Selling a Car and Getting Better than Trade-In

Dear Miss Mota Mouth,

How can I sell my car easily without doing a lot of work and still get more than trade-in?

Jake in DC

Dear Distinctly Curious,

Good question! There are some hidden facts about trade-in that most people do not realize and selling it yourself is the better option.

The reality of the trade-in: The prices on Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds are not entirely true. Most people will never actually be offered that amount by a dealer. The first thing the dealer does is look up Manheim Auction numbers (an industry only resource) in order to give you a quote on your trade-in. They don't even look at the guidebooks or KBB and Edmunds. The reality is you are highly likely to do worse than guidebook published trade-in numbers when going to a dealer.

Doing your research: Go to Price My Car
and you will get a better idea of the real value of your car because that is data pulled from actual recent and successful sales of cars just like yours. Yes, it will be less than KBB but those are industry speculative numbers and not always real.

Making the sale easy: There are resources available such as Mota that can put your car in all the right places online and help you get the best return on your investment possible.

Best of luck,

M

Stumble It!

What is Mota: An Explanation For My Father

What is Mota?

My father always said that if it takes you more than 5 words to explain what you do then you are unemployed. I get the question a lot: “What is mota.net?” Can I describe it in 5 words or under? Let’s see.

We are the simple, safe and smart way to sell your car.

I think that I can create an argument for that statement to be considered just 5 words. Follow me here.

1. Simple- The website is designed for ease of use. You sign up, put some details in about your car. An inspection appointment is set up at your convenience and a few days later, your car is live on eBay, cars.com, autotrader, craigslist with great photos and details. I don’t even like putting stuff on eBay myself! Its like having a concierge service.
2. Safe- With fully managed service, once your car is online, a call center takes all of the calls and emails about your car. You don’t have to meet strangers or worry about having to know about DOHC or SOHC. (If you don’t know what that is try Yahoo Answers.)
3. Smart- Now you have time again without having to be strapped to a phone 7 days a week waiting for buyers to call. Negotiations are handled by professionals who represent you and your best interest. You have the best research and most realistic pricing to back up your sale with our Price My Car feature. You do want your car to sell, don’t you?

4. Your Car- Yes, this is your car (37% of us give our cars names) and you deserve to get the best return on your investment. Above wholesale. Above trade-in. You get more to put towards your next car. We don't get a bit of that money so you score more.
   

So, in a nutshell and within the standards of my father’s test, that is what we do in addition to providing consumer content about the realities of the used car business in the Motapedia and this fun little Q&A that I do.

Back to our normal programming…….

Stumble It!