Craiglsist Cars (2024)

FAQs

How effective is Craigslist for selling cars? ›

Getting your inventory listed on Craigslist is one of the most profitable ways to advertise your cars. It's proven that car buyers on Craigslist tend to convert much quicker than on any other classifieds. The conversion rate on Craigslist can be as high as 10%, and that's huge.

Negotiate the price

To negotiate the car price, start by offering 15% below the asking price or the KBB value, whichever is lower. If an inspection reveals a problem, ask the seller to deduct the cost of repairs from the car's price. Lowballing the seller — asking for more than 30% off — could leave you empty-handed.

You shouldn't include your VIN on any public listings or advertisem*nts, such as Craigslist, Autotrader or eBay. This can leave you especially vulnerable to the practice of VIN cloning (see more from Rig Dig here).

Rule 2 of how to negotiate on Craigslist is to get them on the phone. Haggling works best when both parties respect each other as people. Unfortunately, email makes it very easy to be perceived as just text on a screen, reducing your ability to connect and close deals.

Make a realistic offer, but one that's also bold enough to anchor the negotiation to a lower point. A savings of 5% or so below the market value (not the price they are asking) is a reasonable starting point for negotiations. Another way to look at it is to do about 15% to 25% below the maximum you're willing to pay.

Set a target price (one that you're willing to buy or sell at) Set your first offer at 65% of that price (if you're buying), or 135% of that price (if you're selling) Move your offer in three increments: 85% (or 115%), 95% (or 105%), and then finally 100%.

Is It Safe To Give A Stranger My Vehicle Identification Number? Yes! Because VIN data is not public record, providing your car's VIN to a potential buyer, whether online or in person, is completely safe. A VIN number can only be used to obtain general information about the service records and history of your vehicle.

Should you give out a VIN number when selling a car? ›

Fortunately, sharing your VIN number is entirely safe and secure when selling a car privately. The VIN does not contain any personal information about you, the seller. In addition, most private buyers are reputable and trustworthy — so it shouldn't be a problem.

Another question is whether the seller will be providing a vehicle history report. If not, ask for the car's vehicle identification number, or VIN, so you can order a history report yourself. The most popular vehicle history reports can be purchased from Carfax or AutoCheck, with a single report costing less than $50.

A wary buyer should use as a general rule of thumb that most cars are driven 12,000-15,000 miles per year. If a vehicle is 10 years of age, it should have between 120,000 miles and 150,000 miles on the odometer.

Best time of month to buy a car

The final weeks of December are especially important to car dealers because it's also the end of the year. But dealers have quotas to meet at the end of every month all year long. The end of most months. Overall, the best time to buy a car is the last few days of any month.

Today, many shoppers negotiate for a used car by requesting a car dealer quote online or texting the car's owner. Get the numbers: Look up the car's current market value. Make the right opening offer: Keep your offer low, but realistic. Make a counteroffer: Sweeten the deal, but not too much.

Avoid adding any personal information in the posting, including your name, real phone number or real email address. Always use the generated email address on your Craigslist posts. This creates a random email address, so the poster doesn't have your real email on file.