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7 tips for selling your car online and dealing with the buyer’s auto transporter

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Home  |  Car Transport   |   7 tips for selling your car online and dealing with the buyer’s auto transporter

The growing prevalence of internet fraud is unsettling, which is why it’s prudent to take a savvy approach to online buying and selling. Selling your car online, for instance, is a tricky process that demands attention to detail and acute awareness. If you’re looking to sell your vehicle via the web, here are some tips you should heed to ensure both safety and hassle-free handlings.

Know Your Car’s worth

Money-grubbing individuals are notorious for taking to the internet in search of naive sellers. Determining the worth of your vehicle will help avoid situations in which potential buyers walk all over you. Once you’ve set a price, stay firm. Some tools that’ll help determine the value of your car include Autotrader.com and Kelley Blue Book.

Provide Documents

Nothing screams ignorance quite like being sorely unprepared. Much like buying a vehicle, selling your car is a demanding undertaking. Scrambling to find all the documents last minute makes for a messy process, so it’s best to gather them beforehand. Some items you’ll need include the title, bill of sale, release of liability, as-is records, warranty documents, and maintenance records.

*Pro tip: Each state has its own requirements. This guide will tell you what additional documents you'll need to provide, if any.

Choose a Reliable Advertising Source

Craigslist has earned a bad rap for being riddled with con artists. Unfortunately, all classified advertising platforms are crawling with these deceptive individuals. Here are some reputable sites that aren’t as infamous for fraudulent activity: Kelley Blue Book, eBay Motors, Cars.com, Autotraders.com.

Prep Your Vehicle

When attempting to sell your car to prospective buyers, the appeal is paramount. What’s more, you’ll want your vehicle to be alluring in pictures. With that said, most sellers opt for a car wash, interior cleaning, and waxing before advertising their precious cargo. If you’d like to go the extra mile, you can replace weathered floor mats, purchase new tires, and wash the windows.

Be Inquisitive

When corresponding with a potential buyer, questions go a long way. Ask for their full name, determine if they live in your area, clarify how you’d like the payment, and get their contact information. To ensure that you’re not being scammed by a computer “robot,” give them a quick call before moving forward. In essence, knowledge is power.

There’s Strength In Numbers

If you’ve found the perfect buyer and you’re ready to meet in person, there are some unknowns you should be wary of. After all, you’ve only just met this person on the internet. Most choose to bring along a friend for added safety. While there’s no reason to be unduly paranoid, the buddy system has never failed.

Shipping Your Car

If your buyer is requesting that you ship your vehicle to their location, it’s best to establish a contact at their auto transport service that can provide you with professional updates. This will guarantee and smooth and informed process.

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to Your Car Moving Questions

The hardest thing for people researching car moving companies to understand is that the prices they are getting are not hard and fast gaurantees, but rather ESTIMATES of what one company thinks it will take to get a vehicle moved promptly versus another company's opinion of what it will take. Don't be fooled, there are not carriers committed to take your vehicle at these quoted prices, the company you choose will still have to get to work getting a carrier to commit to move it at the price they quote you.

Your total price breaks down into two parts, the broker's fee (or 'deposit' as everyone calls it) and the carriers fee (your COD amount) Make no mistake about this, EVERYONE YOU ARE GETTING SALES CALLS FROM IS GOING TO BROKER YOUR MOVE. In this industry, there are brokers who try to fool you into thinking that they are the actual carriers and there are an equal amount of carriers who sell themselves on the fact that they have a truck or two but are not being honest about the fact that they broker out 90% of the orders they book. Here is a quick easy way to tell, if a company takes an up front fee, whether they call it a deposit or any other name, they are a broker. Carriers do not take any payment until the vehicle is delivered.

In our opinion, you are crazy to do so. Have you ever been paid up front for the work that you perform for your employer? Why would you pay a fee up front when there are reliable and trustworthy companies like ours that won't ask for it until we provide you with your carriers details?

The average transit time from pick up to delivery on any vehicle going coast to coast will be between one and two weeks. From there you can figure your transit time based on how far your vehicle is traveling, i.e. from either coast to the Midwest might average 3-7 days.

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