Where can I best sell my car? (2009, convertible, buy)

[asimegusta]

I am going overseas soon and want to sell my car as close to departure date as possible. For that reason, I can't just put an ad and hope it sells sometime.

This is a very new looking 2009 model still under manufacturers warranty, not a junk car.

Someone suggested I try carmax, but I need more ideas.

Car dealers I've asked only buy your car when you buy a new one from them.

Does anyone know what dealers buy pre-owned cars even if you don't purchase a new car from them?

[ferretkona]

With the economy down new car lots are keeping inventory low.
I would run a ad on craigslist.com and state up front your sell date.

[mike052082]

Price it right with the right keywords and it will sell on craigslist FAST! You will give up some money but for the speed of the process you can't beat it. With it being such a new car though I think you are limiting alot of people due to the money it is worth. It would be much easier to sell a care sub $10,000 if your in that range.

I sold a 330 BMW convertible with all the right options that a person intrested in the car would want and it sold to the first dealer that sold foreign cars on my lunch break b/c I priced it right. I only got a little above wholesale for that car but was happy b/c I only cared about selling it fast.

[NJGOAT]

You can try Autotrader.com's guaranteed buy/trade value. Head out to their site and enter the information for the car. It will then provide you a list of dealers in the area and a guaranteed trade in or buy price. You have to sort through the listings as many dealers only participate in the trade in program, but there are a few who also do purchases. It's then as simple as printing out the sheet they give you and taking it to the dealer who will then do an inspection and finalize the deal.

Also, you can try taking the car to a couple dealers for that make and seeing what they will offer you. CPO is still a hot commodity and given the age as long as it qualifies for the CPO program, they should be interested in it.

[asimegusta]

Thanks for the ideas. I cannot do a trade though. I am moving overseas. That's the quandry. Selling the car, not trading it in for a another car.

Excuse my ignorance, what is CPO?

[Don57]

CPO = Certified Pre-Owned. Basically a used car that goes through a checklist by the dealer to allow them to sell the car a little higher than blue book. It's supposed to be an assurance to the purchaser that all is good with the car.

[Wilson513]

Car dealers will buy it, but they will low ball you.

Craigslist or cars.com ($15). No print ads, ever. They don't work and are expensive.

[TheViking85]

Originally Posted by Don57

CPO = Certified Pre-Owned. Basically a used car that goes through a checklist by the dealer to allow them to sell the car a little higher than blue book. It's supposed to be an assurance to the purchaser that all is good with the car.

Well, that's not necessarily all there's to it. CPO BMW's will (almost without fail) have an extended warranty to 100k miles/ 6 years and possibly also a "free" maintenance package.

[NJGOAT]

Originally Posted by asimegusta

Thanks for the ideas. I cannot do a trade though. I am moving overseas. That's the quandry. Selling the car, not trading it in for a another car.

Excuse my ignorance, what is CPO?

I might not have been clear enough. The Autotrader site will generate you a number that your car is worth. They will then give you a list of dealers that participate. There are two types of dealers they will list. One group will give you the guaranteed price as a trade in. The other will honor the guaranteed price to purchase your car from you outright, no trade, just a check written to you for your car. There are not as many purchase dealers as there are trade dealers, but you never know, there could be one close to you. IMO it is worth checking out as they will at least give you an idea of what your car may be worth or a price that you could expect to get.

PS What kind of car is it? Also, is it owned outright, or is it financed? Those two things can really change the process and how to approach this.

[trlhiker]

Carmax or ebay. Everything else is a waiting game.