Is it a bad time to sell a car? (Kinda long)

Here's the situation. DH has a 2005 Camry with only a couple of payments left and low mileage. I have a 2005 Civic with about 8K left in payments, also with low mileage. We live in Park Slope and DH only uses his car about once a month--if that much. I use my car almost daily to commute to work. It seems silly to have both cars if one of them is just sitting on the street. We would like to pay off my Civic and then sell it so that we can have one good car with no payments (the Camry.) Kelly Blue Book states that the Civic is worth quite a bit more than what we owe on it in the condition that it is in.(Good--but I think it is closer to excellent...)

So my question--is it a good time to sell a car? Any advice for those of you who have sold cars recently? Would you do it yourself on Autotrader.com or something similar or would you bring it to a dealer? I never sold a car before, so I don't really know where to begin!

TIA

Re: Is it a bad time to sell a car? (Kinda long)

I think it's a good time to sell a Civic, because people are selling gas guzzlers and downgrading to cars like that. But don't expect Kelly blue book--I recented sold a Camry and got no offers for the amount it deserved. Private selling will get you more than a dealer, but can be a hassle showing the car to pepple who don't show, transfering title, etc.

Re: Is it a bad time to sell a car? (Kinda long)

I grew up in the used car business & I think right now is a great time to sell a reliable, fuel effecient car. Here's the deal though, most people that buy cars privately don't have 10,000 in cash laying around. If you're trying to sell it for less than 10,000 you've got a shot.
Here's what I did with my old car.
I put an ad on Craigslist,
"one day only starting at 8am, the first person that offers me my asking price in cash takes the car"
That way only people with the money will come & the car will most likely sell that day.

My car was GONE by 8:01

Good luck!

Re: Is it a bad time to sell a car? (Kinda long)

Re: Is it a bad time to sell a car? (Kinda long)

I've been out of the business for years, but I'm pretty sure they'll just want to buy it "wholesale" from you & then sell it off their lot for whatever they can get.

Re: Is it a bad time to sell a car? (Kinda long)

Re: Is it a bad time to sell a car? (Kinda long)

Your best bet is to sell it privately. And not to use Kelly Blue Book as a guide. Most dealers will use NADA guides for better estimates. Good luck. I think getting a car like the Civic to sell would be pretty easy.

Re: Is it a bad time to sell a car? (Kinda long)

bump...

any more advice??

Thanks!

Re: Is it a bad time to sell a car? (Kinda long)

Re: Is it a bad time to sell a car? (Kinda long)

Re: Is it a bad time to sell a car? (Kinda long)

It's a good time to sell a Civic. (They get 38 miles per gallon!!!!) I just traded mine in an received a lot more for the car than I had thought- it was even over the Blue Book value.

Re: Is it a bad time to sell a car? (Kinda long)

I think its a good time. I was looking into buying a used sedan car for the reasons the OPs mentioned. I ended up going with the dealer b/c I had to trade in my lease but otherwise I would have done a private sale cash. I was looking at the newsday classifieds.