re: Selling a vehicle privately is very stressful.

He unwittingly signed over his trailer in the deal.

I have sold 3 cars privately without incident. All for more than the dealerships would give me for trades. I was better off doing it privately even considering taxes on one car and did courtesy trades on the other 2.

I love (absolutely love) buying and selling cars for fun. I am always in the market to buy and always in the market to sell.

Here are my thoughts.

1. I don't visit dealers or car lots. Always private party.
2. I never buy or sell without the title in hand. It's just not worth the hassle no matter what the price.
3. You make/save your $$$ on the day you buy. As a buyer, I never HAVE to buy any particular car. As a seller, depending on my mood - may need to sell. The negotiation always favors the buyer.
4. I never modify my vehicles and I always buy a popular color that is easy to sell.
5. I absolutely love manual transmissions-but would never let a seller know that during the buying process.
6. As a seller, I write an extensive ad with all necessary info. All the maintenance done and every option, package, color codes, and screen shots of exactly how I arrived at my fair market price. My price is firm-don't call to haggle on price. You can come drive the car and give me a face to face offer that I will refuse today. But maybe I will take you up on it in the future.
7. As a buyer, if the seller writes a short ad, I don't call. It shows me he does not care about his car.
8. What you paid or what you owe has nothing to do with how much I am going to pay for it.
9. I always have a "beater" car to drive while I am looking for my next new car. I sell my old one, collect the cash, THEN begin the search for the new one (while driving my $1500 beater).
10. I always pay cash for my cars.
11. I have been doing this for 15 years and I have sold my cars to the first person to drive it EVERYTIME. I have to deal with dozens of stupid phone calls and texts each time but the ad and the firm price will weed out all the tire kickers and flippers quickly. Once someone makes an appointment to see the car, I can almost guarantee it's sold at the ask price.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but.........

You went to a dealer, financed a vehicle, don't have it paid off, and now bought another vehicle. You should just trade it in and take the loss. You are not in a financial situation to sell private party successfully.

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It IS a stock truck.

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That model came with holes drilled in the roof?

Serious question, what would a similar truck cost new today? Can't be much more.

I have experience in the car industry. The money your're trying to gain by selling yourself isn't worth the headache. You actually get a tax break when you trade, whatever the trade value is deducted from new car purchase and you only pay taxes on that amount not the full price. So save that money bite bullet on any leftover roll it into new car purchase price and call it the day no headaches. DON'T LET THE DEALER BEAT YOU TRADE THOUGH!

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I have experience in the car industry. The money your're trying to gain by selling yourself isn't worth the headache. You actually get a tax break when you trade, whatever the trade value is deducted from new car purchase and you only pay taxes on that amount not the full price.

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Yes, you get a tax break, but its not always better.

I was offered $9,200 at Carmax for a 3 series a few years ago. I sold it for $14,750. No chance I would get that much of a "Tax break" given the additional $$ I have to pay at a dealer OVER the value of the new(to me) car vs a private party purchase.

High sticker price? Have you looked through Autotrader or KBB or anything like that to find comps? I may be $600 high, but I set the price based on TONS of research. I had the bank I work with do an evaluation and they basically said don't take less than $X. I put myself above that number, but not $1500.

What do you think I should have listed it at?

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What do you think I should have listed it at?

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Even in "Excellent" condition on KBB (which yours is not), the private party value is around $26,750.

So . . . .less than $26,750.