Why Is My Car Not Selling? How do I price It?

Dear Miss Mota,

Why won’t my car sell? I have had it on Autotrader for 5 months and I really need to get it gone because the payments are killing me! It is priced the same as cars just like it online.

Benji, Connecticut

Dear Benji,

First of all- if it has been on Auto Trader for 5 months, you are asking far too much for it. KBB is not the schnizz- it is a guide for the industry to set retail prices! Do a search on eBay's completed listings for your car's make, model and trim (and look at mileage too) and the prices in green mean it sold. Prices in red mean that it didn't.

Why would you do this? Think about antique stores- they have stuff for a ton of money that your mom cannot sell at a garage sale, right? Just because someone puts a price on something, it doesn't mean that is what it is worth! Value is actually whatever a buyer is willing to pay so Auto Trader and the other sites are the same way. Cars identical to yours may be on there with a price that you would like to see but you don't know what people are successfully paying for cars like yours. Trying going to this site to get prices of cars just like yours that have successfully sold online: Price My Car

If you need the money badly, putting an unrealistic price on a car and letting it sit there for months is losing you more money. Cars can depreciate for as much as 3% every month for that year of car. Get aggressive with your pricing and get that car out of your life and money in your pocket!

Good luck!
M

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