by Sawsan Elzayyat

Created on: June 04, 2009   Last Updated: September 20, 2010

Three options are available for a private owner selling a car: sell to a private buyer, sell to a used car dealer, - or sell your vehicle at a car auction.

Vendors who value comfort over financial gain may find that selling their used vehicle to a car dealer is the best route to take. Car dealers normally pay less for a used car than direct-end consumers (private buyers) do because they have other expenses (overheads etc) to meet and because they play the part of intermediaries who must make a profit. Selling a used car to an auto dealership, however, means avoiding much of the hassle involved in selling to private buyers (vehicle repairs, promotion, pricing, time spent waiting for the prospective buyer, haggling over the price, and, finally, dealing with all required documentation once the sale is closed.

The less conventional method for selling a used car is to sell at a car auction. This is the ideal option in a number of specific cases:

* When a car has suffered severe collision damage: if costly repairs are needed, few car dealers and almost no private buyers will be interested in purchasing it.

* Older cars (over fifteen years old) are generally easier to sell at car auctions.

* Vehicles that are 'foreign classics' have a limited and specific market of enthusiasts, and online car auctions are probably the best places to sell these.

* Finally, if the owner needs to terminate the sale rapidly, a car auction is the best choice by far.

Car auctions are not all the same; the four primary types are:

* Wholesale car auctions (commonly open only to dealers who use them to sell their unwanted inventory to other car dealers)

* Online car auctions (eBay Motors and Yahoo Auctions, for example)

* Car auctions that are open to the general public such as police car auctions and government car auctions

* Insurance car auctions and salvage car auctions (Impact Auctions) that deal only in vehicles that have suffered extensive collision damaged. They are not open to the public.

If your car is very old, not running or severely damaged, the chances of your selling it to a dealer or to a private buyer are minimal, and a car auction is obviously your best option. Likewise, if you need to sell the car as fast as possible, a car auction sale is often the best solution.

Even if the car you are selling is in good running condition, you may be still be tempted to cut out the car dealer and sell the car yourself. Selling your vehicle at a car auction will also allow you to avoid

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