Selling a car quick to get the next one?

Maybe it's just me, but I randomly seem to find a car I want more than my current DD when I am not looking.  And it just happened again.  I found a car I have wanted for awhile, I actually hunted for one before I purchased my current DD but I couldn't find one.  I was totally looking for a project car (see my thread from last week about a rallycar build) when I found this car for a price less than my current car is worth.  What do you guys do to sell a car today, so you can jump on the opportunity for the other car? 

A few more details about the cars... My current DD is a 2008 Mustang GT manual convertible with 135k-ish miles.  It is the premium so it has heated leather seats, normal power windows and door locks, good tires, only mark/blemish is one small spot on the front bumper where my outdoor grill got blown over and chipped it during a storm a few weeks ago.  KBB has the trade value of my car at $5,300-7,500 and private party sale at $6,900-10,200.  But it's cold here in TN (35ish) and I was always told convertibles don't sell well in winter.  I looked on CL and FB and prices for convertibles like mine are $7000-12000, and those $12k folks are freaking crazy.  Without giving away too many details, the car I currently want is also a convertible, older than mine by a few years, but in my opinion a rarer car because only a few were sold in the US.  Asking price on the other car is $5500 which seems to be less than the current market value.  I'd like to get $6500-7000 out of my Mustang to get the new car, cover taxes, and have some left to take care of preventive maintenance (new fluids, belts, plugs, you know normal GRM new car stuff)

This being GRM I don't so much need talked into selling my current car, as much as I need help on how to sell my current car fast.  I thought of CL, FB, and Carmax.  CL and FB seem to take awhile.  I was thinking Carmax might be the quickest, but also the cheapest and I've never sold one to them before. 

Other thoughts? 

Carmax is the quickest.  I have only sold there once, my wife's Highlander that we wanted to get rid of before it went to beater status and nickle and dimed us to death.   We got much more than we expected, it was painless, and was a done deal in a day.

It doesn't cost you to go and see what they will offer...

All I can offer you is understanding. I buy a new used daily driver then save up for 5 years and get another. I have a 2012 Mustang and it is pretty nice, has good power and ok handling with Koni's and Steeda springs, but I miss having a Miata and the ND and the BRZ are wanting me to jump ship before it is time but I really need to wait another year and half. I know I didn't answer your question.

It's worth checking with carmax like he said.  But IMO the month of december is a rough time to sell cheap cars that people buy with cash, because most everyone has some kind of gift-giving holiday to celebrate and are busy/spending money elsewhere.

More than a few times I have pulled cash out of "not-for-cars" savings accounts to cover the new car purchase, and replenish it when I sell the old car a few weeks later.

I know people who have gotten a personal loan at a silly interest rate from their credit union, bought the car, and paid off the loan after selling the old car a few weeks later so they are only out the small origination fee and maybe one payment worth of 15% interest.  Ditto for credit card cash advances, the 3% one-time fee isn't bad to make the deal happen.  But in all of those cases you gotta be able to move the mustang for $5500 within a month or things start getting pricey.

RedGT thanks for the ideas, but I'm not interested in doing the financial dance to get the other car.  I'd have to sell the Mustang to do it, I just didn't know if I might be missing any other easy sell options to get close to what I need.  

The lower the price, the faster it will sell.  Spend the 10 minutes to put it up on CL or anything else right now and then contemplate other options. 

Do you think the guy might go for a trade?

Some dealers will buy cars from the public but of course they just want to give wholesale or less.  Maybe go talk to the guy and give him some earnest money until you can pay it off. If he has a rare car under market he may not need the money and is just looking to get it gone.

Good luck! Can't wait to see the build thread!

It's always good to at least get an offer from Carmax. They sometimes surprise you. I had a car that was on CL for a couple months with not a lot of action. Took it to carmax on a whim and got more for it than what I was asking for it on CL. If nothing else it gives you a real world starting point. 

Oh, and as mentioned above this is the absolute worst time of year to sell a car.   

I always try to have money on hand around now to buy, as deals always show up now, and then flip them once tax returns start coming in.

Yes, it's the worst time of year to sell....

...but the best time of year to buy.

Therefore...DO IT!!!!

I agree with the other comments here. Drive to Carmax and/or another dealer, get their quote as a baseline. If you are thrilled with their offer, take it. Otherwise, post the car here (and CL or wherever) for a week and see if there are any takers for a few hundred dollars more. 

And before you get those quotes, look the car over, or, even better, have a friend look it over, and address any easy issues that might knock it down a category on the condition ratings.  Tim and JG have recently offered good tips on this forum and in articles.  

