How to Sell Your Car
By Sami Haj-Assaad Feb 04, 2015 1
How to Sell Your Car
There are a number of options out there to help you sell your car, turning a usually frustrating experience into something far more manageable.
There are two main ways to sell your car. One option is considerably easier and quicker but will likely get you less money for your car. The other route is much longer and requires more work, although the payout is likely worth the extra time.


The Easy Route:
If you’re looking to get rid of your car and get quick cash, the first stop you should make is at a used car dealership.
Take CarMax for example, a national chain of used car dealerships with over 140 locations across the U.S.
It’s a pretty painless process at any used car dealership: you schedule an appointment and they appraise your car. It usually takes about 30 minutes and can involve a test-drive, pre-purchase inspection, collection of repair history and a comparison of your car against current market conditions like national sales trends and auction data
From there, the dealership will give you a written offer. They may have a time-condition on that offer, for example, CarMax’s offer will be good for only seven days, although the sale itself can take a little as 20 minutes and will get you some money in no time.  It is also worth mentioning, that in some cases, selling your car to a used car dealership will likely not net you as much money as a private sale but it’s usually far less of a headache compared to dealing with tire-kickers and cheap-skates.


The Harder Route:
AutotraderIf the CarMax offering isn’t to your liking, you can take things into your own hands and publish a listing of your car online or in print. Craigslist, eBay and Autotrader are websites that you can use to list your car for sale.
“Trust is at the core of everything we do at eBay Motors: buyers and sellers are rated, we provide free vehicle inspection reports, and our Vehicle Protection Program (VPP) is unique in the industry and protects you against fraud,” says Bryan Murphy, General Manager at eBay Motors, North America.
These sites are also a great way to see the sales trends of the used car market. You can also see how much similar cars are being sold for at local auctions. Sites like Kelly Blue Book can also provide insight into the value of your car.
Another place you can list your car is in the local newspaper’s classifieds section, although this costs more than online listings. Additionally, post your car on a related forum or message board. If your car has an enthusiastic community (like say, a Civic), then a forum posting can really help your car get some additional attention.
2014-chevy-corvette-ebay-listing“Write a compelling description that provides honest insights and full disclosure,” eBay Motors spokesman Dale Niemiec said. “Also, photograph every aspect of the vehicle from all angles so that your vehicle is accurately represented.”
It also helps to build trust with your potential buyers. “Top sellers communicate with prospective buyers throughout the entire process to pre-empt problems, up-sell and build buyer trust,” says Niemiec
After setting up an online listing, buyers browsing these websites can then contact you or ask more questions and eventually set up an appointment to see and test the car in person.


Getting Ready to Sell
Now that your car is listed, you need to get the documents required for selling it in your state. Although you can check the DMV for the specific forms and documents, you’ll likely need items like the title information, proof of ownership, odometer readings, smog certificate, safety inspection and transfer of ownership forms for when the car is sold.
If you have it, it’s also good to show records of past work done to the car including anything done under a technical service bulletin or recalls. Prospective buyers will want to learn as much as they can about the car you’re selling so having all this information handy will make you look informed, responsible and trustworthy, a useful trait when it comes to private sales.


Finally, be sure to clean the car inside and out. Buyers won’t want to check out a dirty looking car or even sit in one that looks like it has been used by a slob or abused.
Now you can start taking calls from people who are interested in buying your vehicle.

Meeting a Buyer
Prospective buyers will likely want to set up a meeting and test drive. A good idea is to do this away from your house but in a public place, like a parking lot or community center. Always tell someone where you’re planning to be and when, just in case anything drastic happens. If you’re uncomfortable meeting strangers, consider bringing someone along.
Being polite and accommodating is a good idea but don’t let the prospective buyer dictate the meeting. Always be in control of the situation, fire up the car as they request, show what features the car is equipped with and how they work and provide maintenance information to the best of your ability.
When a test drive is in order, be sure to check that the buyer has a valid driver’s license. Always be in the car during the test drive and try to answer any questions that the buyer may have. If you know the area well, offer directions for the driver so they aren’t just wandering around and getting lost.


