During these economic types, there are many cars for sale by owner. Many people need to give up belongings in their lives just so that they can have the means to feed their family and pay their mortgage. Many times, sacrifices have to be made and unnecessary items need to be sold so that money can be saved and debt can be reduced. Any reduction in expense can become a considerable savings in the future. One of the money pits that everyone has is their vehicle. That’s why there are so many used cars for sale by owner. If you are a current owner of a car and can live without it, consider selling your car in order to get rid of unnecessary expenses. An obvious benefit of selling a vehicle is that you will be able to save a ton of money that is usually allocated towards your car. Some examples of how money is allocated towards your car when you pay for car insurance, gasoline, maintenance (oil changes, windshield wiper replacement, headlight replacement) and other mishaps. In my case, I had a very expensive year when I purchased an Infiniti G35. It was a sweet car, but it got broken into 2 times, I was in two accidents, got parking tickets, and a speeding ticket. PLUS, I had to replace the brakes and rotors which ended up costing me $1,600. Needless to say, it was a VERY expensive year and all of my money went into that dumb car. If you have a similar situation to mine, then maybe you should put a “cars for sale by owner sign” on your vehicle. If you want to sell your car without trading it in, or using a dealership, you will have to put in the research and effort to ensure that the transaction goes smoothly.

The first task you will need to do is research the value of your car. Websites such as Kelly Blue Book and Edmunds are great for valuing a used car. Used vans for sale will be valued the same way as any other vehicle. Things to consider when valuing a car are the make, model, year, color, car options, mileage, and overall quality. On the Edmunds website, they state that only 5% of cars can be labeled as in “excellent” condition and that most cars fit under the average to good category. Once your car is valued, decide whether or not you would like to negotiate with the buyer or if you would like to receive the best offer. Use the Edmunds and Blue Book value as a starting point. Also, printing out a CarFax report to prove that your car is not a lemon is a good negotiating tool. CarFax reports are cheap and will help give you leverage during the selling phase.

The next step is to consider whether or not any repairs, dents, or scratches need to be repaired on your car. Many people do not want to “invest” in cosmetic and internal repairs as they want to save money. However, depending on the work that needs to be done, spending a few hundred bucks on minor fixes can increase the value of your car considerably. In this phase, you will have to cost out all the fixes and determine whether or not you will be able to get more value out of your vehicle. Also, first appearances are everything, and the more appealing your car looks, the higher rate of success you will have in selling it.

There are many free ways to promote your car via different media channels. Many local papers have free classified in which you can advertise your car. Also, the internet is a really powerful tool to solicit your car to many forms of media. Websites such as Craigslist allow the user to advertise their car within a local area to many public users. My friends have had a lot of success with Craigslist as many people are on this site at any given time. Plus, it totally free to use and you might have a lot of inquiries about your vehicle. In order to have a successful click rate on your solicitation, make sure to clearly write your article and add all the details that a user would need to know to get their attention. Also, add a few pictures of your car and be as honest as possible with your description. Make sure to add contact information and add an e-mail and phone number to the listing. You will be surprised how many cars for sale by owner are on Craigslist at any given time.  There's many Audi cars for sale on CL and my friend recently just sold one. 

Another way to spread the information about your car is by using social networking site such as Facebook. If you have a large network of friends on Facebook, advertising your car by sending out a message is a good way to get the word out about your car sale. Do not send out multiple messages as people will get annoyed with a full mailbox from you about your car sale.

When allowing people to inquire about the car, let them test drive it and try and be as open as possible. Only answer questions that they bring up and do not give them any information that they do not inquire about. Try not to talk about the price of the car until you know they are satisfied with your vehicle. If you do not make the sale, make sure you have the title and that all documentation is gathered so you can finish the sale. Read all applicable laws about transferring the title as each state has different guidelines on the legal way of transferring a title from one owner to another. Remember, the money that you receive from the sale is taxable so make sure to deduct some tax from your compensation.

On the other hand, if you are looking for a used car for sale, then the Craigslist cars for sale section of the free web 2.0 site is a must-see stop for your used and new car shopping needs.  Some helpful tips to take to heart when using this site is to perform a query on the top of car that you want.  This way you can narrow down your search to the specific year, and make of the car in order to focus on just one specific type of vehicle.  Without narrowing down your search, you will be looking at thousands of listings of conversion vans, used trucks, and even motorcycles.  Many people who do not know how to use Craigslist get information overload and quit even before they start.  This is quite a shame because there are many great deals that are ready to be exploited if you know what you’re doing.  Another great tips is only search for listings that have pictures.  You will know whether a listing has a picture due to the “pic” word next to the advertisement.  Don’t stress yourself out with inquiring about a vehicle and asking for pictures.  If the owner of the vehicle is too lazy to include a picture, then he’s going to be too lazy to answer your questions.  Lastly, if you are willing to travel to different cities, make sure to search your city AND the surrounding cities in your state.  This way, you can have more options and which car you’d like to select.  It is best to negotiate the price AFTER you drive the vehicle and take a look at it, however, if you are anxious to make the purchase, you can always negotiate via e-mail.  However, this is quite dangerous as any written documentation creates a binding contract and you might be liable for the purchase if you offer money for the owner’s vehicle.  The best thing to do is to test drive the Craigslist car and then decide on a price.  Just like a seller, as a buyer you must do your research on the price of the car and you will have to go to the Kelly Blue Book website in order to get a fair estimate of what the car is worth.