Selling a vehicle isn’t always as easy as we first think. There are a lot of different methods that can be used to sell a vehicle and with each of these different methods comes different possible outcomes. Some of these outcomes involve the successful sale of the vehicle while others involve nothing but problems and headaches. The difference, of course, is in which method is used and how we go about using it.

How Things Have Changed

Before people began selling their vehicles online, it was typically straight forward. We would simply drive on over to the used car lot to get an offer, place a for “sale sign” in the window of the vehicle, or place an ad in the local paper’s classified section. One of these methods would usually end up working but it usually took much more time than anyone wanted to wait. Then the World Wide Web entered the picture and changed the way we buy and sell everyday items, including our vehicles.

The Internet is, by far, the most effective method used to sell vehicles today and for very good reason. When you place an ad in the local classifieds, or place a “for sale” sign in the window of a vehicle, the possibility of a final sale is limited by the number of individuals that actually become aware of the sale to begin with. To put it plainly, when more people are aware that a vehicle is available for purchase, the possibility of it being sold increases exponentially.

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. The Internet isn’t called the World Wide Web for nothing. When you place an ad on the Internet to sell a vehicle, it’s ability to be viewed is only limited by the number of people with the ability to use a computer to get online. Now the “for sale” ad that was once limited to the local community is available for viewing by those in the entire state, country, and world.

While the ad being viewable by the entire world wouldn’t make much of a difference, when selling a vehicle, it being viewable by the entire state as well as surrounding states would. You’d be surprised at just how far people are willing to travel to take advantage of a great deal on a good vehicle. In fact, it isn’t uncommon to find people willing to travel from several states away just to pick up a vehicle that they purchased online.

Sell a Car Online

So now the question becomes how do we successfully sell a vehicle online and get cash for it? The answer to that question is actually much easier than you might think. There are a number of great websites that offer assistance with the sale of used vehicles. Most of these websites are geared towards individuals who want to personally sell their vehicle without having to deal with a middle man. Finding, and using, these sites is the best way to sell your vehicle for cash.

In most cases, you will be able to do enough research online to make a decision on whether or not that particular site will work for you. As a last resort, you can always enter the site name along with the word “reviews” into the search bar to bring up customer reviews on the success or failure of their attempts when using the website. The main thing to keep in mind is that, when it comes to the Internet, there are always other options. You never have to feel rushed into using one particular website if you are not comfortable with it.

Sell Your Car to a Dealer

One thing to consider is selling your car to a local used car dealer. Your car should be in good shape and not a junker because put yourself in the dealer’s shoes – they are going to have to try to sell it, so there should be some demand for a vehicle that they want to buy.

If you do sell a car to a dealer, just know that you won’t get very much for it. Again, they have to fix it up and then market it (advertise it) and sell it. They have to pay for the electricity at their lot. They have to pay a salesman. They have a lot of expenses. If you think your car is worth $5000, then only expect to get maybe $2500 to $2700 for it at the most.

This might not be the best option but if you need some quick cash for your car, then it’s one of the few options you have. To really get the most for your car, you’re going to want to sell it on your own. It’ll take more time and more work on your part but you’ll walk away with more cash than if you sold it to a dealer.

Scrap Your Car

Another option you have is to just junk your car and get cash for it. You can sell your junk car for cash if you want if you take it to a junk yard or place where scrap metal is bought. You won’t get a lot for it but if you need cash in your pocket, this is definitely an option.

Donate Your Car

Yet one more thing to mention is donating your car to charity. No, you don’t walk away with cash but you will walk away with a receipt and that receipt is good to show that you made a donation to a charity and you can use this as a deduction on your taxes (a write off). Make sure the charity is registered as a non-profit organization or else you won’t be able to deduct it.

Selling a Used Vehicle

Conclusion

The great thing now is that it’s much easier to sell a car than it used to be. When I was a kid, all there was were classified ads in the newspaper, hanging up signs at grocery stores and used car dealers. Today, you can do all of that AND also sell your car online. People don’t even have to leave their homes and they can find your car either on their computer or smart phone. That’s amazing if you think about it!

