Selling your car can be a frustrating process, but in the end you will likely make more money back on it than you would if you traded it in. Thanks to the internet it’s become easier than ever to sell your car; with the right sites and the right tools you can get the information your vehicle out to more people more quickly than ever before.
Selling a Car in Ontario
There are a number of places you can list your car for sale online, some of them for free and others for a fee. Listings on these sites may expire, so it’s a good idea to keep track of when you need to renew them if you haven’t yet sold the car at expiration time. You can also go the old-fashioned route and list your car for sale in print classifieds. Many newspapers also have an online listing of their classified ads at no extra charge.
Creating a Good Listing
The more detail you put in your listing, the more interest you are likely to see in your car. Make sure to take good, clear pictures from multiple angles and include both the interior and the exterior. Wash and vacuum the car before you take the pictures to make sure it looks its best in the photos.
Be sure to include all of the pertinent information about the car in the description. The most important things to include are:
- Year, make and model of the car
- Odometer reading
- Any recent maintenance or work you have had done
- Anything you have modified or replaced on the car
If the car has been in a major accident and has been repaired, it’s a good practice to be honest about this up front. A vehicle history report will tell interested buyers about this if they take the time to look, so its best to tell them so you don’t appear to have anything to hide.
Finally, make sure that you offer accurate contact information in your ad so that buyers can reach you.
Setting Your Selling Price
The value of your car can be determined in a few ways; most people use the Black Book as a starting point, which will tell you what your car is worth based on the condition and odometer reading. Other factors can come into play, however, such as the current supply and demand of cars like yours and any improvements you may have made to the car.
Market value is a big part of your pricing. Take the time to peruse ads for cars similar to yours to see what they are being sold for. In the end, what a buyer is willing to pay for your car will determine the price more than any guide such as the Black Book.
Trading Your Car In Versus Selling
Trading your car in basically means you are selling it to the dealer and the price they are offering to you for it will go against what you are spending on the new car. The trade-in value of a car is lower than the sale value of the car, and both are lower than the dealer retail value. What that means is that the dealer will give you less for the car than you could sell it for on your own, and then sell it for more than you were given for it.
You will get more money out of the sale of your car if you sell it yourself, but in some cases the convenience of a trade-in is worth it. Make the decision based on the time and effort you want to put into the process.
When buying a new car, be sure to shop for insurance quotes to ensure you can afford the insurance rate on that car.
