In general, you can sell a car the same ways that you can buy a car: through a dealer, through a service station, or in a private transaction. There are two reasons why someone would buy your car: Either they want it for themselves, or they believe they can resell it at a profit. If the buyer plans to resell your car, don't count on getting the best price. You're apt to get the best price if you sell it privately, but the least hassle if you sell it to a dealer. People who buy used cars every day, as dealers do, know what they are willing to pay, and they'll have the necessary paperwork--and the money--ready at hand. Selling a car privately involves placing an ad or displaying the car someplace with a For Sale sign on it, and being prepared to field phone calls. It also means you'll have to show the car to strangers and perhaps let them into your house. Make it presentable. Regardless of how you try to sell your car, make it as clean as you can, inside and out (see Investing in selling, below). Wipe or vacuum all surfaces you can reach, including the trunk and engine compartment. If you're due for an oil change, have that done. Pull together your service records and repair receipts and any other proof you have that the car was maintained properly. If the car has any faults that make it illegal or dangerous, such as bald tires, a leaking exhaust system, or missing lights, have those things repaired or disclose them fully to the buyer. Find the price. To figure out what your old car is worth, you can use the Consumer Reports Used Car Price Service or one of the price services available on the web. Checking local classified ads can give you an idea of the retail asking prices for cars like yours. You might also want to find the wholesale price. That will help in your negotiations if you decide to trade in your car to a dealer. Take it to the used-car department of local car dealers, particularly those that sell your brand. Ask the used-car manager what the dealership would give you in a straight-out sale. This, too, is a negotiation, so counter the first offer with a higher figure. Try for a target price of around 80 percent of the retail price. The dealer may not budge much, but it does not hurt to ask. Once you've canvassed several dealers, you'll have a good idea of your car's true wholesale value in your area. You may even decide that a quick, sure sale is worth forgoing the best price. Trade-in strategy. If you're trading in an old car on a new one, try to get the best possible price on both cars. The temptation is to make the best deal you can on the new car, and then talk trade. The trouble with that approach is that once you're committed to the new car, the dealer has every incentive to try to lowball you--offer a ridiculously low price--on the trade. And after the intense emotion of the new-car negotiation, you might not have the stomach to fight back. It may make more sense to negotiate the trade-in price first. Tell the salesperson that you're ready to buy a new whatever-it-is, but the deal hinges on getting a good trade-in price. If the dealership refuses to give you a figure for the trade-in or if the figure is just too low, consider selling your car elsewhere. If you get a trade-in offer you can live with, go to work on negotiating for the new car. Start from scratch, as if the trade-in didn't exist. Bargain up from the dealer's invoice price, and make it clear that you're asking for the lowest markup over invoice the dealership will allow. Remember, no matter how tired you are of your old car, the dealership is not doing you a favor. If it buys your old car, it's because it plans to make a profit when selling it. Selling to a private party. This approach always requires the most work on your part, but it's also the best way to get the most money. Check classified-ad publications and local newspapers with the largest circulation and best classified sections. To maintain a certain amount of security, you can offer to meet a prospective buyer at a neutral location (say, a shopping mall). That way, you don't necessarily have to have the buyer come to your home.

Does it make sense to invest time and money in making a used car look really good? To find out, Consumer Reports started with a 1995 Subaru Legacy sedan. For five years and 92,000 miles the Legacy had been a family car--and showed it. Although well maintained, it looked a little shabby. The body had numerous superficial scratches. A small dent in the driver's door was painfully obvious every time you reached for the door handle. A dime-sized star marred the windshield. Inside, the carpets and upholstery were sound but dirty. A child safety seat had left a long rust-colored stain on a rear seat.Price guides and local classifieds gave us an inkling of what the car was worth. It looked like the retail price--what you would expect to pay from a dealer--was more than $10,500. But the wholesale price--what a dealer would pay--was closer to $5,000. Without making any improvements to the car, we took it to some dealers and asked what they'd buy it for. A Toyota dealer declined to make an offer. A multibrand dealer offered $5,500 without looking at the car. One Subaru dealer offered $6,000 after a lengthy inspection. A second Subaru dealer offered $6,700.Then we went to work. A windshield-repair specialist charged $50 to fix the windshield, shrinking the blemish to pinhead size. A mechanic put us in touch with a specialist in paintless dent repair. This type of a service, which is sometimes franchised under such names as Dent Doctor or DentPro, uses special tools to massage out small dents from the inside. Removing our door dent cost $50 and was a nearly flawless repair.We used a carpet-cleaning spray ($6) on the seats. It did a good job. We took the front floor mats to a carpet-cleaning service ($15). We cleaned the battery and terminals with diluted baking soda and sprayed the battery with a clear sealer we bought at an auto-parts store.Then we had a body shop buff and touch up the exterior. For $200 the car came out gleaming, with the remaining body scratches barely noticeable. After investing $321, the car looked better than it had in years.We took the Legacy to a couple more Subaru dealers. The first offer, $5,065, was the lowest yet. But the second post-spiff-up offer was better: $8,000.One clear lesson: It pays to shop around. That and our $321 investment increased what we could make by selling the Legacy by at least $1,300, and possibly as much as nearly $3,000. And it certainly felt better to show a car that was in apple-pie order.