GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I was wondering if anyone here could give me words of wisdom on selling my 2009 Vibe privately. I love my car I affectionately call Zippy but I need something larger and need to part with it. Since I'm in no real hurry to sell Zippy I'd like to take my time & do this right and not go thru a dealer. Thank you for your time & help, sincerely, Lisa

Larger than a vibe? What do you need, a church van?!?!

If you are going to sell privately, research your vibe, have as much info on its history in paper form as possible. Then, get the average pricing for your area. Set a "low-ball" price in your head, this is your lowest you will go, no lower. Now, depending on how fast you want to sell, you ask closer to the average to take possibly longer, and closer to your low-ball to sell quicker. Doing this, I was smack in the middle of my asking and my low-ball when I sold my sunfire. Yes, it sat for almost 6 months, but, I was patient.

The best possible solution, is of course, keep your vibe. I can't imagine you needing something any bigger for everyday use.

Both of you meet at the Secretary of State office or bank, you receive the money (if paid by check, cash it right there and then at the bank), and you both sign the title. Don't just sign the title, hand it to the new owner, and watch him or her walk away. Be sure the new owner signs it in your presence. Even if you sign off on a car, you are still legally responsible for any damage that car might cause to others until they take legal ownership with their signature.

Thank you for the great advice so far, I greatly appreciate it!! I need a bigger vehicle to tote my canopy, table & chairs & baby & stroller to art shows. I do pet portraits & when it was just me it was fine, I could lay down the back seat & everything fit. Now that I'm expecting in a few weeks I realize I won't possibly be able to take everything I need to events along with the wee one. I really do love my Vibe but the sad fact is I need something a bit larger, still haven't decided what that is though. It may end up being a truck with an extended cab with a bed cover to keep my table, chairs, canopy & stroller in, we'll see, still lots to figure out. Thank you again everyone for your help, sincerely, Lisa

Welcome to GenVibe Lisa Congrats on the "soon to be" addition to your family Give us some input as to your trim level on your Vibe. Also approximate geographic location. You never know who could be viewing in this forum and could possibly produce some sales leads. I'll also assume that you are the original owner so you'd have the exact history and maintenance of the vehicle. Good luck!

itlldofarm wrote:Thank you for the great advice so far, I greatly appreciate it!! I need a bigger vehicle to tote my canopy, table & chairs & baby & stroller to art shows. I do pet portraits & when it was just me it was fine, I could lay down the back seat & everything fit. Now that I'm expecting in a few weeks I realize I won't possibly be able to take everything I need to events along with the wee one. I really do love my Vibe but the sad fact is I need something a bit larger, still haven't decided what that is though. It may end up being a truck with an extended cab with a bed cover to keep my table, chairs, canopy & stroller in, we'll see, still lots to figure out. Thank you again everyone for your help, sincerely, Lisa

That is the downside to the vibe, it can haul a lot of stuff, or a family, but, not both. I feel your pain, as When we travel as a family, the vibe is a bit cramped with everybody and their travel stuff. Having the toddler, if we just make a small trip, we have to stuff the vibe so full, it's almost impossible to get in to drive.

Good luck with your sale, and, like was mentioned, post details on here, we may have a friend or relative that is in the market, or, there could be some potential new members waiting for the perfect Vibe to buy.

Oh, and congratulations!!!

hotbug1776 wrote: Good luck with your sale, and, like was mentioned, post details on here, we may have a friend or relative that is in the market, or, there could be some potential new members waiting for the perfect Vibe to buy.

Oh, and congratulations!!!

Ditto! I have relatives looking for a newer car this weekend. If you were close, I would let them know about it.

