Selling privately typically produces a higher price than trading in, often by a meaningful margin, because you are capturing the difference between wholesale and retail. What you take on in exchange is the administration and the risk of getting it wrong.
Before you list
- Find the title. If a lender holds it, contact them and ask about their payoff and title release process before advertising. This takes time and buyers will not wait.
- Check for open recalls by VIN and get them fixed. They are free at a franchised dealer regardless of who owns the vehicle.
- Gather service records. A folder of receipts is the cheapest thing that raises a price.
- Decide what to fix. Small cosmetic work and a professional clean usually return more than they cost. Major mechanical work usually does not.
Pricing it
Look at completed listings for the same model, year, mileage and trim in your region, not asking prices. Asking prices tell you what sellers hope for. Price slightly above your minimum acceptable figure to leave negotiating room, and be honest in the listing about known faults, because every fault you conceal becomes a price reduction at the kerbside when the buyer finds it.
Handling inquiries and test drives
Meet in a public place during daylight. Many police departments offer their parking lot as a designated exchange location for private sales. Photograph the buyer's driver's license before a test drive and confirm they hold insurance, and ride along. Your own insurance and liability position during a test drive by a stranger is not something to discover afterwards.
Cash verified at a bank, or a cashier's check that you and the buyer obtain together at their bank so you can watch it being issued, are the two safe methods. Counterfeit cashier's checks are the most common fraud in private vehicle sales, and they clear provisionally before being discovered days later, by which point the car is gone.
The paperwork
The exact requirements vary by state, but the components are consistent.
Sign the title over correctly. Complete the seller's section exactly as printed, including the odometer reading. Do not sign a title and leave the buyer's details blank, an "open title", which is illegal in most states and leaves the vehicle registered to you.
Odometer disclosure. Federal law requires a written mileage disclosure at transfer for most vehicles, usually printed on the title itself.
Bill of sale. Some states require one, and it is worth having everywhere: date, price, VIN, both parties' names and addresses, and an "as is" statement where your state allows private sales on those terms.
Release of liability. This is the step people skip and regret. Most states require or allow the seller to notify the motor vehicle agency that the car has been sold, which ends your responsibility for tickets, tolls and anything the new owner does. File it the same day, online where available.
Plates and insurance. In most states the plates stay with you, not the car. Remove them, then cancel your insurance only after the title transfer is filed.
After the sale
Keep a copy of everything: the signed title front and back, the bill of sale, the release of liability confirmation. Keep them for several years. The one occasion you will need them is the one where something has gone wrong.
Your state motor vehicle agency publishes its own transfer requirements and release of liability form; USA.gov links to each one.