Negotiating and Other Prices
handing-over-car-keysEventually the right person will come along and want to buy your car. It’s up to you to decide if you want to negotiate or compromise on your listed price but if you did get an appraisal from a used car dealership, you should consider using that number as the lowest you’d be willing to accept.
Some buyers may want to get a third-party mechanic to inspect the car. They should pay to have that done.
When an agreement is reached, be sure to advise the buyer that the car is being sold as-is with no warranty. When it comes to accepting a payment, be wary of personal cheques. Only take cash or a certified check.
The DMV will have a bill of sale form that includes the names, addresses and signatures of both the buyer and seller. Additionally, the form includes vehicle information, including the make, model, year and vehicle identification number (VIN). Finally the bill of sale form needs to include the date of sale and price paid.
Following the bill of sale, file a release of liability in order to protect yourself in the event the buyer keeps the vehicle titled and registered under your name. It’s now the buyer’s responsibility to get the car titled and registered under their name.
Thanks to the number of online services available and the convenience of used car dealerships, selling a car isn’t too difficult but make sure you’re prepared to answer a never-ending line of questions. Gather all the appropriate documents and get all the background information of your vehicle. It also always helps to be polite and professional with anyone who inquires.

In the car world there’s red, and then there’s red. The two might seem identical, but what you put on a Ford Fiesta isn’t necessarily the same as what you’d see on a Porsche.


Often, the difference comes down to effects – specifically, the flakes and synthetic materials that paint makers and automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) mix into their coatings and paints. Some might glint and glitter in the sun, while others change colour depending on the angle from which they are viewed, and still more instead exhibit a subtle depth or glow. The challenge for paint companies and automotive OEMs alike is finding new materials and effects that will make heads turn, sell cars and further differentiate one vehicle from another.


More than a decade ago, big paint companies such as PPG, BASF and Axalta (at the time, called DuPont) began to explore making pigments with “microscopic glass beads, recycled mirror chips, volcanic dust and flakes of processed aluminum” that would reflect light in new and interesting ways, according to a New York Times report. Other companies, such as EMD Chemicals and JDSU, discovered, designed and developed the raw flakes and materials that make such effects possible.


One material in particular stood out – a then-unknown compound called Xirallic that, when mixed into paint, is responsible for the sparkle and shimmer exhibited by many of the bright, metallic colours on vehicles today. When Xirallic was released, says Luiz Vieira, vice-president of EMD Chemicals’ performance materials division, and whose company patented the compound, “consumers at that time had no idea what Xirallic was. “But over time, as the OEMs realized that these materials were helping [them] sell more cars, they started putting them on other models, other brands,” Vieira says.
Ford, for example, used the pigment on certain models of the Expedition, Navigator, and F-150.


Nowadays, new effect pigments are released to the market every few years. Some mimic the vibrant colours and patterns found in nature, an effect known as biomimicry. JDSU has, for a number of years, produced a colour-shifting effect called ChromaFlair that exhibits a different colour depending on the viewing angle; it can be added to the Range Rover Autobiography for $14,500. Some auto makers will even use multiple pigment and coating layers on top of one another to combine various effects.


John Book, custom colour solutions product line manager at JDSU, describes one of the company’s latest effects, a biomimicry material known as Moth Eye, “because the surface of the flake is replicating that of a moth’s eye, or bug’s eye.
“Once it’s applied in paint, it gives this after-glowing effect,” Book says. After five years of development, it isn’t yet on the market, but auto makers are interested. Meoxal is another new metal flake effect pigment manufactured by EMD Chemicals, and introduced at a European coatings show in 2012. It was first used on one of Renault’s 2014 models, and is advertised to radiate like desert sand.


Often, these pigments appear in premium vehicles first. BMW offers several effects – “Frozen” uses silicates in a clear-coat finish for a velvety-matt surface; with “Pearl”, flakes of mica refract light over the surface, making the vehicle appear to change colour; and “Pure Metal Silver” achieves the effect of liquid in a metal state by using aluminum nanoparticles in the base coat.
“The way the products typically make themselves present in the market starts with the high end,” Book says. “And, as the industry gets more familiar with the applications, and they can judge the consumer reaction, they cascade down to the more mass-market. [It’s] a very common sort of path to greater commercialization.”
In some cases, the cost of a particular effect might drop with time. That’s the case with a popular three-layer or tricoat process, also known as tinted clear coats, that’s used to create especially deep reds, blues, oranges and golds. “They start with a base coat. They probably add some special effect like a Xirallic, or just aluminum, or even a ChromaFlair. And then they’ll apply a mid-coat that has a very finely ground red pigment, so it’s very transparent,” Book says. “That increases the saturation. And then finally they’ll apply the high-gloss clear coat to give it the durability and the gloss.”