I have sold a lot of cars over the years as well as helped others. I find the kbb and Edmunds sites to be somewhat useless in determining market value. For the last three I have sold I did a national search on CarMax.com to see what "no haggle price" they were asking for a similarly equipped car with about the same mileage. I also took the car to CarMax locally to get their offer to buy. Pricing somewhat in the middle of their retail and offer to buy has always produced a quick sale. I show the CarMax retails to the prospective buyer. I am happy - the buyer is happy. Example, sold my 2004 Town and County in 2007. CarMax offered me $8,000. They were retailing these for $14,000. I asked $11,900 and sold for $11,500. Last month I sold a 2002 Buick Century Ltd V-6 with 10,000 miles- CarMax offered $4,500. They were retailing these for $11,000. (Who would pay that for a ten year old Buick?) Asked $7,900, sold for $7,500. I could have sold 2 more of those. In Jan. 2009 I sold my 6 year old 2003 Vibe base AT Power package 33,000 miles - asked $9,750, sold for $9,500. All of those sales took less than 3 weeks. There is a huge markup in used cars today. If I were to sell my 2009 Vibe base AT Power package today with 18,000 miles I would expect to have no trouble getting about $11,500 due to its low miles. [After discounts, rebates etc. I only paid $12,000 plus tax for it new in Jan. 2009.] Too many used are sellers get greedy - my neighbor is trying to sell a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix 70,500 miles for $6,200. Three weeks and no bites. That is likely not far from what dealers are asking.

itlldofarm wrote:Thank you for the great advice so far, I greatly appreciate it!! I need a bigger vehicle to tote my canopy, table & chairs & baby & stroller to art shows. I do pet portraits & when it was just me it was fine, I could lay down the back seat & everything fit. Now that I'm expecting in a few weeks I realize I won't possibly be able to take everything I need to events along with the wee one. I really do love my Vibe but the sad fact is I need something a bit larger, still haven't decided what that is though. It may end up being a truck with an extended cab with a bed cover to keep my table, chairs, canopy & stroller in, we'll see, still lots to figure out. Thank you again everyone for your help, sincerely, Lisa

If you really like the Vibe, and have room to store it, a small trailer might work for the art show stuff. $200 for a trailer hitch and another several hundred for a small open trailer, and you would have the best of both worlds when you need it, cargo capacity and good gas mileage. Just something to consider.

Search online for a "used car sales agreement". You will find many models that you can print out and add your own information to. This is a contract that can be used in case the buyer tries to come back and blame something on you after the sale. It will basically say that the car is being sold as is, blah blah blah. I used one of these when I sold my 2002 Pontiac Sunfire GT Coupe back in 2008. I filled out all the info in front of the buyer - the VIN, mileage, sale price, etc. and then the buyer and I both signed it. I had a copy made immediately. I kept the copy and gave the buyer the original.

Another thing I would suggest is to only accept cash from the buyer. When researching selling my Sunfire, I asked about this at my bank. They said the best way to ensure not getting screwed over is to only accept cash. If the buyer writes a check, even if you cash it immediately, it can take a while for a check to "bounce" and by this time the buyer would already have the vehicle, title, etc. and you'd be SOL. Also, do not give the buyer the title until the cash is in the bank.

Sorry to hear you're looking to get rid of the Vibe, but it definitely sounds like you have good reason. Best of luck with your new vehicle search and Vibe sale and congratulations on your upcoming new arrival !

Of the three sales I described, two were sold just by a sign on the window and to people in the neighborhood that I knew. Their checks were o.k. The T&C required a newspaper ad - got a certified bank check for that one. I am a lawyer and never bothered to get a written "as-is" agreement - probably a good idea but might spook a lot of buyers. I forgot about the 1997 Corolla I sold in 2001. This very attractive young lady stopped to see it and wanted to take it for a test drive. Being cautious I of course rode along. In the middle of that it dawned on me that this lady could accuse me of sexual assault and it would be my word against hers. That is a more serious risk than not having an as-is contract. She didn't buy it - someone in the neighborhood saw it and called a friend that was looking for a car.

This is an old thread but wanted to add my 2 cents.

When you sell private party you might find that no one can finance more than what KBB.com (or some other valuation website) gives as a value - that is what happened to me. At the time I tried to sell the dealerships were asking between $16-17k for a 2009 Vibe 2.4L with about 15k on the odo. The one guy that was interested could only offer me $13,500 or so, which was the max that KBB.com valued the car as a private party sale. I refused to "lose" $3k v. what someone would pay a dealership for the exact same car. I mean, I realize the idea behind a retailer having a higher price, but that was ridiculous to me. If I had traded the car in to a dealer it would have been retailed at $17k I bet. Exact same car.