Advice on selling cars

[Triforcer]

The wife, kid and myself are moving long-term (maybe permanently) to Japan in just three weeks.  We own two vehicles:

- A fully paid-off 8 year-old Honda that, according to the Kelly's Blue Book online tool, is worth approx. (i) $7,100 in trade-in value to a dealer, or (ii) $8,600 if selling to private party (I am conservatively assuming only "good" condition, but I've maintained it very well).  Typical mileage is about 30,000 less than the "average" for this year and type of vehicle (again, looking at kbb.com).  

- A 2013 Honda SUV that isn't paid off- owe about $17,000 (directly to Honda's financial wing).  Again, about 10,000 less mileage than normal for this year and type.  Using same tool with same caveats, worth approx. (i) $17,700 in trade-in, or (ii) $19,500 to a private party.  


These are the first two cars I've ever owned (college, law school, first job in Japan didn't require cars) and I don't want to get screwed unloading them.

A couple questions:

- Will I only be able to sell the financed SUV back to the dealership?  The stuff I read online seemed to indicate that selling a financed car to someone else is difficult.

- Is the Kelly's Blue Book tool BS?  If a dealer claims the tool is BS, it overvalues by thousands, etc. I want to know if he is lying to me.  

- Should I spend money on each (I can get it done for $150-200 each locally) on getting the full inside/outside steam cleaning, minor scratch removal, etc. done before trying to sell?  Is that a smaller loss than the money you'll lose from a dealership if you don't do those things?  

- Any general ideas on how to proceed?  I've dealt very little with dealerships.  I'm not sure if I should (i) go to a dealership, pretend I want a trade-in and then tell them I am selling at the last minute, (ii) try to sell both to the same dealership, (iii) try to sell to private parties or random dealerships (using those online "instant cash offer"  websites), etc.  Thanks- any advice (even if general) is appreciated!

[Yegolev]

KBB is not bullshit and dealers know it.  They also lie.

[Pennilenko]

KBB is not bullshit and dealers know it.  They also lie.

I was just going to say the same thing. KBB is the defacto standard in vehicle valuation. Anybody saying any different is trying to rip you off.

However, in the real world nobody is going to give you $8600 privately for that 8 year old Honda. You are going to have to settle for less if you want it to move quickly. Your SUV is going to be trouble. No dealership is just going to buy it out at KBB value, because dealerships don't work like that. You need to find somebody that is willing to pay off the loan on it or have the credit to get the financial company to transfer the loan. You are not going to make any money on the deal, and you might find yourself sweetening the deal for somebody in order to get out from under it.

Just to re-iterate, there is no dealership that you can go to that isn't going to lube you up and fuck you to death, if they even want to help you in the first place.

[01101010]

KBB is primarily a dealer tool, thus they are all in bed with it. So yeah, it is not bullshit to them.

As was said, you can probably get away with a wash on the SUV if you can find some newly weds who are expecting and need a bigger vehicle.

The 8yo vehicle you could probably get a middle asking price between those two figures. Faster the sale, the lower end you will have to settle for. I'd list it now for $7800 (assuming it is in good condition with little exterior damage). If it starts to get down to crunch time, drop it $500. It is paid off already so anything you get for it you should take as a positive... just try and max that amount.

I'd target parents looking to get their kid a car.

[Merusk]

Agreed on the private owner sale. I'm looking at cars right now and  7-8 year old Toyota Corollas with ~112k miles were at the $8k mark.  I'll go to the dealer before a private sale when price is that comparable because I'm able to negotiate some sort of warranty there. 

KBB's private sale prices assume you can sit on the car long enough to get it. Cars aren't selling like they did and even dealers are having to sit on them for months at a time if not "priced to move."  (One car I looked at was a 2012 Accord with only 16k miles for $16k. It had been at the dealer for 2 months before it sold this weekend, to another dealer.)

[Nevermore]

For the 8 year old Honda you could try CarMax.  They'll do an evaluation (free) and give you an offer that's good for 7 days.  They don't haggle so it's pretty straightforward.  If you like the price sell it, if you don't at least you have an idea of what sort of 'baseline' price vs blue book you're dealing with so you can try to get something in between if you try another dealer or try to sell it privately.

[shiznitz]

If you just want to sell the damn things, go to Car Cash or one of their competitors. You won't get KBB but you will will walk away with a check without the headache of assholes coming to test drive at your house.

[Triforcer]

Thanks all.  I think i will try Carmax first, and use it as a baseline.

[Selby]

If you have to sell a car quick, you price it below market to move it quickly.  In some cases this means you'll be in upside down on it.  CarMax is probably your best bet for the 8 year old Honda but the newer SUV is going to require someone picking up the note, which is harder to do with a more limited buyer market.

[Polysorbate80]

picking up the note

You don't transfer the loan.  The new owner will get their own financing or pay cash; either way you get a lump sum that goes to your financial institution to close out your loan, with you making up any difference.

Your finance company can explain it; you'll need to talk to them anyway to sort out the details.