicle's appearance or condition. It doesn't conceal any visible scratches - I'm only talking about the very tiny stuff.

A little off-topic, but another bonus of selling the vehicle yourself is that it's very clear what you are paying for your replacement vehicle. On a trade-in, figures vary wildly. Some dealers say "$15,000 for the new car and $5,000 for the old car" while others might say, "$20,000 for the new car and $10,000 for your trade-in". This is usually what has happened when you hear someone bragging about how much money they got for their trade-in.