How I Sold My Old Car in Los Angeles

In my last post, I prepped my car to be sold and shared tips on how to do so.

Now I’ll talk about how I actually sold it for a decent sum – within only a few days.

Start With What You Know

First we decided to try what worked before. My partner sold his car (an old Volvo) through CarMax (for $1700), so that was our first step.

We drove over with an appointment, checked in and the appraiser came out. He looked at the back of the car and said we’d probably get a few hundred for it. The appraisal would take about 45 minutes. Did we want to wait?

A couple hundred? This car is old, but in decent condition.

It runs good. We just got the brakes done and replaced axel ($650), 4 new tires ($320). New head light ($5), new battery ($125), new transmission over Christmas ($2700), new engine coil, new piston, new spark plugs (totaled like $750) over the last 9 months.

I didn’t expect to get the full value of all the work I put in. But I wanted minimum $1000, and was pretty sure I could get $1500 from a buyer.

So I declined and went home, looking online for another buyer.

On My Own…

If I wasn’t selling to a dealer, I’d have to write up an ad and spend time screening buyers. During a pandemic, I would have to meet up with buyers and pray for the best, and hope nothing shady would go on. And I still haven’t had my vaccine yet.

So, I was hesitant and worried about that. But millions of people have person-to-person interactions like this every year, so it should be fine.

I’d also have to negotiate the price and finalize the sale with all the paperwork in order. The only thing I was worried about was California state law says that I have to smog a car before selling it. I didn’t want to put another dollar into the car, because I was miffed about how much I already spent on it.

Get Found Through Advertising

So first I looked for where to advertise it. Although I could feasibly just take out free ads, I figured I might have to pay for an ad. Especially if I wanted to get this over with quickly and increase chances of better leads.

Options I found available to me were eBay motors, Craigslist, a for sale sign, social media post – all for free. For a paid ad I could go to cars.com, Auto trader or Kelly blue book ($49 each), social media ad, or print ad (newspaper, magazine, back of grocery receipt).

Seeking Best Offer

While I was searching I found online dealers to get a quote.

carbrain.com offered $320

peddle.com offered $260. cashautosalvage.com partners with them as well.

Dennis Buys Cars said, “this car is not for us”

sellmycarslosangeles.com phone number didn’t work

cash4usedcars.com said they would come by to appraise it that evening, and then I never heard from them again.

Page after page, I only found dealers that treated my car like it was junk and would only offer my a few hundred (if even that) for it.

I also tried junk-vehicles.com, cashforcars.com, shift.com (year 2000 or newer), junkandtowing.com, junkcarbuyersla.com (literally cash for clunkers), autonation.com (very thorough survey), familycarbuyers.com (web form not working), and got the same kind of treatment. Though to be fair, any site with “junk” in the name, I should expect them to treat me like I have a junk car.

So How Did I Sell My Car…

I bet you’re wondering who I ended up selling to after all that research.

You’d be surprised to learn, I found myself back on the CarMax website.

This time they had an online appraisal option, so I entered it.

I figured, he never told me how much exactly I could get for it, so it wouldn’t hurt to see the exact dollar amount.

The survey answers were as follows:

VE 4D Sedan 1.8L, 2WD, Automatic, AM/FM stereo, CD audio, A/C, No accident, no flood, no frame, damage, No mechanical , Warning lights visible – check engine, No paint or body work, 3 or more broken or inoperable (dashboard lights, door, window) [I said none], Rips tears or stains interior 3 or more (I said 2), Tires replaced, No aftermarket modifications, Odometer never replaced, 3 car keys.

So after I entered my answers, I was talking to my partner and he told me I had answered some wrong. I said nothing was broken and he reminded me of the 3 things that were broken. I said there were 2 rips and stains, and he told me there was more than 3. That wasn’t intentional and I saved a statement saying I had forgotten about it and that’s why I entered it wrong.

In any case they gave me the online appraisal quote and I was completely stoked! I made an appointment to come in right away.

So I went back to CarMax and checked in. I gave them my appraisal code, and they sent two people to check out the vehicle. They took it for a test drive and were very happy with it. I would get the rate they quoted.

They spent about an hour doing paperwork preparation. I had my ID, insurance, and title. While they prepared the paperwork, another worker came to test drive it again. Everything was good. No one brought up my slips that I forgot about.

After two hours, and signing all the paperwork, it was a done deal!

I happily drove off the lot, very pleased with my experience.

I sold my Toyota Corolla ’99 for $1300! CarMax really was the best deal. It helped to get the online appraisal – and to have some patience.

The best part (other than depositing the check into my bank), was I didn’t have to write an ad, I didn’t have to smog the car, I didn’t have to schedule meetings with strangers, I didn’t have to worry about something happening to the car on somebody that was totally unexpected and have to take it back. I didn’t have to waste any time with back and forth negotiations. I felt I got a fair price for it without too much trouble. Plus, they handled all the paperwork.

And during a pandemic, I felt safe at CarMax. Everybody wore a mask and was respectful of social distance. It was super clean, and inside the signing booth they wouldn’t let more than one person in at a time.

I was relieved and I hope my little car finds a good home.