Best Websites To Sell Your Car Online (2024 Review) (2024)

Our top three picks for the best car selling sites are Cars.com, Carvana and Peddle. Below we’ve broken down our ratings for these online car buyers, along with other great options:

*To rank these companies, we considered these factors: Industry standing, platform features, cash offer value, support services and customer experience

We’ll cover each of our top picks for the best sites to sell a car online in detail in the sections below. While we received offers from each company, we didn’t always use the same vehicle to get a quote. That’s because Peddle and Copart specialize in buying older vehicles, while the other companies buy newer cars. Our team received cash offers for a 2016 Chevy Equinox from sites that buy newer cars and offers for a 2007 Toyota Camry from Peddle and Copart.

To help you compare your options, we’ve pulled together the main options for selling your vehicle online. Each comes with benefits and drawbacks and the choice depends on what you want out of the selling experience. Below we’ve broken down each type of car buyer’s benefits and drawbacks along with some tips when selling through different platforms.

Selling To an Online Dealer

Selling to an online dealer is often the easiest and most stress-free way to sell a vehicle. All that you’ll need to do is provide vehicle information to the dealer such as your VIN, vehicle condition and mileage. Once this is done, you’ll often get an offer on the spot that will be finalized upon inspection. If it fits the description you’ve given, you’ll get the money and the vehicle will often be transported for you free of charge.

If you just want a car out of the way and sold, this option is for you. However, these types of car buying companies tend to give lower offers than you would expect with a private sale platform. The offers are also often non-negotiable, so there is no wiggle room. Even so, if you want to sell a junk car for cash, you’ll often get better deals with these types of buyers than if you went to a junkyard.

Listing Your Car With a Private-Sale Platform

A private-sale platform is another web-based option you can use to sell your car. Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and eBay Motors are examples of this. Instead of selling to a car-buying company or a dealership network, you can sell your car directly to another person.

The advantage of using a private-sale platform is that you’re more likely to get full market value for your vehicle. This is especially true if you have a specific make and model that car enthusiasts are eager to purchase.

When you sell to a site like Carvana, that company resells your car for a profit. Companies like Carvana will offer trade-in value to private sellers instead of the market value, which is higher. Since a buyer on a private-sale platform usually wants to own the car rather than sell it for a profit, you can often negotiate a better price with them.

Staying Safe While Selling a Vehicle Privately

When selling with a private sale platform, staying safe and checking all of your bases before selling is important. Below are a few tips to make sure you are safe when selling a vehicle to a private buyer:

• Establish payment options: When getting offers from private buyers online, make sure to have payment details addressed early on. Keep the payment types secured apps like Venmo or with cashier’s checks.
• Take test drive precautions: When allowing a private buyer to drive your car, stick to well populated areas when meeting. Keep any test drive short and nearby.
• Have a paper trail: Throughout the selling process, make sure your paperwork is in order and out of sight from the buyer until the title transfers to them and payment is confirmed.
• Black out any personal information: To avoid any chance of identity theft or fraud, make sure to cross out any personal information relating to you on your documentation.
• Document with a bill of sale: While unnecessary in most states, getting a bill of sale for a car transaction will provide you with direct records to serve as proof.

What Are the Downsides of Using a Private-Sale Platform?

Private-sale platforms have their disadvantages. Here are some downsides we found:

Potential Scammers

Almost anyone can pose as a potential buyer and hide bad intentions, so you have to be careful when using this method to sell your car. Watch out for anyone who is unwilling to meet in public or insists on having a different person meet with you instead.

Also be wary of anyone who offers a money order, check or other form of payment for an amount that’s higher than the agreed sale price. A common scam involves giving a seller a fraudulent check and then having them wire the difference to the buyer.

How Long It Could Take To Find a Buyer

It takes more time to sell your car privately. You’ll need to prepare a detailed listing that might include a vehicle history report. You should also prepare a bill of sale to document the transaction and check with your state’s department of motor vehicles (DMV) for other requirements.

While you can sell your car to a dealer or car-buying website in as little as a day, it might take a few weeks to sell your car privately in your area. Potential car buyers will want to test drive the vehicle and possibly get it inspected. However, using an online marketplace could be worth it since it’s typically the way to get the most money for your car.

Should You Sell Your Car on Facebook Marketplace?

Posting on Facebook Marketplace is one of the most popular ways to sell a car privately. It’s free to list a car on Facebook Marketplace and to communicate with prospective buyers. The platform requires people to have Facebook accounts, so you can investigate your buyer a little bit before you meet up with them.

