Selling or Buying a Used Car This Fall? - Some Advice

Before this story; Snide's Remarks : A bit of advice to help you minimize your getting screwed exposure. Before you determine how much to sell a used car for, and a range of what is a fair price to pay for a used car (although if you have the HOTS for a certain car fagetaboudit, you WILL pay whatever...just relax and enjoy it) Click here for the Actual Purchase Price Guide to see exactly what others have actually paid for their used car...just remember the idea is to minimize the screwing because unfortunately it can never be eliminated, that’s the way it is with horse trading... Good luck. msnide@theautochannel.com.

FAIRFAX, Va.--Aug. 2, 20055, 2005--If you're planning to sell or trade-in your car this fall you may be in for a shock. There's a glut of used cars on the market today, thanks in large part to those employee price plans being offered on new cars by manufacturers. This new car spending spree is driving down prices in the used car market and you could get left selling your car for a lot less than you should.

Experts have gone on the record in many recent articles warning about falling used car prices. With so many used cars in stock, prices could drop as much as 5% from their recent peak after steadily increasing for more than a year, forecasts Paul Taylor, chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers Association.

So what do you do to make sure you get the maximum amount of money for the car you need to sell? Some leaders in the used car industry from cars.com, Kelley Blue Book and Carfax recently got together and compiled the following list to help you:

-- Consider selling your car yourself instead of trading it in. Car dealers have more used cars on their lots right now then they know what to do with. They're less likely to give you top dollar.

-- Three words: photos, photos, photos. Used car shoppers have come to expect much more detail than you get in a newspaper classified ad. Take lots and post them on an online service.

-- Price your car aggressively. Check the price of similar makes and models of cars in your local area and price your car to sell. Emphasize the features that set your car apart from others in the market.

-- Do your research. Pull together the service and repair records for your car and make sure all your paperwork is in order

-- Get your vehicle's history. Go ahead and pull your vehicle history report before you sell so it's on hand for your shoppers. All you need is the 17-digit vehicle identification number.

-- Clean and service your car before you try to sell. Invest in a good detail job and make sure all the fluids are replaced and topped off.

Remember, you're trying to sell your car while used car dealers are trying to sell thousands of their own. Follow these simple, low-cost steps and you can make sure you put every penny of profit in your pocket.