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Best way to sell your R

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gtowngovernor

Ready to race!
Location
Berkeley, CA
Hi fam, I usually do not keep a car past warranty expiration. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my R, but for me, youth is too short to drive just one car. I’m about at 24K right now and will probably sell it at around 36-40K. I am wondering what is the best way to do it when the time comes.

1) hassle free, trade in. lose 3-4K
2) private party sale. I could save a few Gs here, but I’ve never really sold/bought a car off hand that was this expensive. I mean it’s going to be in the range of $25K-28K and I’m not really sure how it’s usually done. Will anyone even buy a $25K car off hand? And if so, is it done through a cashier’s check and some kind of an agreement?

Thanks and I’d love to hear your thoughts..
 
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r-gazmic

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Colorado Springs
Are you going to have it paid off when you sell or is there going to be a lien?

If the title is free and clear, selling private party isn't really that bad, even for that much money. If that person can cut you a cashier's check great, I'd ask to go to the bank with them while the check is being cut so you're sure it's legit. They give you the check, you sign the title over to them and you're done.

If they need a loan, again just do the transaction at the bank/credit union. Most of them will have someone on staff who does this regularly enough and can make sure it gets done properly.

If there is a lien on the car it gets trickier but it's still possible. If the buyer can get a loan through the bank that already owns the car that will make it easier since they already have the title. They'll just cut you a check for whatever they owe you, you'll sign something and be on your way.
 
vj123

vj123

Autocross Newbie
Location
The Detroit
Car(s)
19 & 16 GTI - sold
When i sold my GTI, i listed it in forum and Autotrader. Both ads brought in many responses.

I met the buyer in my CU and he had a cashiers check in his hand. The whole experience was hassle free.
 
The Fed

The Fed

Old Guys Rule
Location
Florida
Just remember vehicle insurance follows the car not the driver. So if a private party test drives your car and has a wreck, or worse hurts or kills someone, it's your problem.
 
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gtowngovernor

Ready to race!
Location
Berkeley, CA
Thanks everyone! To respond quickly. I have the cash to buy out the car first if it will make it easier. Not sure how to sell the car without letting them test drive it though. Isn’t that a risk we kind of need to take no matter what?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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M3bs1

Go Kart Champion
Location
North Augusta SC
I’m going to toss the Carmax option out here. You won’t get Private Party money, but they offered considerably more for my old GTI than the dealer offered in trade when I bought my R. It will take about an hour of your time, but you don’t have to deal with any of the other issues, like tire kickers, low ballers, let alone fraud or worse. They give you a quote good for 7 days so you can explore your other options.
 
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matts67

New member
Location
FL
I've owned probably 35 cars at this point, and have only traded in one of them. I've had great luck with Craigslist, but recently it's become littered with scammers, so I've been mainly using eBay. My advice is this:

-Make sure your car is spotless and detailed
-Take high quality, detailed photos of every part of the car, with proper lighting
-Be as detailed as you can in your description and forthcoming about any defects etc

My goal when I create a for-sale ad is to answer any questions any prospective buyers may have, within the ad itself. Past few cars I've sold, the buyers just paid for them without any questions asked because they even said my ad answered any questions they would have had.

eBay charges $91.80 to list a car. You can do a normal 7 or 10 day auction for that price, or add a buy it now option for an additional fee, or a 21 day fixed price listing. I've had good luck both ways. If the car sells through eBay, you pay an additional $125 final value fee. Worth it IMO considering you have a worldwide audience.
 
vj123

vj123

Autocross Newbie
Location
The Detroit
Car(s)
19 & 16 GTI - sold
M3bs said:
I’m going to toss the Carmax option out here. You won’t get Private Party money, but they offered considerably more for my old GTI than the dealer offered in trade when I bought my R. It will take about an hour of your time, but you don’t have to deal with any of the other issues, like tire kickers, low ballers, let alone fraud or worse. They give you a quote good for 7 days so you can explore your other options.
Click to expand...

I am not sure how their database works. For my GTI, CarMax offer was lower than trade-in offered by the dealer but for my A4 their offer was higher than dealer trade-in.
 
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Thurnis

Ready to race!
Location
Las Vegas
Why not just pay it off and keep it? lease something else?
I haven't really seen anything on the market yet that checks every box that the R does. It's either sportier and less practical or more practical and less sporty... Or you spend $$$$$
 
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AR11

Ready to race!
Location
CA
A major factor has to do with sales tax. If you trade in and buy a new car you are only taxed on the difference. If you sell to private party and buy a new car you will pay sales tax on the entire new vehicle cost. This will likely offset most of the portion lost by selling to the dealer, assuming you are buying a similarly priced car.
 
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RightYouAreKen

New member
Location
Seattle, WA
AR1 said:
A major factor has to do with sales tax. If you trade in and buy a new car you are only taxed on the difference. If you sell to private party and buy a new car you will pay sales tax on the entire new vehicle cost. This will likely offset most of the portion lost by selling to the dealer, assuming you are buying a similarly priced car.
Click to expand...



This is a great point and not to be forgotten. For example, I’m buying my Golf R this week and trading in my 2016 Mazda6. My Mazda is probably worth $20-22k on the private party market, and I’m getting $18.5k trade in from my dealer. However, because I live in a 10% sales tax county/state, I get credit for the trade in and only pay sales tax on the difference. So the math works out to roughly 41.5k-18.5k = 23k * 10% = $2,300 in sales tax. If I didn’t have a trade in I’d owe 10% sales tax on the whole $41.5k purchase price of the R, which would be $4,150 or so. So that means given my trade allowance of $18,500, I’d have to sell the car private party for $20,350 just to break even. I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle of private party sale and probably wasn’t going to result in much more money anyway.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
vj123

vj123

Autocross Newbie
Location
The Detroit
Car(s)
19 & 16 GTI - sold
AR1 said:
A major factor has to do with sales tax. If you trade in and buy a new car you are only taxed on the difference. If you sell to private party and buy a new car you will pay sales tax on the entire new vehicle cost. This will likely offset most of the portion lost by selling to the dealer, assuming you are buying a similarly priced car.
Click to expand...

That would totally depend on trade credit allowance in the state.

As per the below link (from 2011), CA does not any tax credit for trade-ins. Not sure if this has changed in the past.
http://www.realcartips.com/selling/010-states-that-allow-trade-in-tax-credit.shtml
 
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