This makes it a little easier to avoid scams, though they still happen on the platform. Scammers often use automated programs to contact buyers, so if you get a message about your car the same minute you post the listing, be cautious.

Upload clear photos that show the condition of your car, including a photo of the engine. You may be able to get a good price for your vehicle that’s close to the market value, but be prepared for people to haggle. To increase your chances of getting the amount you want, set your price slightly higher than your bottom line.

Should You Sell Your Car on Craigslist?

Craigslist is another good option for selling your car privately. To make your listings stand out, upload multiple photos and write a good description that includes all of the essential vehicle information.

While posting an ad on Craigslist was free for many years, it now costs $5 to list a vehicle ad on the platform. This cost is meant to reduce the presence of scammers on the site. However, scammers can still pose as fake car buyers.

Our advice for selling a car on Craigslist is to never accept any form of payment other than what you ask for. Also, watch out for fishy scenarios like someone living overseas who’s sending their relative to pay for the car or someone who wants to send you a cashier’s check for an amount over your asking price.

People sell cars on Craigslist all the time without issues, but it takes common sense and extra effort to separate serious buyers from tire kickers and scammers. The good thing is that you’re anonymous as long as you use the platform’s email service.

Deciding how to sell a car is a difficult decision and it can be hard to know where to start. To assist you in this process, we’ve broken down our recommended steps to get the best price for your vehicle online.

1. Prepare Vehicle Details

When beginning any vehicle selling venture, you will need details and documents related to your vehicle including:

• VIN number
• Year manufactured
• Model
• Make
• Current general condition
• Any repairs or replacements needed
• Modifications with aftermarket parts
• Accident history
• Factory warranty or extended car warranty documentation
• Vehicle title

You can find most of this information by searching yourself and by getting a free vehicle history report from a provider like Carfax.

2. Find the Value of Your Vehicle

Finding the value of your vehicle before going into the selling process allows you to know whether the offer you’re getting is fair. It also helps you set a good price if you list on an online marketplace.

3. Fix and Clean Your Car

Before selling your car online, clean your vehicle and see if any outstanding repairs, replacements or maintenance items are needed. This can considerably raise your chances of getting better offers.

Generally speaking, getting routine maintenance and making minor repairs and replacements will get you the best bang for your buck. Worthwhile repairs and replacements can include brakes or tires if they’re heavily worn or fixing your lights if they are broken. However, in some cases, making repairs may not be worth it and you may be better off selling to online scrap or junk car buyers.

We recommend researching maintenance and repair costs for your vehicle to get a better idea of whether the returns of refurbishing your vehicle are worth it. Websites like RepairPal.com can give you average costs for repairs and maintenance.

4. Take Detailed Photos

Whether you’re selling to an online dealer or private buyer, taking a variety of good photos of your vehicle is a good ideal. It is similar to a resume for the car since it displays all the credentials a buyer would need to figure out what they would pay.

Get different images of each side of your car’s exterior and interior, including back seats. Also include shots of the engine compartment, the inside of your trunk, and the undercarriage so that you get full coverage. Try to take these photos in places with even lighting, without many shadows, and a plain background to get the best image quality.

5. Get and Compare Offers

Once you are prepared, it is time to go online and get offers. Due to the nature of online selling, it is easy to get offers in just a few minutes from many online car dealers. Then, compare pricing. If you chose to list on a private-sales platform, this process will take longer as you will be dealing with individual buyers.

6. Sell Your Car Online

Once you get the deal you want, it is time to complete your online sale. Depending on the method you choose, the process for transferring ownership is different. If you go through with selling your car to an online dealer, much of the process will be guided and handled for you by the company. Otherwise, you’ll have to retitle the vehicle, register it in the new owner’s name and pay transfer fees.

When looking for the best place to sell your car online, it can be difficult to distinguish what a company offers that differs from its competitors. To help you compare options, we’ll break down the core factors to think about when deciding where to sell your car online.

• Customer reviews: Often the best place to start is reviews. Compare ratings for a company’s selling services and overall value to help you make a decision.
• Vehicle offers: Car selling websites often offer an easy online quote tool for you to get a valuation for your vehicle. Compare multiple offers across different companies to find the best pricing.
• Services offered: A good way to distinguish how a selling experience will go is by seeing what services they offer to make it easier. Look for things like free vehicle pickups, at-home inspections and drop off options.
• Industry reputation: If a company has good ratings from organizations like the BBB, you can expect trustworthy services.

