What do you do to get a car ready to sell?

[ksa8907]

I love when people try to say a tire that has 5/32" still has 50% left. 2/32 is completely used up and us getting to the unsafe stage.

I usually just clean out the interior and wash it. Dont forget wheel shine and tire bright!!

[redpoint5]

My normal routine is to fix whatever issue is causing the CEL, such as an evaporative emission system leak. Then I replace the failed power steering pump, fix the coolant leak, replace the aquariums headlights. Then I get tired of working on the car and just tell the buyer that the trunk won't open, the drivers side mirror won't adjust, the instrument cluster is intermittent, and she drinks a quart of motor oil every 1,000 miles.

I then celebrate that I have $800 in my pocket instead of the oil slick on my driveway that used to be my wife's 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix. How she could drive such a heap as a single woman; I'll never know.

Originally Posted by Xist

Oh, find a list of the one hundred most popular cars and add each of them to the bottom of your page, because everybody who looks for Prii on Craigslist secretly wants to find Hummers, ice cream trucks, and the odd bookmobile.

I flag every post I see that contains "keywords". The only keyword people need is the description of what they are selling. When I'm looking for a Prius, there is a 0% chance I'll take a cement truck instead.

Besides an irrelevant keyword list, you should also omit any mention of what sort of transmission it has, and not provide any pictures that would give you a clue as to how it shifts gears. In fact, based on my experience looking for a Prius, you can just use pictures of other cars that look similar to the one being sold, tricking the buyer into thinking your car has Bluetooth and stock rims.

If selling a TSX, say it comes fully loaded, which implies it has Nav since that was the only option offered. Instead, actually sell a minimally loaded TSX, which is the one that doesn't have Nav.

[cowmeat]

When I search on Craigslist for a particular car, I always click "gallery", then the "titles only" button, and the "has image" button. The "titles only" button filters out all those keyword idiots, and the gallery shows the cars lined up on the page like they're on a car lot.
Then I hit "lowest to highest" on the dollar signs, and if I'm really serious and have a specific budget, I add "max price"

I also flag any ad featuring a late model or really nice looking car with a ridiculously low price (always ending in something other than a 0, 5, or 9 for whatever reason) and either an e-mail address such as "joeblow@gmail, or an out-of-state area code. Such as this ad, with a New Jersey area code:

http://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/cto/4709344621.html

Had to resist the urge to flag it!

[ksa8907]

As long as we are ranting about bad craigslist ads, dont forget to mention it has all the "options" like intermittent wipers, headlights, radio, rear seats, a/c, heat, cruise, power mirrors, electronic locks, power steering, a battery, paint, 4 wheels AND tires, and windows.

[Xist]

Ejection seat, heat-seeking missile launchers, espresso machine, and butt massager.

[Fat Charlie]

When searching on CL, I filter out posts without pics and I flag everything that pulls pricing or keyword tricks. When I'm in "for sale by owner" I flag everything that looks like it's a dealer.

[RedDevil]

If possible, park it next to cars that are worse off.
A tiny car makes yours look big, an ugly car makes yours look good.

Just avoid parking next to cars that have an obvious defect that yours has too, drawing attention to that.

[War_Wagon]

Some good replies here. Cowmeat has done this once or twice before I'd hazard to guess, do pretty much all the things he said.

On an inexpensive car like that, I'd just make sure it's clean - wipe down the doorjambs and inside the gas filler door, make sure the wiper blades aren't rotted off it, and spray paint the wiper arms if they are peeling. Clean the inside of the windows!! You'd be surprised what a difference that makes on someones impression of a car - if they have to look through streaks and fingerprints on the test drive it just looks bad. If you smoke, take the ashtray out and scrub it clean. Make sure the spare tire and jack are where they should be and tightened down so they don't bang around on the test drive. I always wash/wipe off the channel around the trunk seal too, lots of gunk tends to collect there and everyone pops the trunk to look inside when they check out a car.

Small cars tend to get 2 kinds of buyers - someone that just needs cheap wheels and sees yours is half decent and just buys it, or people that look for any reason to take money off the price. "Has it had any accidents?" and has it passed any local inspection your area requires will be the first thing those people will ask, looking for an edge. Cripes I have been doing this too long haha, when I sell one of my eco cars I can pretty much finish peoples sentences for them when they call me. As long as it's not a pieced together salvaged car just remind your buyer that it's an inexpensive car that's been on the road for a lot of years, it and it's history aren't perfect. I have actually said "Sounds like you need a new car with a warranty, there's a Hyundai dealership 5 minutes from here." Basically the car guy version of pi$$ or get off the pot, it works surprisingly well! Good luck with the sale.

[Daox]

Thanks guys.

I definitely agree that clean is the biggest part. I don't know how many times I've gone to test drive a car and its just full of junk!

[joey2snowy]

After trading in my old gas guzzler for a Chev Volt I tried selling my old one in local listings. My gas struts in the trunk were a little old, worn and scratched. I didn't think much of it--they're just gas struts, right?--and I'm taking this one potential buyer round the car and he's giving it a thorough inspection. Everything seems in order. Until he reaches the rear side and opens the trunk to the sound of my car wheezing and squeaking. He opened and closed the trunk a few times, just listening to the rattling and gasping sounds, before shutting it, thanking me, and going his own way.

Moral of the story, the small, insignificant things sometimes have a bigger impact than we think. So, make sure your car doesn't sound like it's on its last legs. Panic stricken, I ordered gas struts with next day delivery (needs must), from this online store, in case anyone needs urgent delivery of parts i can recommend it - and then put them in myself, erased the whistling sound of my trunk, and hey presto, the car was bought later that week. Now, I'm not saying it was all the struts, but I like to think they helped.

Anyway, that's all I can think of for prepping your vehicle to sell. Apart from the below of course

Originally Posted by mcrews

roll back the mileage!!