No matter how many times I sell a car, each sale has a story. :)
Last night I sold the Civic for my asking price of $1800. Here's how I got there...
On Friday I put the car in front of our house with some 'For Sale' signs in it. I had five calls that day. Saturday I wasn't around so the car was out in front again. I managed to get a few people lined up to see the car. One guy for Sunday late morning. Well, he never showed up or called. Fine. The weather sucked anyway with the monsoon-like rains. I didn't put the car out on Monday because the weather was still horrible. But I did have two people lined up to see the car in the evening. Neither one showed up but I had a few more calls come in. I set another appointment over the phone for Tuesday evening. This time the guy DID show up! He took it for a test drive and offered me $1700. I knew there was a demand for the car so I held out and told him that I'd give him a call if I didn't get a better offer.
Around 7pm I had finished making dinner and was upstairs in the bedroom when I noticed a car backing up our driveway. Odd. I slipped on some shoes and headed outside. My hunch was correct and three guys were walking around the house to ask me to see the car. I went back inside and got the keys. They started the car and looked it over. The guys started chattering among themselves in Spanish. (At this point I'd like to mention that 50% of the people interested in the car were Spanish speaking) They offered my $1500 cash. We went back and forth a few times. Finally they were willing to offer $1800 cash on the spot. Who was I to argue?!
They pooled their money while I went inside to get the title and bill of sale. I came back out and signed the paperwork leaving them to fill out the remainder. They took off my plate and gave it to me. I pulled out the snow tires and other pieces from the garage that were to go with the car. They loaded it all up and slapped some out of state plate on the car. Then started the car and drove away!
It was about 5 minutes later that I thought the whole transaction went very fast and there must be something I over looked. I did. I left my old insurance card and original registration in the glove box. Crap. I called immediately and had the insurance canceled. First thing this morning I went to the DMV and turned in my old plates and canceled the registration. So at this point I should be free and clear of legal responsibility for the car.
Another mistake I made was not getting them to fill out everything so I could make a copy of the paperwork. I have no idea who I sold the car to. huh. Not too swift.
Note to self -- PAY MORE ATTENTION!