Selling Your Car Privately vs. Selling to a Dealership

If you’re looking to upgrade to a new ride in the Peoria area, you might be considering selling your current vehicle. There are two main options you can take when selling your car—you can sell it to a dealership like Avondale Nissan or you can sell it privately. If you’ve never sold a car in the Arizona area, either privately or via a dealership, you might be wondering what to expect from the process. The finance team at Avondale Nissan has everything you need to know about selling a car in Arizona privately or to a dealership in the guide below!

Selling a Car in Arizona Privately

If you’re wondering how to sell a car privately in Arizona, you’ve come to the right place! Be aware that by selling a car privately in Arizona, comes with more complicated steps and necessary materials than selling to a qualified dealership. If you’re interested in selling privately, here’s a general overview of the process:

1. Make sure your vehicle is in the best condition possible, both mechanically and aesthetically, by having it cleaned and inspected by professionals.
2. Gather the necessary materials. You can find them at the Arizona Department of Transportation’s website.
3. List your vehicle and start meeting with buyers.
4. Remove the license plates so you can transfer them to your new vehicle. If you leave the plates on, then you’ll be liable for any fees or damage incurred by the next owner.
5. Complete a bill of sale and collect payment. The bill of sale does not have to be notarized.
6. Sign off on the title and have it notarized by a professional.
7. Hand off the title to the new owner and fill out a Vehicle Sold Notice.
8. Cancel any outstanding insurance, fees, or subscriptions associated with the vehicle before officially handing it over to its new owner.

Selling a Car in Arizona to a Dealership

Now that we’ve discussed how to sell a car in Arizona to a private party, let’s go over the process of how to sell your car to a dealership in the Phoenix area:

1. Use our online tool to value your trade and get an estimate on your current car’s worth.
2. Drop your vehicle off at Avondale Nissan.
3. We’ll appraise and inspect your vehicle, usually in less than an hour.
4. We’ll contact you with an offer. You can accept it, negotiate a different price, or walk away and consider another dealership. We’ll take care of everything else!

Compare Selling a Car Privately vs. to a Dealership

Now that we’ve answered the questions, “How do I sell a car privately in Arizona,” and “How do I sell a car to a dealership in Arizona,”, let’s examine the advantages of each choice:

Advantages of Selling Privately:

• You can list your own price
• You can work directly with potential buyers

Advantages of Selling to a Dealership:

• The dealership takes care of the majority of the process, such as the bill of sale and transferring/notarizing the title
• You’re free to negotiate the final price with us
• The process is much faster and more convenient, usually taking less than a couple of hours
• You can put the value of your car towards a model in our new or pre-owned inventory

Sell Us Your Car in New Jersey

If you’re interested in learning more about how to sell a car privately in Arizona vs. how to sell a car to a dealership, contact our office! You can also stop by our dealership near Surprise to talk to a member of our finance team in person. If you’re interested in saving on your next ride once you’ve sold your current vehicle, we offer new vehicle specials updated all the time.