The price point has come down such that, according to Book, it may only cost a few hundred dollars for that colour option on a Ford Focus, for example, versus several thousand dollars in the effect’s early days. In other cases, a premium brand might use a higher concentration formulation of a particular paint on a premium product versus a lower-end model – resulting in a deeper or more saturated colour on one model over another, yet the durability of the paint remains the same for both.


Sometimes, manufacturers will assume the cost of higher-end paints in lower-cost vehicles as a way to “sway consumers for your brand because of design and colours and appearance,” says Shane Dreher, EMD marketing director. “If you look at Kia Motor [or] Hyundai, some of their colours are very bright, very rich in a way. And Mazda also has very, very rich colours.”


Some of the most potentially lucrative work is being done on pigments that aren’t even colours – and isn’t aimed first at the high-end. EMD unveiled a product this year called Xirallic NXT. It’s a version of the company’s popular Xirallic effect designed specifically for achromatic coatings – whites, silvers and blacks – or, about 80 per cent of automobile colours, according to EMD. You’re likely to see it on vehicles within two to four years. “White [is] one of the top three colours in the market,” Book says. ”There’s where you’re going to get your payback, right? If you’re doing black, white and silver, how can I get a new effect?”

MATTHEW BRAGA

Special to The Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Oct. 23 2014, 4:00 AM EDT

Sep 24, 2014 Lee Harkin

Unduly pressuring customers doesn’t work, but a phone call can do the trick.
Chick-fli-A has a YouTube video called “Every Life Has a Story.” It’s a must-watch for everyone who is in a contact point with a customer.

We never know what customer baggage prevents them from buying certain maintenance or repairs from us. As we know, the challenges of life often cause us to have larger battles we must address first.

So, if a customer declines your recommended services, don’t take it personal. The key is to stay in touch.

First, never pressure a customer to buy any business from your fixed operations. The only pressure the customer should feel is the self-imposed pressure of making a decision. Trying to overcome their objections will make you appear like Herb Tarlek (search him on the web if he was before your time) and cheapen your brand.

A plan is required to close on additional sales that have been initially declined. It starts when the customer enters your service department for the first time. The sale your advisers must focus on is selling themselves and the dealership. It’s called building a relationship.

We can train all day about word tracks and ways to corral customers into buying, but in the long run you will lose customers by using these techniques. I have seen it so many times.

When you first use these methods, sales will jump, but what causes your sales to increase can cause them to decrease. Nobody wants to feel as if they have been put together.

Train advisers on selling the effort to conduct good business with and for your customers. I assure you, as long as you don’t pressure the customer, there will be another day. My explanation on selling declined services will make more sense once you understand my approach.

Scenario: Customer brings vehicle to your service department, and your technical staff finds additional work is necessary. An estimate is prepared. The phone call is made. The customer declines the work.

This is not a failure, just a bump in the road. Most dealerships have some type of follow-up service that sends a reminder based on labor op or key words used in the written description.

My recommendation is do not offer a discount on the repairs on your first reminder. This is a mistake many dealerships make. All we are doing is training customers to decline work in order to get discounts.

Instead, have someone call them and ask them to reconsider having the work done. The person calling should be the adviser who originally handled the customer’s transaction.

In a number of stores this is not possible, so business development center people make the call. Be sure they have a personality and enjoy interacting with customers. The right person calling customers can change their perception of your dealership. They may think maybe you really do care.

Remember, this customer’s vehicle needs work that your technical staff found. There’s no fishing here, just a real opportunity. Someone eventually will get this work; why not your service department? But, again, make sure the customer doesn’t disqualify you because you applied too much pressure.

