[Rick Lee]

Time to unload my 330i and Craigslist is only drawing tirekickers. Which one of these pay sites is better?

[cmartin]

I sold my last car via Cars.com. It's regional though, not sure how active it is in the middle of nowhere.

Besides, why not just use both? Cheap enough, especially if you get a little more $$.

[HoodPin]

Maybe you've already considered it, but if a CarMax is nearby it doesn't hurt to get an appraisal from them to buy it outright. The appraisal is free, and depending upon their inventory needs, they sometimes offer close to BlueBook values. No guarantee, but if a convenient location to you, they could surprise you.

[roundel]

Originally Posted by AJ986S

CarMax

+1

It is nice to have a fall back number to try to beat on your own. Then if your come up dry, you can let Carmax have it and be done with it.

[Rick Lee]

I might try Carmax, but they're a hike from me. Though I guess I should do it before I pay to list on the other sites.

[Lupin..the..3rd]

Originally Posted by AJ986S

Maybe you've already considered it, but if a CarMax is nearby it doesn't hurt to get an appraisal from them to buy it outright. The appraisal is free, and depending upon their inventory needs, they sometimes offer close to BlueBook values. No guarantee, but if a convenient location to you, they could surprise you.

Selling to carmax is only for the desperate. IMO they only make super-lowball offers. Buddy of mine was selling his '04 Jetta 1.8t last year and went to carmax. They just happened to have an *identical* 04 Jetta on their lot - same year, same color, same mileage, same engine, same wheels, etc. Carmax window sticker said $16k. They offered him $8500 for his car. After pointing out that they had an identical car on their lot for about twice that, the carmax guy said "we're a dealer, that's how it works".

[dweymer]

I got a great deal from Carmax when I sold my elantra to them, and am going next week to get a number for my 325i.

[pjalexandre]

+1 on the lowballs. Carmax offered us 16K for a CPO 2004 S4 with 45k miles and had one on the lot w/ more miles for $28K. holy markup.

Originally Posted by Lupin..the..3rd

Selling to carmax is only for the desperate. IMO they only make super-lowball offers. Buddy of mine was selling his '04 Jetta 1.8t last year and went to carmax. They just happened to have an *identical* 04 Jetta on their lot - same year, same color, same mileage, same engine, same wheels, etc. Carmax window sticker said $16k. They offered him $8500 for his car. After pointing out that they had an identical car on their lot for about twice that, the carmax guy said "we're a dealer, that's how it works".

[John]

Originally Posted by Lupin..the..3rd

Selling to carmax is only for the desperate. IMO they only make super-lowball offers. Buddy of mine was selling his '04 Jetta 1.8t last year and went to carmax. They just happened to have an *identical* 04 Jetta on their lot - same year, same color, same mileage, same engine, same wheels, etc. Carmax window sticker said $16k. They offered him $8500 for his car. After pointing out that they had an identical car on their lot for about twice that, the carmax guy said "we're a dealer, that's how it works".

X2, Carmax is a last resort. I understand that they offer wholesale or whatever, but the last car I got rid of ended up getting $2000 more in a dealer trade in than Carmax offered.

Definitely hold on to the Craigslist ad. Sure, it is the bottom rung of the Internet, but the price is right. I had my old Mazda listed on Craigslist and Cars.com and got much more traffic from the Craigslist ad. I ended up selling it to a Craigslist person, too.

[HoodPin]

Originally Posted by Lupin..the..3rd

Selling to carmax is only for the desperate. IMO they only make super-lowball offers. Buddy of mine was selling his '04 Jetta 1.8t last year and went to carmax. They just happened to have an *identical* 04 Jetta on their lot - same year, same color, same mileage, same engine, same wheels, etc. Carmax window sticker said $16k. They offered him $8500 for his car. After pointing out that they had an identical car on their lot for about twice that, the carmax guy said "we're a dealer, that's how it works".

That's why I earlier said "and depending upon their inventory needs, they sometimes offer close to BlueBook values". These appraisal buys are a main source of inventory for them. If they have lots of your car, they don't offer much. But like I said, they can sometimes surprise you. They will usually offer no more that Trade-In value. But the tradeoff is you don't have show the car, wait for checks to clear, or deal with issues after buyer leaves your house. I've sold some vehicles to them for fair amounts, and others have been low-balled, where I walked away. Its not an end-all, but it can be worth considering.