I've never tried to sell on craigslist so will need to study up on what to watch out for. Any advice will be appreciated.
Here are a few of the things I did last time I sold a car on CL...
Put as much detail in your ad as you can. At a minimum, include the make, model, option package, mileage, maintenance history, and price. Include as many pictures as CL will allow. Shoot the car from all four sides, and take more pics of the interior. If there's any damage, take closeups so the buyer isn't surprised when they see the car in person. CL has an option to display your location on a map. I'd either pass on that or offset the dot so it's not displaying your actual location.
Don't put your phone number in the CL ad. Use the confidential email that CL provides for all communication, at least at first.
Put something in the ad like "Put "SUV For Sale" in your email subject line or your email will be ignored." That will let you quickly weed out robot replies and spammers, as well as people too stupid to do business with (PTSTDBW).
Talk to the potential buyer on the telephone before agreeing to meet them. Use that call to weed out the looky-lous and potential criminals. If something sounds fishy during the conversation, just say something like "you are not the first caller and I'll let you know if the deal falls through".
If the call goes well, offer to meet the potential buyer at a bank, preferably their bank. It's a public place, and most have ample parking. Time the meeting for daylight hours when there will be other people around.
Insist on accompanying the potential buyer on any test drive, and consider asking a friend to go along, too. Wouldn't hurt to carry concealed if you are legally able to do so.
There are several places online where you can download a bill of sale. Make two copies, one for you, one for the buyer. Get signatures on both of them. Include the phrase "sold as is, without warranty" somewhere on the BOS. Leave blank spaces for the date, signatures, and selling price.
Don't forget to bring the vehicle title and any other paperwork needed by your state's motor vehicle department.
Once you've agreed on a price, go into the bank together to arrange payment. The amount is probably too large for cash, and you'll end up with a bank draft. That's OK since you're at the issuing bank and they will not write the draft if there are insufficient funds in the buyer's account.