Below are some of the most common questions about different restrictions and alternative options for selling any vehicle.

Can You Sell Your Car With a Loan?

Sometimes, life circ*mstances may mean it’s better to get rid of your vehicle than to keep making payments on it. But if you owe money on your car, your lender won’t release the car title until you pay the auto loan off.

To sell a car with a loan still on it, there are two considerations you need to be aware of:

• The balance of the auto loan compared to the car’s value
• The requirements from your lender for completing the sale

Auto Loan Balance vs. Car Value

If you owe more on your auto loan than you can get from the car sale, you’ll have to come up with the difference and pay your lender. We recommend researching your car’s value well before you want to sell it so you can plan how you’ll cover a potential difference. Those options might include paying with your savings, asking family for help or taking out a personal loan.

You’re in a better situation if you can sell the car for more than what you owe. You can simply sell the car and pay your lender on the same day, upon which the lender will release the vehicle title.

Lender Requirements

You should consider your lender’s protocol for selling the car before it’s paid off. Lenders have specific requirements for selling your car privately if you still owe money on the loan. In most cases, you’ll go to a bank or other financial institution and have a third party verify the payment and communicate with your lender.

If you’re selling the car to a dealership, the business can communicate with your lender to simplify the process. If you owe more than the car’s value, some dealers will let you roll that debt — also known as negative equity — into a loan for a new vehicle. We don’t recommend doing a trade-in this way if you’ll owe more than your new car is worth.

Can You Sell a Car Without a Title?

Most often, it is not possible to sell a car without a title. Much of whether you can sell a car without the title information depends on state regulations. In most cases you will have to request a replacement title to go through with a sale. However, if you are selling a classic car, a vehicle bill of sale is often enough to prove ownership.

Can I Sell My Car Back to the Dealership?

Selling a car to a dealership is definitely an option. Given current market conditions, many dealerships are looking for older used cars to buy and resell. You can decide to trade in the vehicle and use it as credit to buy a newer car or you can walk away with the cash.

However, before going to an in-person dealer to sell, we recommend getting the fair market value for your vehicle. Resources like Kelly Blue Book or Edmunds can give you this information so you can go into negotiations with an understanding of what you can get.

Where Can I Sell Car Parts for Cash?

If you are trying to get rid of a junk car for scrap, you’ve most likely considered the option of selling car parts separately. Once you have removed valuable components from your vehicle such as the engine, battery or GPS system, you’ll be left with a few options:

• Junkyards: If you want a quick and easy process, selling your car to a junkyard is a good option. However, you typically won’t get the best bang for your buck.
• Scrap metal yards: This option focuses on buying up parts and selling the usable ones and recycling valuable scrap metal for other uses. Depending on the value of the metal in your car parts, you can get a good cash offer.
• Online listing platforms: If you want to get the best offer possible for your car parts, opt for selling platforms like Amazon, Walmart and Ebay.
• Auto shops and stores: While not the conventional option, you can sell vehicle parts to local businesses if they are interested.

For its easy-to-use platform and good cash offers, we recommend Cars.com as our top pick for selling your car online. If you have an old car that needs to go, we recommend Peddle. Below is our summarized list of top picks in order:

• Cars.com: Editor’s Choice
• Carvana: Most Seamless Process
• Peddle: Good Choice for Older Vehicles
• Carmax: Great Value
• Copart: Quick Payments
• Cargurus: Easy-To-Use Platform
• Vroom: Simple Process

Because consumers rely on us to provide objective and accurate information, we created a comprehensive rating system to formulate our rankings of the best platforms to sell your car. We collected data on several providers to grade each company in five key areas. The end result was an overall rating for each provider, with the car selling platforms that scored the most points topping the list.

Here are the factors our ratings take into account:

• Industry standing: Our research team considers ratings from industry experts and years in business when determining this score.
• Platform: Platforms that offer a variety of features, including instant offers and multiple sales options, are more likely to meet consumers’ needs.
• Cost: To compare providers’ average offer prices, our team conducted a secret shopper analysis for a variety of vehicle types. We also considered the fees companies charge to use their platforms.
• Support: Car selling companies that offer strong transaction support received the highest scores in this category. This includes offerings like free pickup service as well as how quickly you receive your payment.
• Customer experience: This score is based on customer satisfaction ratings on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Trustpilot as well as our team’s experience reaching out to each platform.

*Data accurate at time of publication