Anyone use AutoTrader’s Private Seller Exchange?

I'm looking at an ad on Autotrader for a car that's listed by a verified Seller on their Private Seller Exchange. Apparently they middle-man the whole process from arranging a test drive to securing a loan and registering in buyer's home state.

anyoen have experience using this service as either buyer or seller?

thanks!!!

No experience with that one, but I did hear about Private Auto via the Car Dealership Guy's podcast (he had an executive on his show a while back, and I believe the Car Dealership Guy is also an investor).  Services to help facilitate private party transactions seem to be gaining traction, especially with inventory challenges, and the spreads between trade-in and private party increasing as the prices of all cars are going up. Private auto envisions themselves as a marketplace where people go to find cars for sale, but that feels like a bit of a stretch to me based on their listings on the website.  But they do have another product (Deal Now) that's specifically designed to handle the financial aspects of the transaction (basically an escrow service).  For just that end of the deal, they charge a flat fee of $150, which seems pretty fair from my perspective.

The AutoTrader option seems to cover financing and registering, which can be a pain, as well.  If I was selling a higher-value used car, I think I would consider using a service like one of these two.   It splits the difference between taking a beating by trading the car in, and carrying a lot of the risk on the sale of the car (bank check, wire, cash, something else, etc.).

dj06482 (Forum Supporter) said:

No experience with that one, but I did hear about Private Auto via the Car Dealership Guy's podcast (he had an executive on his show a while back, and I believe the Car Dealership Guy is also an investor).  Services to help facilitate private party transactions seem to be gaining traction, especially with inventory challenges, and the spreads between trade-in and private party increasing as the prices of all cars are going up. Private auto envisions themselves as a marketplace where people go to find cars for sale, but that feels like a bit of a stretch to me based on their listings on the website.  But they do have another product (Deal Now) that's specifically designed to handle the financial aspects of the transaction (basically an escrow service).  For just that end of the deal, they charge a flat fee of $150, which seems pretty fair from my perspective.

The AutoTrader option seems to cover financing and registering, which can be a pain, as well.  If I was selling a higher-value used car, I think I would consider using a service like one of these two.   It splits the difference between taking a beating by trading the car in, and carrying a lot of the risk on the sale of the car (bank check, wire, cash, something else, etc.).

 

from a tax perspective, does this count as a dealer transaction?  I ask because in a private party transaction in the state of Illinois the taxes are based on the year of the vehicle instead of the % of the sale price.  

I don't know for certain but would *assume* it's a personal transaction.  I don't think the title gets assigned to a middle-entity in this case, so the transfer is private to private.

glueguy (Forum Supporter) said:

I don't know for certain but would *assume* it's a personal transaction.  I don't think the title gets assigned to a middle-entity in this case, so the transfer is private to private.

I assume the same, I would think it would be the equivalent of using an escrow service.  Never hurts to double-check with the company offering the service, though.

I bought my NC this way from a guy in NY, shipped it to Wisconsin.  IIRC autotrader held the title and sent me a package to reg the car after I had the car picked up.  No issues, it was a pretty clean deal.  It didn't hurt that when I asked about the car here on GRM that the seller popped up and a friend vouched for him.

Of course I'm pretty easygoing about transactions like this.  I would even send a check off to Florida for a sight unseen Jaguar that the seller agreed to leave at the airport for me to pick up...

In reply to jwagner (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks for the feedback. I'm looking to fly and drive cars that are more $ than I feel comfortable having stolen by TSA, um I mean carrying into unfamiliar areas.

jwagner (Forum Supporter) said:

I bought my NC this way from a guy in NY, shipped it to Wisconsin.  IIRC autotrader held the title and sent me a package to reg the car after I had the car picked up.  No issues, it was a pretty clean deal.  It didn't hurt that when I asked about the car here on GRM that the seller popped up and a friend vouched for him.

Of course I'm pretty easygoing about transactions like this.  I would even send a check off to Florida for a sight unseen Jaguar that the seller agreed to leave at the airport for me to pick up...

 

For NC, what pack did they send you? I just received a registration card alone. is that enough to register the car? Did you have to get it inspected first?

I've never heard about this before, but I'm thinking about selling one of my cars, and I could see where something like this could be very useful, in both a convenience and peace of mind sort of way.