Best Ways To Sell Your Car (2023 Guide)

Daniel is a MarketWatch Guides team writer and has written for numerous automotive news sites and marketing firms across the U.S., U.K., and Australia, specializing in auto finance and car care topics. Daniel is a MarketWatch Guides team authority on auto insurance, loans, warranty options, auto services and more.

Rashawn Mitchner is a MarketWatch Guides team editor with over 10 years of experience covering personal finance, loans, insurance and warranty topics.

Whether you want to upgrade your ride or downsize your auto bills, you have multiple options for selling your car. Should you stick a sign in the window and park it on a street corner? You could. You can also get instant offers from many car buying websites or use an online platform to sell it privately.

In this article, we at the Marketwatch Guides team will walk you through five ways to sell your car. We’ve also reviewed the best websites to sell your car online and will highlight a few of our top picks here.

Key Takeaways:

Figuring out how to sell a car can be a bit daunting if it’s your first time. In general, the amount of work is inversely related to the price you can get for your car. If you want to get rid of your vehicle today, you’ll probably make less from a dealer or car buying website. But if you have the patience to list it online and meet with buyers, you can make more money. Here are the five best ways to sell a car:

You can likely get the most money for your car by selling it privately. This is because you’re selling to the next owner directly instead of a middleman like a dealership or car buying website. You can use local forums like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist to advertise your vehicle or even eBay Motors.

That said, selling to a private party takes more work and time on your part. Here’s what’s involved:

As far as payments go, cash is the best option for a car under $10,000, but it can be risky to walk around with larger amounts. A bank transfer is a good option for higher amounts if you can wait for the transfer to clear. You can also accept a certified or cashier’s check if you can call the bank to verify the certified check or wait until the cashier’s check clears to release the title.

Finally, only accept cashier’s or certified checks for the sale price you negotiated. A common scam involves the buyer giving you a check for an extra amount and asking you to send that portion back to them. They take the extra money and the fake check bounces days later. In the same vein, avoid taking checks from no-name institutions or convenience/grocery stores.

Your classic car might be worth a lot to an enthusiast, but you have to find them first. Just posting a listing on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace might not be the best way to go. You can reach a better market by using a specialty listing site like the Autotrader classic car site, Hemmings or ClassicCars.com.

Using an online dealer like Carvana or CarMax is the most convenient way to sell your car. You can get an instant cash offer after providing your license plate number or vehicle identification number (VIN) and answering a few questions about your vehicle’s condition. These sites typically offer no-haggle offers, which means you don’t have to deal with the hassle of negotiating with a car dealership. Depending on where you live and the website you use, your car could be picked up in as little as a couple of business days.

The downside of selling your car to an online dealer is that you won’t get as much as you likely would have in a private sale. That’s because dealerships need to resell your car for a profit. We found online car buying sites give different values for the same vehicle, so it’s a good idea to compare offers from multiple places.

What you lose in the car’s value could be made up for in convenience. You don’t have to spend days or even weeks waiting for the final sale. Instead, you can get paid the same day or soon after depending on the company you use. Here’s a brief comparison of top car buying websites’ car sales and payment processes:

Note: Companies that offer home pickup service may not provide the service in all areas of the country.

As you start advertising your sale to friends and family, you might find people in your personal network who are interested. Selling to someone by word of mouth can be quick and simple. You already know the person so you might be less afraid of them scamming you or flaking. You can also get the best price since you’re selling to the new owner directly.

There’s a flip side, though. Since the buyer knows who you are, they won’t hesitate to come back after the sale if there’s anything wrong with the car that you didn’t describe. So, make sure you take the car for a tune-up and write down any current issues.

You can also sell or trade your car to a local dealership. Usually, you’ll have an easier time selling a relatively new car in good condition compared to an older vehicle with 200,000 miles on it. To save time, we recommend you call different dealers and ask if they’re interested in buying your vehicle. You might find that some dealers don’t want to purchase it outright but they would take it as a trade-in.

A local dealership is going to offer you an amount below the car’s market value because they need to resell the vehicle. Even so, it can be simpler to work with a dealership in your area than advertise your car on your own and sift through buyers.

If your car is on its last legs, you might not be able to sell it locally or to a normal dealership. In this case, you can look at junk car buyers like Peddle or Copart or even a junkyard in your area. When you junk a car, the company recycles different materials for scrap value. You may make a few hundred dollars or a bit more if you’re selling a larger truck or SUV.

Keep reading: How To Junk a Car

If you’ve decided to sell your car online, you have many options available. Some companies do everything online and will pick up your car from your house while others require you to go into a location or dealer to finalize the sale. Our top picks include Cars.com, Carvana and Peddle.

Cars.com is our top pick for selling your car online because it has it all: instant offers, sell or trade-in options and a private sale marketplace. You can get an offer for your vehicle from Cars.com in a few minutes. Cars.com buys a wide variety of vehicles, though it might not take some older cars depending on the condition. If you are happy with the offer, Cars.com will put you in touch with a local dealer to complete the sale.

Carvana is a household name when it comes to selling your car. If you’re looking to do as much as you can from your living room couch, this is the company to check out. You can get an instant offer online, accept the offer and have someone come to inspect and pick up your vehicle at your home. Carvana offers home appointments in many areas, though there can be a fee depending on the location.

Keep reading: Carvana review

Peddle is the best site if it’s time for your old car to retire. The company takes old and junk cars whether they run or not. Peddle has a simple, easy-to-use website that guides you through the offer process. The site will ask if your car has flood damage, if any doors are missing and if it runs. You’ll get more money if the car is in decent shape and still has valuable parts like the catalytic converter. And if you like the offer, Peddle will send a tow truck to pick up your car for free.

Keep reading: Peddle review

Overall, the best way to sell a car depends on what you want to get out of it. A private sale is your best option to get the most money for your vehicle. But it takes time and effort. Selling to a car buying website like Carvana is convenient since you can do much of the process from your couch. If you choose this option, compare a few websites to see which gives you the best offer.

Below are frequently asked questions about the best way to sell a car.

Cash is the safest payment method if you’re selling a car below $10,000. For larger amounts, consider accepting a bank transfer and waiting for the transaction to clear. You can also accept a certified check as long as you can verify it with the issuing bank.

To sell a car effectively, gather maintenance records and consider purchasing a Carfax vehicle history report to show prospective buyers. If you’re selling the car online, take multiple well-lit photos and describe the condition of your car accurately.

After comparing multiple car buying websites, our team found CarMax pays top dollar for used vehicles. We received valuations from CarMax that were above the KBB trade value for each vehicle.

It’s safe to accept a cashier’s check only if the buyer is using a local bank and you can meet at the bank for the transaction. The teller can verify the check is good. Do not accept a cashier’s check in excess of your sale price or from a third party on behalf of someone out of town as these are common scams.

Because consumers rely on us to provide objective and accurate information, we created a comprehensive rating system to formulate our rankings of the best platforms to sell your car. We collected data on several providers to grade each company in five key areas. The end result was an overall rating for each provider, with the car selling platforms that scored the most points topping the list.

Here are the factors our ratings take into account:

*Data accurate at time of publication.