Fixed-operations consultant Lee Harkins heads M5 Management Services based in Pelham, AL. He can be reached at 205-358-8717 and at [email protected].


The company makes the 4500 Xtreme model which has no internal or external O-ring or gaskets and is maintenance-free.
Sagola has been manufacturing spray guns since 1955 and today they are used in over 70 countries worldwide. 
When these guys talk about the quality of their product, they mean that every single gun is tested twice before it leaves the factory – that includes being sprayed by an experienced painter to check the spray pattern. This gives the company the confidence to offer a three year warranty on its guns. Sagola puts a great deal of energy into the technical engineering of its products. The Xtreme 4500 is made of lightweight anodized forged aluminium and involved seven patents in its development. It is a single piece with a self adjusting packing gland. The company says the 4500 delivers a fine, soft spray pattern with excellent atomization.
Another benefit of Sagola's gun design is that customers can use one gun for a variety of tasks, simply by changing the cap.
The Sagola range, which includes a mini 'touch-up' gun, air drying guns and air regulators, is being launched and distributed in Austin, Texas by Gemstone Auto Paint Supply. The Sagola range is mid-priced with the Xtreme 4500 costing between $550 and $850.

A  student at the Michigan State University has managed to crash her chromed Lamborghini Gallardo while driving around campus.Rich parents buying their kids expensive and fast cars should probably invest in some driving lessons first because most of the times the rides will be crashed and people’s lives will be threatened. This is a lesson that a female student has found out the hard way after crashing her “baby” in campus. According to Wrecked Exotics, the girl hit a Jeep Wrangler with the chromed Lamborghini Gallardo. Happily no one was hurt in the incident, which is probably more than we can say about her ego.

Lamborghini has produced the Gallardo for 10 years, between 2003 and 2013, when it was replaced by the Huracan. The model was designed by Italdesign Giugiaro and Luc Donckerwolke, and it was offered in two body styles, two-door coupe and two-door roadster, with a mid-engine and rear-wheel drive or a mid-engine and all-wheel drive layout. Power to the Gallardo was being provided by either a 5.0 liter V10 or a 5.2 liter V10 engine, connected to a 6-speed manual or to a 6-speed automated manual, depending on the version chosen. The Gallardo is related to the R8.

by Cristian Gnaticov (my Google+) - Tuesday, September 16th, 2014 - filed under Car crashes, Lamborghini, News. Image credit

One of the most fascinating things about documentaries which examine the bizarre creatures populating our Earth's oceans is the concept of bioluminescence. Deep down in the drink, there are jellyfish and other creatures able to emit their own light – often in beautiful, strobing patterns. And now, it's apparently possible to give your car a very similar look thanks to an electroluminescent paint called LumiLor from Darkside Scientific.

As you can see on the Tesla Model S in the above video, the paint allows the driver to animate the vehicle's exterior when it's dark in quite bright colors, but it looks completely normal during the day. On its website, Darkside Scientific claims that LumiLor can be applied in a variety of colors with a standard paint gun, but does require some added electronics to apply the alternating current that makes the paint illuminate. It even works on plastic, vinyl, glass and other materials. However, the one potential downside is the that company admits that LumiLor's brightness fades with continued use, but it doesn't say how quickly this degradation takes place.

Autoblog has reached out to Darkside Scientific to learn more about LumiLor, and we'll update this story when we hear back. In the meantime, check out this Tesla that glows eerily like a jellyfish deep in the ocean.

By Chris BruceRSS feed

Posted Sep 11th 2014 12:45PM

Just in time for football season. Chevrolet has quietly introduced the 2015 Silverado University of Texas Edition.

Designed to appeal to diehard Longhorn fans, the University of Texas Edition has a Sunset Orange Metallic exterior with chrome side steps and special graphics on the bed and tailgate.

The University of Texas package costs $795 and will only be available to customers who order Silverado Double Cab (LT or LTZ) or Crew Cab (LTZ) variants with the Texas Edition package.

According to Chevrolet Truck Marketing Director Sandor Piszar, “The special-edition Silverado is a natural fit for Chevrolet in Texas, where a Longhorn fan lives in one out of every three households, and those fans are almost twice as likely as average consumers to buy a truck.”