would you just use autotrader? or would you go to Carmax? Any suggestions are appreciated

Moving this to the correct forum.

As for selling...I'd put it everywhere. AutoTrader, Cars.com, Craigslist and the NICOClub classifieds. If nothing bites for the price you want, then go to CarMax.

I personally used Craigslist with my last car. Its free and I prefer the local buyers versus people that have to come from far away to look at it, and then flake out.

Carmax is the same as trading it in, except you are not expected to buy a car at the same time. What I am getting at is what they offer you for it will be a wholesale price, usually much lower than the retail price a private buyer will be willing to pay.

For example, I was offered a max of $2000 for my previous car (02 GS430 @ 165K miles) at the dealer. I declined and sold it privately for $4500.

That said trading it in, or selling to Carmax, is a much easier and faster route.

Best thing you can do when selling a vehicle is be patient. Don't sell it at wholesale and lose thousands when you can wait a month for the right buyer.

Autotrader is fantastic for selling and buying. You can do the research and write the add yourself or they can write the add for you for a fee. I sold a Wrangler 6 months ago and found the extra add ons worth it (Premium listing, extra pictures, etc.). I wrote the as myself, but the fee to have them write it I found to not be unreasonable. It will cost you $100-$200 to utilize everything they offer, but that is a drop in the bucket compared to what you can make by selling your vehicle privately instead of rushing to sell it at wholesale.

Research it to death and back. See how much others are asking both at the dealer and private party. Pay attention to packages, options, miles, etc. And I would expand that research to a vast area, not just within 500 miles of your area code. Buyers appreciate honesty and knowledge. If they ask you a question you don't know the answer to beyond a shadow of a doubt, tell them you will look it up and provide them with the link to the website where you found it.

Other thing to contemplate is when your payment due date is. If your payment is $350 and due in a week, it might be wise to take up someone's offer of $600 less than your asking price. But patience wins the day, as long as you know that your car is priced fairly and that there are buyers out there.

Also, Autotrader offers great personal information protection. You can email and respond to phone calls with your information hidden. Avoids you getting spammed. Craigslist (as Illya and Deb mentioned above) is a great way to advertise. You can list info for free and link your Autotrader ad in there.

not sure where you live/car is located, but my a good friend recently sold his car on Beepi.com and I'm selling my lease (wife's 2013 Mini Countryman) 4 months early and am pocketing a $1k.

I would try going private route first. You will net much more $$ by being patient.
I was offered $1700 for my 2001 I30T with 160+ thousand miles at CarMax. I sold it next week by listing on craigslist and autotrader. I got $2700, and I still was the cheapest car with comparable features in the area...Wholesale price will give you a heart attack. You'll be told the car is half of what you think.
Do research, be patient and you'll succeed - good luck.

I would post the car in every Nissan,Infiniti forum you can find. I would also take it to CarMAx. They give you two prices - the amount they will give you if you sell it to them, and the amount they will give you towards a trade (if you have one of their cars in mind). When we traded Fetucini's car there, they were honest and thorough with the appraisal. They showed us a sample of 6 identical cars being offered at local dealers and local auto shops, as well as the amount CarMax would likely pay for it at an auction. The price they gave us was probably slightly less than if we found a buyer who would meet our hoped-for price, but they were not significantly cheap with the appraisal and this way we got rid of it without advertising and having strangers calling us at odd hours or visiting our home. I reckon if we made a private deal and got as close to what we wanted, we would have made about $1,000 more. That meant we conceivably paid an extra thousand more than we might have paid for the car we traded it on. But here is the bottom line ... Fetucini traded and added some cash down and then financed the balance for 4 years. I did the math - over a 4 year period, the theoretical $1,000 dollars would amount to about $19 per month we could have saved (assuming we really DID get an extra thousand with a private sale). We spend that and more just having lunch.

Id get a full detail.inside and out.shampoo carpet .no matter how clean it looks to you.get engine bay cleaned. Take great pictures.not cellphone pics.post on craigslist.and dont rush the sale.good luck.i use to flip cars
And thats what i did.but i detailed outside the cars myself and paid for interior shampoo.id make alot of extra clean money

thanks for the advice. much appreciated

Larz wrote:...we got rid of it without advertising and having strangers calling us at odd hours or visiting our home.

I agree with everything but this. This is a left over convincing tactic used by dealers from the days of newspaper classifieds before email, to get people to take less money at trade in. People do not call or come to your house unless you post or give them your phone number and address. I did all sales contact via email and only called serious perspective buyers. And meeting up with them can be anywhere you choose.

Otherwise, yes exploring all options is a good idea. I have no local Carmax so that was never an option for me.

Selling private party vs trading it in isn't always the best idea. When you trade a car in and buy a new one , at least here in IL, you only pay tax on the difference in price. So for example, if you trade your car in and get $10,000, and are buying a $15,000 car, you're only paying tax on $5000. Sometimes that's worth more than the additional money you'd get selling it private party.

Very true comment black. Same here in Florida and I was going to mention it, however I would venture a guess that 9/10 people would benefit from selling privately vs the tax savings. I think it's especially true when it's a newer and somewhat expensive vehicle. If it's a 10 year old Camry, then the difference is probably negligible. And should you get the opportunity to consider trading in or selling a $300,000 Ferrari, I don't know if you'll care much about a few thousand in tax savings when you can drive your Buggati or Rolls off the lot that night.

Altim8M37 wrote:Very true comment black. Same here in Florida and I was going to mention it, however I would venture a guess that 9/10 people would benefit from selling privately vs the tax savings. I think it's especially true when it's a newer and somewhat expensive vehicle. If it's a 10 year old Camry, then the difference is probably negligible. And should you get the opportunity to consider trading in or selling a $300,000 Ferrari, I don't know if you'll care much about a few thousand in tax savings when you can drive your Buggati or Rolls off the lot that night.

The rich stay rich by being smart with money.