Selling My Car But It Isn't Buyers That Are Calling

Dear Miss Mota Mouth,

I listed my car online and now my phone is ringing off the hook but it isn’t buyers! It is dealers asking me to trade my car in at their lot or people who say they can sell my car for me. Who are these people and should I trust them?

Carla N., Newark, NJ

Dear Nervous in New Jersey,

Ah, salesmen! Don’t you love them? They want your business even when you may not want their company! These guys are using ads online and in publications to get leads and generate business. Most are legitimate but you may not like their terms.

If it is a dealer calling you, they are not just trying to take your car off your hands; they are trying to sell you a car. If you are trying to sell your car yourself then you probably already know that you will get a higher price from a For Sale By Owner Listing than you would in trade-in value.

Sometimes the dealer is just trying to do consignment and will be expecting you to pay them a fee, often weekly, for the privilege of letting your car sit on their lot.

Similarly there are now third party services that will sell your car for you for a flat upfront fee or will expect a consignment fee based on a percentage of the final sale price.

An aggressive sales person may not be a bad idea if you are trying to sell your car especially if they are going to list your car for you online and help with the buyers. But, if you don’t want their calls, make sure that you ask them to not bug you again.

Next time you try to sell your car yourself you may want to use a temporary phone service like www.numbr.com that will assign a temporary phone number that will forward calls to your regular phone and allow you to screen callers before you decide to answer.


Confidently,

M

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