Best places to buy a newer (2011 - 2013) used car - prefer private party sale

[Anonymous]

Do most people use Craigslist to sell their cars? I don't see many cars listed on Auto Trader so maybe there's another site? I prefer a private party sale to avoid the dealer markup.

This is in Virginia so if there's a local circular that I could pick up that would be helpful too. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Just bought a 2013. Cars.com is one where we looked in addition to Craigslist, eBay and autotrader. We ended up buying from a dealer, though.

[Anonymous]

I just bought one from Craigslist in February. It was a great experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just bought a 2013. Cars.com is one where we looked in addition to Craigslist, eBay and autotrader. We ended up buying from a dealer, though.

OP here, thanks. With regard to Ebay, were you not worried about test driving it? I guess probably not an issue with a 2013 since it's so new and presumably still under warranty. I don't think Ebay is for me, although I do think it's a great way to get a feel for the true market price of a car by viewing the completed auctions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just bought one from Craigslist in February. It was a great experience.

When you bought from Craigslist were you able to negotiate the price? Obviously this will vary by car/seller but just curious whether you found sellers listing a firm price or if they were generally willing to negotiate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just bought one from Craigslist in February. It was a great experience.

When you bought from Craigslist were you able to negotiate the price? Obviously this will vary by car/seller but just curious whether you found sellers listing a firm price or if they were generally willing to negotiate.

Yes, my husband and the seller went back and forth a couple of times and settled in the middle. I feel like we got a great deal--way below dealer and blue book value. Just to give you a point of reference, we paid 13,750 for a car that dealers were only willing to go as low as 20,000. The seller had already bought a new car and lets just say probably didn't really need the money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just bought one from Craigslist in February. It was a great experience.

When you bought from Craigslist were you able to negotiate the price? Obviously this will vary by car/seller but just curious whether you found sellers listing a firm price or if they were generally willing to negotiate.

Yes, my husband and the seller went back and forth a couple of times and settled in the middle. I feel like we got a great deal--way below dealer and blue book value. Just to give you a point of reference, we paid 13,750 for a car that dealers were only willing to go as low as 20,000. The seller had already bought a new car and lets just say probably didn't really need the money.

Thank you. Any tips on the negotiation? Did you guys use market evidence such as completed Ebay sales or did you ham up minor dents/scratches on the car to get the seller to lower the price or was it just a matter of "Hey we have a cash offer today and you can get rid of the car right now."

I've read the carbuyingtips.com used car buying guide which is amazing and helped me negotiate a really good price on my wife's new car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just bought one from Craigslist in February. It was a great experience.

When you bought from Craigslist were you able to negotiate the price? Obviously this will vary by car/seller but just curious whether you found sellers listing a firm price or if they were generally willing to negotiate.

Yes, my husband and the seller went back and forth a couple of times and settled in the middle. I feel like we got a great deal--way below dealer and blue book value. Just to give you a point of reference, we paid 13,750 for a car that dealers were only willing to go as low as 20,000. The seller had already bought a new car and lets just say probably didn't really need the money.

Thank you. Any tips on the negotiation? Did you guys use market evidence such as completed Ebay sales or did you ham up minor dents/scratches on the car to get the seller to lower the price or was it just a matter of "Hey we have a cash offer today and you can get rid of the car right now."

I've read the carbuyingtips.com used car buying guide which is amazing and helped me negotiate a really good price on my wife's new car.

We definitely pointed out the minor flaws, and also played up the fact that it wasn't "dealer clean"--it was a family car and fairly clean, but it wasn't thoroughly detailed by any means. We did bring a cash offer, and also developed a really good rapport with the seller--we weren't doing it to be manipulative or anything, we just genuinely liked him and had some things in common.