But to get some quick cash for your car, just posting it on Craig’s List might not be enough. It might not work fast enough. Sure, that’s a good place to start and you might try it for one weekend but if you need money faster, then we’d suggest going to a car dealer or scrap yard. Those are your best options.

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Essentially if Zipcar is in your neighborhood (like it is here in Vancouver) then Zipcar will have cars that you can “rent” spread out all over town in sometimes convenient (and other times not so) places.

You sign up online, and they give you a “Zipcard”. This card is used to access the cars that are on the street and keeps track of how long you’ve used the car. But what if someone else wants to use the car too? Well of course you have to reserve the car for the time that you want to use it. But this couldn’t be easier. You can either reserve the car through an app on your iPhone (I don’t have one so I didn’t get to use this feature) online at home, or through their phone reservation service.

Each of the cars has a funky name that I guess is supposed to add fun to the whole experience, and once you’ve reserved your car you can literally just walk up to it and scan your card to gain entry. The keys are always in the vehicle and once you’re in you just go.

I’ve had the chance to use Zipcar off and on now for about 2 years and I can say that I definitely like the service. The cars are clean, reliable, and most of the models are pretty decent cars. I preferred to rent the Mini Cooper when I could and they even have a convertible option in Vancouver… which I’m sure is not so popular for 9 months out of the year.

If you go over your reserved time there are pretty steep fines, but this is to be expected. How would you like it if someone had the car during the time that you’ve reserved? When your reservation is nearing the end Zipcar will actually send you a text message to your phone reminding you that it’s coming to an end and asking if you would like to extend the reservation. Of course the extension is only available if there is no reservation after yours, but this is a really nice feature and I’ve used it a number of times.

All in all I think Zipcar is a great, trendy company that has a lot going for it. The customer service is great, the cars are nice and up-to-date and it’s nice to know that you can get a car in a pinch when you need one. However, expect to pay well for the service. Prices start at around 8 bucks an hour, but most of the cars are in the 10-12 dollar range. These prices are fine if you’re running a quick errand, but if you were to use the car for a golf game for example, it would cost you a ton of cash while it’s sitting out in the parking lot.

If you’re thinking about signing up with Zipcar, you can follow this link to get 25 dollars in additional driving credit from signing up through Cartips.com.

Have an experience with Zipcar? Let us know in the comments below…

Zipcar and the Coop Auto Network are a few car club options that let you do just that, and they generally have cars parked in a neighborhood near you.

But don’t we need less cars on the road nowadays? So what about all of those cars that are parked around town that are just sitting for most of the day?

These were the questions that a smart group of entrepreneurs in the UK have asked, and the result is Whipcar.

Whipcar is a very cool idea that allows car owners to rent out their unused vehicles for money. After a quick 5 minute setup you’re able to list your car for rent during the times when you do not use your car.

It’s really a win-win… the car owner gets to make some cash on the side, and the person seeking to rent a vehicle is able to do so without clogging our streets with more cars.

Whipcar was started in April of this year in London and it’s already caught the mass media’s eye for being such a unique and useful idea. It’s free to sign up and join and is already present in over 300 cities and towns across the UK. For more information check out their video below, or go to http://www.whipcar.com to sign up.

Have an experience with using Whipcar? Let us know in the comments below.

For starters, what exactly is a hybrid car?

Essentially, it is nothing but a fuel efficient automobile with dual motors, an electric motor and a gasoline powered alternative. It also sports a specially engineered system that captures brake energy and transfers it towards the battery to keep it charged at all times.

So why go hybrid?

It’s a combination of two vehicular concepts, so why not go to one of the two? Why not drive a purely gasoline or electric powered car? If you think about it through principle, having two motors makes your system more vulnerable to a breakdown. The same concept exists in any other sort of transportation vehicle—the more motors or engines, the less reliable they can collectively be.

Two Motors

In reality, having two motors presents both pros and cons. For one, electric motors don’t take up any energy when they idle; in fact they simply turn off and therefore use less gas when the speed is low. Gas motors are more effective at high speeds and therefore deliver a more powerful drive—but during stop and go or low speed travel, the electric motor will suffice without costing you money and the environment smog. When you reach higher speeds, usually past 40 mpg, the gas motor will begin to kick in and allow car owners to travel quickly on the freeway.

