Instead of Craigs list, I’d post on Auto Trader. Another option is KBB.com has a service that helps you sell cars as well.

About a year and a half ago I sold a vehicle to Car Max. I did not get as much as I might have had I sold it on CL, but I was by no means ripped off either. The entire transaction took about an hour, no aggravations, I waited in their air conditioned lobby and had a Diet Coke while they looked the car over, I got my money immediately, I took a taxi home, and I was happy.

Up until one signs there is no obligation, either. You can go there, have them look over your car and if you don't want to sell for what they offer that is fine. They hold the offer open a certain amount of time, I forget how long, if you want to go home and think about it.

Yes as mentioned, have a friend or family member with you.

Elmer's advice is excellent. Involve your father in this or any male friend.

I have always accompanied them to the DMV and waited while they registered the car in their name. In my state, even with a bill of sale, I would be responsible or at the least "sue-able" if there were an accident before the title was transferred. I don't need that! I then dropped the insurance with a phone call on the way home. Done!

I think a bank can also assist with this. My bank OK'd the buyer's check and deposited it to my account. They had registration papers for the new owner to fill out and sign. They took care of mailing it in. No charge; 'customer service'.

You do want to observe the car getting re-registered. I didn't one time, and the buyer never re-registered it. I got a call from the police when his son was pulled over driving it with another car's plates on it. They ran the VIN, which came up in my name. I had kept the dated bill of sale with the buyer's name on it, but it was still a worry I could have avoided.

Oooh, I forgot, you need to endorse the Pink Slip (Title doc) and give it to the buyer.

In California, the seller's business with the DMV and the buyer's are wholly independent of one another. There's no need to accompany the buyer to the DMV office nor for them to accompany you, they don't need you and you don't need them to be there. The seller fills out a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability form that identifies the car, both the buyer's and seller's names and addresses, date of sale, odometer reading, amount of sale (for tax purposes) and that's that. I checked to post this response and it's due within 5 days of sale.

Wherever you're located, what needs to be done with your state's DMV is likely available on its website, check it in advance. Be careful, there's a private website called DMV.com that's a privately owned business and not affiliated with any government.

Make sure you know the title transfer rules for the state. In PA the owner MUST sign the title at the Notary and provide a Driver's License or other state issued ID at the time of signing. If you don't do this, the new owner can't get a title and registration in their name.

KBB.com is an easy way to sell your car to a local dealer or local resident. It also guides you in preparing the car for sale, how and where to advertise, the value, etc.

Good luck!

In some states the title has a tear off section that the seller and buyer sign to remove all responsibility from the seller. It gets torn off and sent to the state capital. So if the buyer doesn't register it, no worries.

I liked having my bank verify that the buyer's check was good. Now that I'm thinking about that car, I remember that when I bought it from a private party, she asked me to come to her bank. She had a loan on the car and wanted to settle that at the same time. That may be where I got the idea to use my bank.

I wonder if that car is still on the road...1989 Jaguar XJS.

Elmer J Fudd is correct. There's good reason to have a signed copy of the sale.

If the buyer does not register/license the car, it is still in your name with the state motor vehicle department even though its no longer in your possession. If that car is involved in any malfeasance, its gets traced back to you! This happened to my nephew. He was out of state and sold his car to someone I knew who was a deadbeat. The new owner collected a batch of overnight parking tickets and within a month, the police were dunning my nephew for payment. Because my nephew had a copy of the bill of sale, he was able to mail a copy of this with a note identifying who the new owner was. That ended his problem.

I recently sold my car on craigslist. Within 30 minutes of placing the ad, I had three people interested. The first one came over to our house to test drive. They left their nice car in our driveway while they drove mine, so I wasn't worried about them stealing my 10 year old clunker with almost 200K on it. (I'm sure any number of other things could have gone wrong besides potential theft of the vehicle, but we took that chance.) These folks ended up purchasing the car and everything went smoothly. Because they live several hours away, I did not accompany them to the DMV, but when I went to transfer the plate to my new car, I had the DMV clerk confirm that my old car had been registered in their name.

If you don't want/need the money from the sale, you could always donate. I looked into it and found it is extremely easy to do - the recipient organization will frequently come get the car, but you usually have to wait until they sell it to know how much you will have for a tax deduction (if that is a factor).