Selling old car on Sulekha

greyfri · Post by **greyfri** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 8:08 pm

I have an old car (with low mileage) that I want to sell off. KBB value is pretty low, around $1-$2K or so, so I'd rather sell to a private party (still not expecting more than $2K). Not interested in trying to trade-in, too, or trying CarMax. Craigslist or Autorader are possibilities, but I'm a little vary of selling on Craigslist (lots of time wasters).

An Indian friend suggested sulekha. I live in an area that has a high concentration of Desis in 1 hr driving distance. Does anyone have any experience selling on sulekha ?

RRS · Post by **RRS** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 8:38 pm

Sulekha takes longer to sell. Craigslist is good if you want to sell within few days of listing as college kids look in Craigslist than Sulekha, but use a non-personal G-mail which you don?t use other than selling, so your address book is not phished. Arrange to meet in places away from home like parking lot of superstores. Also try to list Google voice # than your personal phone #.

Desi2return · Post by **Desi2return** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 9:12 pm

greyfri;673661I have an old car (with low mileage) that I want to sell off. KBB value is pretty low, around $1-$2K or so, so I'd rather sell to a private party (still not expecting more than $2K). Not interested in trying to trade-in, too, or trying CarMax. Craigslist or Autorader are possibilities, but I'm a little vary of selling on Craigslist (lots of time wasters).

An Indian friend suggested sulekha. I live in an area that has a high concentration of Desis in 1 hr driving distance. Does anyone have any experience selling on sulekha ?

Sell on craigslist but be super clear on the post that you will not encourage low ball offers. Be very clear on the condition of the car. Keep refreshing your post everyday so that it won't become stale. Meet in a supermarket parking lot while showing the car. Slightly sell below the market rate. Finally time your sale.....July/August/Sep are the best months in my opinion.

DesBhakt · Post by **DesBhakt** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 10:21 pm

I sold my car @100k mile via Craigslist. Kbb value was 4K. I sold for 5500. Car was in great condition & was detailed before selling. Desis will always bargain. :)

sark · Post by **sark** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 10:38 pm

I am trying to understand the rationale behind meeting in a supermarket parking lot - what is the downside of meeting in front of your house when you think the buyer is serious?

QuoVadis · Post by **QuoVadis** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 11:37 pm

Speaking from personal experience in selling an old car but with low mileage, if you know someone in companies like Cisco, Google etc, just send it to them to share with their internal groups - you'd be surprised with how quickly word spreads to their friends in other companies. Provides a little more vetted prospects and avoiding suekha, craigslist etc. Low priced vehicles on Craigslist will attract people from all socio-economic strata and you want to make sure person who is buying is highly likely to register the car after the purchase and not use it for nefarious purposes.
Being upfront and disclosing the condition of the vehicle to the best possible detail and not get too ambitious on selling price will result in a quick and hassle free sale.

Lakshya · Post by **Lakshya** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 3:01 am

IMO

1k or 2k car I would donate (NKF or something like that) or will give it to some needy college student. ( I have done that in past)

direstraits88 · Post by **direstraits88** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 3:06 am

Low mileage car will sell in an hour on Craigslist. You'll get lot of response from people trying to flip. Car flipping is very profitable. That's should concern you.

List on craigslist (don't give phone number in the advt). Make it clear that cash only offers will be entertained. Once you identify a buyer, then call them. Arrange to meet at local DMV. This will eliminate the crooks. Make a standard bill of sale (you can google for the template) and take it with your title for the sale. Collect cash, sign over the title, get the buyer to sign the bill of sale, remove the license plate and hand over the keys. Then you can hand over the license plate to DMV and have the vehicle removed from your name. Then you are no longer responsible for the vehicle.

greyfri · Post by **greyfri** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 3:40 am

QuoVadis;673668Speaking from personal experience in selling an old car but with low mileage, if you know someone in companies like Cisco, Google etc, just send it to them to share with their internal groups - you'd be surprised with how quickly word spreads to their friends in other companies. Provides a little more vetted prospects and avoiding suekha, craigslist etc. Low priced vehicles on Craigslist will attract people from all socio-economic strata and you want to make sure person who is buying is highly likely to register the car after the purchase and not use it for nefarious purposes.
Being upfront and disclosing the condition of the vehicle to the best possible detail and not get too ambitious on selling price will result in a quick and hassle free sale.

Not too high a concentration of high tech people in my area, and really they wouldn't be interested in a 1-2K car :). College students wouuld be a good target.

Part of the reason I was thinking of sulekha is that I'm hoping Desis are less nefarious than the typical Craigslister :). Desis may be out to get the best deal, but they wouldn't try and mug you or use the car for bank robberies.

I have donated to charity in the past, but under the new tax law, I get no benefit from charitable deductions. Besides, charities tend to chop up older cars, and I think that would be premature for this vehicle.

QuoVadis · Post by **QuoVadis** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 3:56 am

greyfri;673674Not too high a concentration of high tech people in my area, and really they wouldn't be interested in a 1-2K car :).

Need not be a high tech company :) . Going through friends working in any company would work too IMHO. Besides, all sorts of people work in high tech companies in different support functions , not just highly paid engineers. Sold my car for ~2k to one such (non-desi if that matters) person who was happy with the condition and confident that they can fix any issue and give it to a newly licensed student driver in the family.