[Rustang Cobra]

I just sold my 2004 Acura TSX this morning for $500 under my asking price of $11,000. It was in extremely good condition for the year and 104k miles on the clock.

I had listed it at Autotrader ($15 ad with 3 pics), Cars.com ($15 ad with 1 pic) and Craigslist (Free with 4 pics).

I just wanted to share my experience with used car listing sites.

AutoTrader.com: I had 3 inquiries and these were definitely the more serious buyers. They all asked for lots of additional photos, service history, previous owner information and generally asked the right questions.

Cars.com I had 1 inquiry which actually came through Yahoo Autos because they're paired up with Cars.com. Similar sort of buyer asking lots of questions and asking for photos.

Craigslist.com I had 3 inquries, 2 of which were low ball offers for $2500 under my asking price. The other inquiry was someone who just wrote an email saying "Is the car still available?" to which I responded "Yes, here is my contact information if you have any questions or would like to come see the vehicle". I got no further response.

The final buyer of the car was someone that lived 180 miles away and found the car on Autotrader.com


I figured this information might be valuable for folks thinking about selling their cars in the near future. I feel like when it comes to higher end brands/cars Autotrader.com is the way to go. If you're selling your old 92 Honda Civic craigslist is probably your best bet. I wouldn't use Cars.com again, my ad received very few views and only 1 inquiry even though there were only 6 other Acuras within +-$1000 of my price within 100 miles listed alongside mine.

[BMW F22]

It's because autotrader gets much more exposure. Whenever I think about looking up a used car the first place I go to is autotrader.com. IF (BIG IF) I can't find what I'm looking for then I might/will do a search on other sites. I personally prefer autotrader over vehix.com and cars.com.

[b0bab0i]

Congrats! Now search hard for your new car.

[MisterSkiMask]

I think it is partly a regional thing. I live in the SF Bay Area, CA, and it seems like Craigslist is pretty effective out here. To be fair I haven't sold anything in a year and a half, but I have had good success using CL.

Oh, for the record, I have sold a Toureg V-8, Lexus GS 300, and a 30' Boat. My brother sold his Porsche 997S.

[majin ssj eric]

Auto Trader FTW. I've bought and sold several cars on it. Ebay Motors can be good too but you have to be wary....

[stickypaws]

I hate trying to sell cars. It's so time consuming and a big headache, imho. The last two cars I sold were through established brokers. They charged a % but we set the price at what I actually wanted plus the commission. So they buyer pretty much ends up paying the selling fee (for the convenience of dealing with a broker who does all the paperwork, shipping, etc..)

Best thing is they take the car and do everything. If they don't sell within a predetermined time, you can take the car back at no charge. Both my cars were sold long distance and never test driven by anybody. A ppi was done locally by the buyers and that was it.

You never even see the buyer or have to deal with anybody.

[RX7guy]

Auto trader and eBay motors is the way to go.

Craigslist is good for local buyers for inexpensive things, but people like to waste your time

[Rustang Cobra]

Originally Posted by benmoooon

Congrats! Now search hard for your new car.

I already got my 07 335i Convertible with 7.5k miles three weeks ago.

[sawzall]

Interesting to see you got such good responses from Auto Trader (albeit Auto Trader Canada). When I posted my last car up there, I got 2 legit inquiries, but also about a dozen 419ers trying to scam me. I found the inquiries through eBay were good.

Ultimately, my car was sold through word of mouth.

[flyinb501]

I just sold my A4 last week on CL, and I got top dollar for it. I like CL because it's free, and you have unlimited space for description and as many embedded pictures as you want. You do get a lot of morons emailing you asking if the car is still available and have no intention of buying the car.

[DASHOCKER]

Excellent thread. I am in the process of selling my Lexus & will be using autotrader.com as I want serious buyers also.

[gshb]

i sold an X5 recently on CL and had lots of inquiries. maybe the x5 is just more popular...

[Jeff_DML]

yeah craiglist from my experience is mostly low ballers or scammers but if you wade through those there are some legit buyers.