Does anyone have any information on the best way to go when trying to sell a vehicle you still owe on? Instead of having to bring negative equity over into a new vehicle, I would rather try to sell mine and let someone else take over the payments. My trade in value is less than payoff amount.

CaptainForest

You would have to find an idiot to do this.

Example:
The car was worth $20,000 when you bought it
Now, the debt still owed on it is $12,000
Now, the retail value of the car is $8,000

Only an idiot would pay 12,000 for the car when they can go somewhere else and get is for 8,000. Unless this is some special type of car, which I doubt it is.

You are going to have to eat the loss yourself….

When you buy a car, you are buying it for the long haul. If you plan to get a new care after 4 or 5 years, then it is probably better to rent cars instead of buying them.

You may get lucky though and find a sucker who will do this, but that will be just the luck of the draw. I know I would never spend 12,000 for an 8,000 car.

Fr_Chuck

Hello, if you have recently bought a car in the last year, esp a new car, odds are you just owe more than it is worth.

Same example as Capt gave, when you buy a car most of your first years payment will be interest so you will still have a higher balance than the car will bring.

The best you can try, clean it up, get it detailed even, and list it for sale in the paper, on the intnernet and so on. All you can do is try.

But you may have to keep it untill you pay it down enough.

wynelle

Discovered that the hard way. Took a 6 year loan on a new car. After three years of payment, I had a barely break-even equity in the car.

You may as well keep the car until it is paid off, now.

klmgb

You may very well be upside down on a car, but you will get more for it if you sell it outright yourself instead of trading it in. You may get enough to pay it off. Best bet, put a little ad in the local paper. Be careful who you sell it to (make sure you get the money before they get the car). Make sure it is CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN. Some areas have Auto Trader that will take ads based on you selling the car.

Good Luck

Been there, done that

klmgb

Just to add a little more, get on one of the car sites (KBB.com, Edmunds.com) find out what your car is really worth, start there. Is it worth close to the payoff? Comapre that with the absolute lowest price you will go and pick an asking price. Start out a little higher than what you want. IMHO, Everyone buying a used car will want to haggle down, won't even consider buying it unless they can make you come down on the original asking price.

fredg

Hi,
If you don't want to research the resale value of your car online, you can go to the Bank or whoever takes your payments, ask to see their Blue Book of Used Vehicles. The book will tell you the current value of your car. You are going to lose some money when you sell it. The chances of someone taking over your payments are slim and none.
Buying a brand new car is the fastest way to lose money! Only about 20% of all cars sold in American are brand new cars. At least 80% of all cars sold are used or Pre-Owned cars.
The last new car I bought was in 1983....never again!
Good used cars with 50,000 miles on them, for anywhere from $5,000 to $17,000, is a much better investment than a brand new one.
It's estimated that when you sign the dotted line at a Dealership on a brand new car, you have just lost from $4,000 up to maybe $8,000, depending on the type of car, becuase now it's a used car! It's value dropped with just a signature.

jrbms

Thank you to everyone who replied to my question. I received some good advice.