10 Reasons Now Is the Best Time to Sell Your Car

You’ve likely heard the buzz about the used car market right now. It seems like everybody is talking about it. Your friend who wanted to buy a pre-owned vehicle thought it would be a breeze and wound up on the hunt for months, often losing out to higher offers and eventually settling on something that wasn’t their first choice. It’s only natural you might be thinking, “Maybe now is a good time to sell my car.” If you’ve been mulling over putting your vehicle on the market, perhaps you need some reasons to finally take the leap.

We know selling a car is a big deal. You’re attached to your car. You’ve been through a lot with it, and it’s been there for you through thick and thin. Selling a car is no small step. It’s not like selling a barely used microwave or bicycle—this is a major transaction. The paperwork affiliated with it, the stress of deciding on the right price to list it at, and other factors could have you procrastinating this sale. And we’re not going to lie to you—selling a car is not an effortless process. However, if you’re going to jump through the hoops involved, now is the best time to do so. It will be well worth it. Here are 10 reasons now is the best time to sell your car.

If you’re like many Americans, you’ve been working from home since the start of the pandemic. That lengthy, tiresome commute you had to make five days a week is a thing of the past, leaving your car sitting in the garage, collecting dust. Perhaps you take it out on the weekends to see friends—but is that a good enough reason to continue making payments, handling maintenance, and taking care of other costs? Carpooling with buddies or walking is always an option. If you’ve barely been using your car since the pandemic caused a slow-down in life, this is a great time to sell it.

You might not need your car to get around, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t thousands of people in your area who still need to commute to work. With COVID-19 still a risk, many working professionals don’t want to get on a cramped subway car, sit shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers on a bus, or even sit near an unknown Uber or Lyft driver every day. Getting sick with COVID-19 is still a major concern for those commuting to work, which has led many Americans to start shopping for used cars. The demand is there.

While regular activities are ramping back up, car manufacturer output has not caught up with the current speed of life. Many major manufacturers drastically cut back on making new cars because people weren’t buying them much in the pandemic. Increasing production to meet the resurgence in customer demand is not as easy as flipping a switch. People want cars again, and manufacturers aren’t making new ones fast enough. That means great news for anyone selling a used car—you just became the most popular kid in town. Don’t worry about buyers bluffing with comments like, “Why should I pay you this asking price when I could get a new car at a similar cost?” They can’t. You hold all of the cards.

All of these conditions won’t last forever. New cars might not be populating car dealerships at a rapid rate yet, but we can’t expect the ghost towns that are many new car lots to remain that way forever. The world is returning to normal, and so will the rate of new car production. If you wait too long, you could see competition again with new car dealerships. You could easily see those sales and big clearance events happening again, at which point, your used car might not be the shiny object it once was. Now is the time to pounce.

While buyers were picky about finding used cars with low mileage in the past, now they’re becoming more lenient. Finding a used car in excellent condition with low mileage is a pipe dream, and buyers know it. Used cars are selling rapidly, and buyers are willing to purchase cars with high mileage. If that 100,000 figure on your odometer stopped you from selling your car in the past, don’t let it stop you now. Reports show that even cars with that type of mileage are getting full asking price and selling fast.

Cars of all types are selling well over the asking price, including used cars. Different reports show used cars going for sometimes 19 percent over the asking price, and sometimes as much as 26 percent over the asking price. If fear of being lowballed was holding you back from listing your vehicle, you can put that worry behind you. There are eager buyers who are willing to make you an offer you can’t refuse. Of course, if anyone does offer you a low offer, now you know you don’t have to accept that.

Sellers of used cars are receiving multiple offers. Like the real estate market right now, the car market is seeing crazy bidding wars. You’ll have plenty of negotiating power, and the buyers know it. Don’t be concerned that only one or two mediocre offers will trickle in, leaving you with limited choices. You’ll likely find yourself with multiple offers to consider, so you can feel confident that this transaction will end in a way you’re satisfied. You can also just sell your vehicle to our dealership for a hassle-free experience and a good price.

If you are hoping to sell your car to buy a new one or a different pre-owned one, many dealerships are currently offering excellent trade-in programs like ours. You can easily use our website to value how much your trade-in is worth. You can also search through our current inventory to find something new, and use our payment calculator to see what your monthly payments will look like after your trade-in is deducted. That helps you instantly see massive savings on your new purchase. Plus, it lets you do both the process of selling and buying a car in the same place, minimizing the time commitment, the paperwork, and the headache.

With many experts stating that the lull in new car manufacturing might end soon, this moment in time presents an interesting opportunity. You could sell your used car now, taking advantage of the multiple offers and high bids that are coming in. Then, you could hold onto that profit and wait for the dip in new car prices that might be just around the corner. It’s the sell high, buy low method. If you can wait a little while to get a new car, you could see dealerships offering great deals again in no time and put the sales from your used car to optimal use.

With it still being early in the year, you can enjoy the income from your used car sale for many months before paying taxes on it. Those won’t be due until next year. Those who made sales towards the end of 2021 had to turn around and rapidly pay taxes on those profits. But now, with it still being early in the New Year, you can enjoy putting off paying the tax on your sale for a while.

Nobody can ever determine the exact right moment to sell their used car. However, historically, this is one of the best times to sell a used car that the automobile market has ever seen. You can’t ask for much better conditions than are present right now. There aren’t enough new cars, so people turn to used cars at unprecedented rates. There’s a major avoidance of public transit happening. There are so many reasons people want to buy used cars now. It’s a seller’s market, so get out there and sell your car.