There are two very important distinctions between curbstoners and you, acting as a private party seller.

First, your car is legally registered in your name. Most curbstoners don’t bother to register the cars they sell. Instead, they quickly flip their vehicle purchases so the title transfers from the previous owner to the new owner, skipping the curbstoner.

Second, you probably have only one or two cars to sell. A typical curbstoner, being an unlicensed dealer, sells several used cars a month, every month, all year long.

Curbstoners pretend to be private parties, but they’re not. They’re unlicensed businesses, making a profit with no accountability, regulation, or recourse for their customers.

Can You Detect Collision Damage?

Uncover the telltale signs of collision damage with this free field guide from Stop Curbstoning.

Tip #2: Fix It Up

Most professional dealers have the vehicles they sell serviced, or at least inspected for any major problems. Take a page from them: a quick safety and mechanical check-up will give you peace of mind.

Black hat scoop from an ex-curbstoner:

“Sometimes, we’d slap on a quick oil change and clean the spark plugs. That way, the car’d run great on the test drive, and it’d usually pass a smog test.”

Also, go ahead and make any minor repairs. You might not think a little thing like a lost cigarette lighter or a burned-out interior light is a big deal, but those details make a difference in the way your vehicle is perceived. You don’t want a potential buyer worried about what else might be wrong.

Black hat scoop from an ex-curbstoner:

“We used a light coat of paint to touch up sun-faded black vinyl. Then we’d hit it with one of those vinyl protectants. It’d make the dashboard look like the car’d been garaged all its life! We didn’t try to match other colors, though – it was too hard.”

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