Pattyo, yeah I tried the trade offer too, but they are very similar cars, 4 seater convertibles, and he needs more room for a growing family.  He's going from 2 to 3 kids.  

@Cooter and @Klayfish, yep.  Money on hand cause people that are selling are usually selling cheap.  Christmas time is when people sell stuff cheap because of Christmas bills, or get rid of projects because the garage is too cold, or ...    I've often joked that winter is when my wife should just be ok with me dragging home all the cars I want cause I can get them for cheaper.  

The sensible thing is to always sell what you have first.  It is also a good way to lose out on a car you really want.

The problem is that just buying the new one on credit is both costly and then inevitably the old one takes way more time to sell than you ever thought it would.

I have always had particular difficulty with this as I always seem to be attracted to rare cars that take a long time to sell.  I owned a Jensen Interceptor convertible (512 made) that I decided to sell as I realized I just never put the top down and went cruising in it.  Problem was that at the same time I found an opportunity to buy a Maserati Ghibli  SS 4.9 which are a car that has always been one of the most attractive cars of the period for me (the other two were the Ferrari Daytona and Lamborghini Islero).

Unfortunately it took me damn near two years to sell the Jensen and of course the Maserati went to the US for significantly more than it had been offered to me for ( I should add that this was a long way back and we were talking about super cars like this going used for $20-25K instead of the $250K they bring today ). Next chance that came a long I grabbed and financed it (got an Islero S) and then wen ton to sell the Jensen thereafter.   You can't always swing the payments so it won't work for everyone, but if you really want a car, and they don't come along every day (or every year) go for it!

Plus when you do find a new home for the car, you often get a better price for it than you would have with a fire sale, and that can offset the interest you paid on the new one.  In your case, the convertible should sell more easily in Spring so you wouldn't be financing the new one for very long anyway.

Good luck.  What is the new one you want to buy?

Too bad you're so far away, I would seriously consider making an offer but it's impractical for me to get a car from Nashville right now. What color is it?

In reply to dculberson :

Nashville to Columbus is about 400 miles.  I bet for $280 you could get it shipped to your front door via Uship

A large part of why I have floated two cars is because when dealing with random sellers rather than friends it's tough to trust someone to not sell out from under you, even if a deposit has been placed.  It would suck to sell car #1 for an aggressive price to get it moved, and then discover car #2 isn't available any more.  Then I'd be stuck with $3000 in my pocket but no cars on the market as good as the one i just firesaled.  Maybe it's an irrational fear.

In reply to RedGT :

I bought a Prius via private party with cash tying up cash-on-hand that I really didn't want to.  So, once I owned that Prius outright, I then took out a loan on the Prius and got a check from the Credit Union giving me back the cash-on-hand. Maybe that would help here?

I detailed it all over here:  https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/learn-me-sub-10k-car-loans/138496/page1/

I left Carmax a little while ago, there offer would be enough to purchase the other car.  I did find out the other car has some rather expensive deferred maintenance that needs to be addressed, so I need to talk to the seller about that. Hmmmm

@dculburson I’m in Knoxville, straight down 75 not that far at all. We cover Ohio for work. And yes that’s a pink car seat in the back...

PM sent. Might not come to anything, but it's worth a shot! Knoxville is better than Nashville for me. Family nearby.

In reply to dculberson :

Hopefully that works out for you...Otherwise I'll have to start looking into how the logistics of buying/shipping from 2500 miles away might or might not work out.

The sooner you list it and the more places you list it the faster you will sell it.  Good pictures, short description and answer all the calls and emails.  

In reply to dculberson :

This is a terrible idea, which is why I fully support it.  Are there any more $250 beaters that I can drive back to Knoxville after dropping off the Mustang? That’s way more fun than getting a boring rental that probably won’t break down or catch fire.

In reply to windsordeluxe :

Yes I have a Volvo S90 coming my way. I was going to partially strip it, but it could be your sketchy chariot back home. Just hope the transmission holds out!!

Sorry to threadjack:

For those who’ve dealt with carmax: Is it safe to assume they’ll offer you more on trade than a straight cash offer?

Still considering swapping the V for an RS. I’d prefer to buy a “new” 17, but if the math works, I’d consider trading for a lightly used one from CM.

In reply to poopshovel again :

It's my understanding that the offer they give is regardless of trade in, purchase, or any other factor.   I went in for a quote and while I was waiting the "salesaman" was trying to get me to commit to putting the money from the sale down on one of their cars. The offer was a bit lower than expected and they refused to negotiate regardless of my intention.