What is a good, reputable (NOT Facebook Marketplace) online site to sell your car privately?

[ElectricEye]

Hi,
I'll probably be getting rid of my MK7 GTI, and given it's excellent condition and maintenance - I know I'd get a better price selling it privately than to a dealer, CarMax etc.
Does anyone know a good online place to post the car that won't attract meth heads, and other dirtbags?

 

[avenali312]

I remember when I sold one of my S-10 on Craigslist... The first few offers were all for things like "trade for a non-running Neon" or "$3,000 worth of Dewalt tools." I figure Facebook is probably similar, so I've just been trading in since then haha. I'm following to see what others recommend.

 

[ElectricEye]

I remember when I sold one of my S-10 on Craigslist... The first few offers were all for things like "trade for a non-running Neon" or "$3,000 worth of Dewalt tools." I figure Facebook is probably similar, so I've just been trading in since then haha. I'm following to see what others recommend.

Yeah, trade offers are so low.
I've trade in cars in the past simply due to the convenience, and because those cars weren't anything anyone would specifically want.
My GTI is in excellent condition with all service records.
It's a really nice example for someone who would be looking for one.

 

[tigeo]

Used CL back in the day, FB MP now....sold one on both without issue. Used Autotrader as well for private sales. Unfortunately, the reality is you will always get tire-kickers/meth heads at some point and you either want to make a few extra K on the sale or don't and in that case trade it in. I never trade b/c I like me monies....

 

[Acadia18]

There's places like here and Vortex.

But really, FB Marketplace will be your best bet. It has the largest reach. The problem is, selling stuff on FB sucks ass. In the end though, it does work.

 

[tigeo]

There's places like here and Vortex.

But really, FB Marketplace will be your best bet. It has the largest reach. The problem is, selling stuff on FB sucks ass. In the end though, it does work.

You just have to be good at it (to me) and good at quickly weeding through DMs to see who is a real/serious buyer and who isn't. Hell, I've parked cars with for-sale signs before in parking lots, side of road, etc.

 

[mike-y]

When I sold a car last year, I tried a couple of the bigger sites like Autotrader and also Craigslist. Like said above, I don't think it matters where you list your car, there are gonna be scammers, and the typical CL deadbeats wanting to trade a sportbike, a broken jeep, a nintendo 64, and $2,200 for your ride.

The biggest scam I ran across was people telling me they wanted to buy my car, but I needed to run a VIN check on (insert scammy-fake-carfax-website here) for $30 first, so they know the condition of the car was good. I swear I got like 10 different people trying to get me to run a report on their fake carfax website.

Also, people out of state who want to send you a cashier's check for more than your asking price, and they'll send a "friend" over to pick up the car and the change from the overpayment (this is a really old scam actually).

I ended up getting a ton of interest from local dealerships, and ended up selling my car to a used-car dealership the next town over. They did a quick inspection of the car (inside and out), took it on a test drive, and then cut me a check.

 

[mopar22]

Cargurus is pretty good. That's how i found my car and sold our last car

 

[Superfreak]

I just sold my R after listing on FB marketplace. I had also listed on Craigslist and Autotrader. Craigslist got very little traffic, from what I could tell. I did get some traffic on Autotrader but almost every one was a scammer trying to “send me a cashier’s check”, and wanted my address, cell #, and other sensitive information. Ultimately, I was surprised that FB was the venue that it sold on. I think it got something like 3300+ clicks, which seemed like a lot. It’s a bit of a timesuck to have to weed out the kids that did want the car but didn’t have the money, but the Golf is the new Civic, as the Mighty Car Mods guys have explained, so yeah you’ll have to sort through it. Best to state exactly what you want and be specific in your ad to set expectations, but still, you’re bound to get a hundred “Hi, is this still available?” inquiries, no matter what your ad states.

As always, good luck with the sale!

