Getting rid of a financed car is not as difficult as you may think. If you do a little research, you can actually come out ahead! Here are a few tips to make selling your financed vehicle quick and painless.
Find the value of your car. The first thing you want to do when you are trying to sell your vehicle is find out exactly how much it is worth. This can be done by researching the make and model on several different websites. Kelley Blue Book is one of the most common and widely used websites to determine the resale value of a used car. Other useful resources are NADA and Auto Trader. You may want to check all three websites to compare the resale values and use the average of all three to determine your fair asking price (see Resources below).
Advertise. Even if the title is not in your name, you still have many options for selling it and still make money on the deal. You will need to advertise your car in order to tempt prospective buyers. If you have a tight budget or just want to start out slow, a popular place to advertise is on websites like Craigslist, which is a free listing site, or Auto Trader. Your local newspaper classifieds are also a good place to advertise. You may want to put a sign in your car window with your phone number and asking price, as well. All good advertisements include a detailed description of the vehicle, at least one or more clear pictures, your asking price and your contact information. Make sure you have washed the outside of your vehicle and vaccumed the inside before you take the pictures. You want to get the most appealing representation you can in your advertisement.
Consider different selling options. Because your car is still financed, you may want to look into various selling options. Carmax is a large company with locations all over the United States. You can take your vehicle to their shop and get a detailed appraisal and possible offer for your used car (see Resources below). If Carmax gives you an offer, they will need to call your lien holder to get a 15-day loan payoff. At that point, Carmax would pay the offered amount to your lien holder and you would need to pay whatever balance is left. Another viable option is selling your car to a private person. As with Carmax, you may be able to make an agreement with the interested private party to have them pay the lien holder directly and take possession of the title. Or, if you feel comfortable with the person making monthly payments to you, you may want to consider continuing to pay your car loan with the money you receive from them. Just be sure that you both sign a bill of sale, stating the conditions of your agreement; get a copy of their proof of insurance on your vehicle and make sure you take copies of all monies received and keep receipts for your files.
