Your new car fever has reached its peak. After shopping for weeks, you've finally done it. That old faithful piece of iron has been replaced. Now, you are left with the need to move it from your driveway to someone else's. You don't want to give it away. But, you know that there are questions to be considered. While you weren't happy enough with the offered trade value to let it go, you must come up with a reasonable value to place on this trusted friend. It's not gold-plated, but it still runs ok and doesn't look like a rust bucket. Where do you start?

The best place to start is with your banker. Most of them will gladly share the loan, wholesale, and retail value of a car like yours. You will need to know the make, model, and year. Make a list of the options on the car and the current mileage reading. Next, form an honest opinion as to whether the car is in excellent, fair, or poor condition. Armed with this information call the banker or stop by and he or she will do the rest. You will leave this process with three numbers in hand.

Your asking price will probably be somewhere a little above or below the wholesale price. Usually, the loan value is the lowest of the three. By pricing your car a little above the wholesale price, you will give yourself room to negotiate. Before you put that "For Sale" sign in the window, write down how much you want to ask for the car, and what the least amount is that you will accept. Having these two numbers readily in mind will help prevent you from being tempted to sell your car too low. If it doesn't sell in a few weeks, you may have overestimated its condition and need to rethink your price.

Learn more about this author, Allen Teal.
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