How to Sell a Car at Fair Market Value in 2022 Without Getting Stiffed by a Dealership

Hi y’all,

Sorry about the long hiatus. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten a chance to write for Tangibles. I was busy with a few other side projects. Now that we have spent quite a bit of time talking about car buying, I’d like to tell you a bit about car selling. If you’d like to read about my car buying experience and strategy, you can find that here. After I bought a new-to-me vehicle (2015 Toyota Camry), it was time to sell my 2006 Toyota Camry.

At first, I tried to sell my car to CarMax and got a “CarMin” online quote for my vehicle.

No more lame dad-jokes/puns, I promise.

Actually, that was a lie. Sorry :P

Let’s just say CarMax and these other no haggle dealers only offered me about 20% of the fair market value of the vehicle according to Kelley Blue Book (KBB). So I politely declined their offer and decided to sell via private party. In my opinion, if you are selling a car, the best deal is always going to come from a private party buyer. Once I decided that this was the way to go, I needed to determine the appropriate channels to sell my vehicle.

I was considering OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, and Craigslist. Turns out, Craigslist is still alive and very much kicking - especially for car sales. Ebay wanted to charge me $20 for a post, but I didn’t want to do that for a local sale. I passed on Ebay. I ended up posting on OfferUp, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace.

Below, I have the prompt that I used for sale of my vehicle.

Start of Prompt

Make: Toyota

Model: Camry

Year: 2006

VIN: 4T1BE32K76U707216

Odometer: 217,583

Trim: LE

Title: Clean

Accidents: None

Payment: Cash

Color: Gray

Engine: 2.4L, 4 Cylinder

Transmission: Automatic

Drive Train: Front Wheel Drive

Hello,

My name is (insert name here), and I am selling my 2006 Toyota Camry LE.

This car comes in a grey color scheme, and the paint and body are clean with minor wear and tear. This is a well maintained vehicle, and I have two sets of keys.

This car has a mileage of 217,583 and has been maintained at regular intervals. I also have all of the service records if you are interested in reviewing those.

The interior is cloth, which is clean. This is a non-smoker car. This car has been a family vehicle since purchase, and has been driven gently with most miles being freeway miles (less engine wear/tear).

The AC blows cold, and there are no engine or transmission problems with the car; it is in excellent mechanical condition. The transmission shifts smoothly, and the engine is working perfectly with no check engine lights. I recently changed the oil, oil filter, and both the cabin and engine air filter.

BONUS! This vehicle also includes a backup camera and dash camera with SD card as show in the images.

This is a Clean Title car with pink slip/title and registration in hand.

My price is $4874 OBO. Text me or call me with your offer.

Thank you for your time, and I hope we can do business.

Recent repairs/maintenance:

New Catalytic Converter

New Battery

New Engine Air Filter

New Cabin Air Filter

New Headlights

New Windshield Wipers

Full Synthetic Oil Changes Done Regularly

End of Prompt

Back to our marketplace discussion.

OfferUp, as usual, had the least amount of quality buyers, but their platform was free, so I figured why not?

Facebook Marketplace resulted in zero interested buyers.

Craigslist cost only five dollars per month to post, and it was where I got the most engagement from interested buyers. It was also where I found my buyer. However, it also had the most scammers. If anyone is offering to buy your vehicle at asking price, and that person is not coming to personally purchase the vehicle, and they are having it picked up by shipper, and they are paying by certified check, I would not move forward. This just reeks of a scam.

I first posted my vehicle for an outrageous price - about $1,500 over fair market value (as estimated by Kelley Blue Book). My strategy was to decrease my asking price by $300 every 3 days. This way I could hopefully secure a deal at the highest price possible. I ended up selling it at just about fair market value to a local buyer.

There is a bit of paperwork that you need to complete when selling a car - primarily a transfer of the “title” and a “notice of release of liability” (NRL) form. Private party “bill of sales” are not required in Nevada, but I also created and filled one out for completeness’s sake.

I didn’t want to get robbed, so I told the buyer I was only comfortable meeting at a bank during the day. Secondly, since I was only taking cash, I wanted to be able to deposit the money at the bank to ensure none of the bills were counterfeits.

I also removed my license plates from the vehicle. To my knowledge, this is not necessary because once you fill out the NRL, even if the buyer blows through a red light, it’s not your headache since the vehicle has been sold. When it comes to financial matters, I’m uber-conscious, so I removed my plates. Technically, the buyer has a few days to register the car and get plates.

Also, you’ll want to let your insurance company know that you no longer have the vehicle and terminate your policy.

To be honest, I was kind of sad when I finally let my car go. It was still running like a dream at 217,000 miles and had no mechanical defects. We had been on many journeys together, my ‘06 Camry and I. It was a sad day, but it was okay because I was able to wipe my tears with Ben Franklins, several more than CarMax was offering (Grrr).

I’m curious - do you prefer this casual style of writing, or do you like these articles with a more professional tone? I’d really appreciate it if you could let me know in the comment box below (just below the link outs to other articles).

Summary of Sales Steps

1. Use KBB and NADA guides to get a fair market value estimate of your vehicle. Add an arbitrary amount, say 20%, to this estimate.

2. Use the prompt above.

3. Post on craigslist, Facebook marketplace, and Offerup.

4. Drop price by $300 every 3 days.

5. Field requests of potential buyers via the aforementioned channels (Craigslist, OfferUp, etc).

6. Meet the buyer at bank during business hours.

7. Acquire money from buyer.

8. Deposit money in bank account to ensure no bills are counterfeit.

9. If everything checks out, finalize your bill of sale and write down the name of buyer on title.

10. Tear off the part of the title that belongs to the seller (you) for release of liability.

11. Go to DMV with the buyer (completely optional).

12. Take off license plate. (Bring screwdriver).

13. Go home and file a release of liability (NRL with home state).

14. Cancel insurance on sold vehicle.

15. Use the proceeds from the sale to dollar cost average into VTSAX/FSKAX.

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Disclaimer: The article above is an opinion and is for informational/educational purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice. The author has taken care in writing this post but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of the use of this information.