Additionally, when using the gas motor, your electric motor will have time to charge. One problem with strictly electric power is that many owners find themselves stranded with a dead battery and no outlet. With a hybrid, the dual motors allow this problem to be virtually nonexistent. The gas motor will automatically kick in whenever the battery gets low and charge the battery simultaneously. This means a hybrid never needs to be plugged into a restrictive outlet, but be aware—just because you can’t run out of electric power doesn’t mean you can’t run out of gas. Keep on top of your gas meter just as you would any other vehicle, but if you do get stuck—it’s a lot easier to haul a gas can over than to get your electric car back to your outlet, so the hybrid does offer that distinct advantage over a straight electric solution.

But all this cutting edge and newly innovated technology can be quite expensive to the consumer. It has two motors and the necessary battery is rather hefty and complex, as is the convenient but pricey regeneration system that charges the battery during bra ke periods.

Seeing as all these systems must coexist in a rather complicated technical homeostasis, they are controlled by rather intricate computers. These computers are remarkably dependable, but like any other computer, it does suffer from a few fallbacks. This means to own a hybrid, you will have to spend quite a bit of time in the shop, and quite a lot of money paying for repairs.

Fuel-Efficiency

Compared to any other practical everyday car type, hybrids are indisputably the most gasoline efficient. On average, the can reach an alleged 48 to 60 miles per gallon, which is around 20%-35% better than some gasoline powered cars. This means that there are vehicles, like the Honda Civic, that are gasoline powered by get 36 mpg. The strange this is that these gasoline efficient standards cost from $14-$17 thousand where hybrids can set you back up to $25,000. With this in play, buying a hybrid becomes less of a “necessity” or even ideal to many people.

The difference is considered to be in fuel costs, where your standard gasoline powered car will cause quite heavy annual bills. But after a decade with a hybrid, it is predicted that only $2,300 will really be saved in the long run—this number is smaller than the price difference between hybrids and fuel-efficient gasoline powered vehicles.

The fuel efficiency is often attributed to improved aero dynamics such as weigh reduction and smaller gas powered engines. By principle, any vehicle would improve mileage greatly just by sporting a smaller sized engine. This is not done with most consumer cars due to the widespread desire for power and speed in most of today’s vehicles.

Most drivers find these mileage claims are actually a tad skewed—sometimes up to 10%. If you take a look at the manufacturer’s miles per gallon claims, they are measured under specifications that would yield similar results from any type of car, with slow speeds and no quick stops.

A Lean, Green Driving Machine

On the other hand, it’s not just fuel economy that hybrids promote; their ecological benefits are also considerably encouraging. Despite the marginal nature of the fuel economy improvements, the smaller number of emissions is undeniable. For instance, big cities with high traffic jams and plenty of low speed travel would benefit greatly from a widespread application of hybrid devices that cut down on pollution and emissions when a vehicle travels under 40 mph.

Global Application

Globally, the United States is not ahead of the hybrid game, but instead the Japanese seem to be setting the standard. Honda and Toyota have already taken the market by storm with the Insight and Prius. It is easy to see that US automakers like Ford have fallen behind, having to license over 20 different technologies from the Japanese just to throw together the Mercury Mariner. In the United States, SUVs and trucks are still commonplace, and Ford has tried to make the best of both worlds with a hybrid version of the Escape.

Many analysts claim that these GM hybrids are nothing but weak efforts and not serious attempts to join the hybrid market. They are often tied in with the Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations, showing that American hybrids are nothing but corporate devices. Because regulations demand automakers possess a fleet with an average of 27.5 mpg, automakers are using hybrids as a way of offsetting their minimally efficient SUV’s and trucks, many of which only get up to 20 miles per gallon.

In Sum…

So at the end of the day, the decision is up to you. Maybe you find hybrid vehicles to cost prohibitive, or maybe the new, innovative, and ecologically friendly technology strikes a chord with you. Either way, personal preference is still in play. The technology is not yet developed to the point where prices can compete with gasoline powered models, but it is undeniably fuel efficient and emission reducing. The concept is fascinating, but right now there is an inherent price gap between gasoline and hybrid powered vehicles. So you know the pros and cons make your decision wisely!