Buy Used Cars Houston

Q.I am selling a car (99 Mustang GT conv) and really don't want to hassle with showing/selling it to an individual. I got a bid on it from CarMax and it wasn't too bad but I'd like to get a few hundred more for it, if possible. Anybody know of cash car buyers/dealers who pay good prices for good-condition, low-mileage cars?

A.Think. If you sell your car to CarMax or some other dealer, they MUST buy at or near actual wholesale price so they and the salesman can make a profit and a living from the tranaction. The retail prices in the paper or online is what they will charge for your unit. Often this is $1000 or more than the wholesale price (what they pay you) They will pay to advertise it and talk to the lookers, wannabe buyers and ultimately sell the unit. Car salesmen (professional ones) make between $30,000 to $100,000 annually. They sell on average 10 to 35 cars a month each in order to keep their jobs. That means they must make an average of $238-250 commission on each sale to be able to feed their families. The actual amount the dealer makes on each unit must be at least triple that to pay for advertising, the sales comission and other costs of business. This means the dealer will be adding a minimum of $750-$1000 to wholesale. You cannot get this money because you won't go through what it takes to sell the unit to the public at retail. You cannot beat the dealer at his own game because he does these transactions every day and you do a transaction once every couple years. To get maximum $ for your car you must sell at retail to someone who will use and drive the car. Others must make a profit and cannot pay near what you think the car will bring if they wish to stay in business. If you trade in a car, the transaction is the same because the dealer must make a profit on both cars ( the one you sell him and the one he sells you) except in this case two salesman must be paid comissions. A tradein allows more room for the dealer to futz with the numbers to either show you a number you want for your trade or to give you a low price before the trade is deducted. Although there are thieves and charlatons in the car business as there are in all businesses, most dealers and salesmen are just trying to feed their families and vices. They must make a profit to be sucessful. If the car sales business was easy, no one would sell wholesale and the dealers would be few and far between. A route you might use is to take it to Houston Auto Auction, or United Auto Auction is Pasadena. Many dealers will be bidding simultaneously on your unit and your funds are guaranteed. The auction will fetch the maximum price available at the time of sale. Make sure the car is in good repair and clean for max return. The auction house will charge a modest fee ($75-125) for their service.

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