 

[ElectricEye]

When I sold a car last year, I tried a couple of the bigger sites like Autotrader and also Craigslist. Like said above, I don't think it matters where you list your car, there are gonna be scammers, and the typical CL deadbeats wanting to trade a sportbike, a broken jeep, a nintendo 64, and $2,200 for your ride.

The biggest scam I ran across was people telling me they wanted to buy my car, but I needed to run a VIN check on (insert scammy-fake-carfax-website here) for $30 first, so they know the condition of the car was good. I swear I got like 10 different people trying to get me to run a report on their fake carfax website.

Also, people out of state who want to send you a cashier's check for more than your asking price, and they'll send a "friend" over to pick up the car and the change from the overpayment (this is a really old scam actually).

I ended up getting a ton of interest from local dealerships, and ended up selling my car to a used-car dealership the next town over. They did a quick inspection of the car (inside and out), took it on a test drive, and then cut me a check.

Very good to know, thank you.

 

[ElectricEye]

I just sold my R after listing on FB marketplace. I had also listed on Craigslist and Autotrader. Craigslist got very little traffic, from what I could tell. I did get some traffic on Autotrader but almost every one was a scammer trying to “send me a cashier’s check”, and wanted my address, cell #, and other sensitive information. Ultimately, I was surprised that FB was the venue that it sold on. I think it got something like 3300+ clicks, which seemed like a lot. It’s a bit of a timesuck to have to weed out the kids that did want the car but didn’t have the money, but the Golf is the new Civic, as the Mighty Car Mods guys have explained, so yeah you’ll have to sort through it. Best to state exactly what you want and be specific in your ad to set expectations, but still, you’re bound to get a hundred “Hi, is this still available?” inquiries, no matter what your ad states.

As always, good luck with the sale!

Great information, thank you.
I'm about a year and a half out from selling my car, but I like to do my research before I do anything.
I wouldn't have been aware of some of these scams, and I consider myself to be scam savvy.

 

[Superfreak]

Great information, thank you.
I'm about a year and a half out from selling my car, but I like to do my research before I do anything.
I wouldn't have been aware of some of these scams, and I consider myself to be scam savvy.

Yeah Man, happy to help. I was getting into the scam (the first one) and wanted to talk with the potential buyer, but they “were deaf, and couldn’t talk on the phone”, which tipped me off. I know that there’s a program that deaf people can use to have someone transcribe a caller to text, so then I knew it was BS. The age old rule that we all know is that if it’s too good to be true, it usually is.

 

[tigeo]

I guess I always figured it was pretty easy to manage this all...post car for sale, weed out messages, meet the person, test drive, do the deal. Anything beyond car/title for cash/cashiers/bank check is a "no thank you".

 

[Strange Mud]

I guess I always figured it was pretty easy to manage this all...post car for sale, weed out messages, meet the person, test drive, do the deal. Anything beyond car/title for cash is a "no thank you".

FTFY. I would take a check from a dealer/carmax/etc but no type of check from individual. Ya wanna meet in the bank OK but I am not taking any kind of check.

also for cash bring counterfeit detection marker and meet in safe local (obvious)

 

[tigeo]

FTFY. I would take a check from a dealer/carmax/etc but no type of check from individual. Ya wanna meet in the bank OK but I am not taking any kind of check.

also for cash bring counterfeit detection marker and meet in safe local (obvious)

My post was edited after that - "cash" here meaning as I said somewhere above....actual cash if the amount is small...a grand for example but otherwise, bank check. I would never take a personal check for my vehicle or anything else or huge sums of cash. I've never had issues selling many cars this way including a few with loans still on them, we just worked it out....signed over the title, paid off the loan. Let them have my plates to drive it home. Handled it all with a bill of sale. I've only traded in one car, I'm 51 and have owned ~9 vehicles and have sold outright 7 of them, none were worth more than $10K and except for 2, were owned free/clear. It's more work but I like having the extra money. In my experience, you can just tell when things are ok or not...