What’s the best way to sell a car in Los Angeles?

We’ll tell you one thing about LA: Nobody walks. The West Coast metropolis is one of the most car-dependent cities in the states. There’s not much in the way of public transportation either, so you really need a reliable vehicle to get around.

LA is also a pretty expensive place to live. The cost of living is high—and no one wants to cut down on their green juice, porto pastries and matcha lattes unless they really, really have to, right? So it makes sense that a lot of LA peeps are often thinking about how to stretch their budgets, and having an efficient car is an obvious choice. There’s always a healthy trade of people buying and selling their cars to get some extra cash or an upgrade.

But what’s the best way to sell a car in Los Angeles? Let’s take a quick look at your options.

private buyer

If you live in LA you’ve no doubt spotted plenty of cars with pooly handwritten cardboard signs in the window offering a quick sale. Sure, it’s one way to shift a car, but it’s as unreliable as it can get. Expect a massive time suck at best, scammers at worst.

The same can be said for online marketplaces like Facebook or Craigslist. Selling a car on these platforms can be a real drag, with tons of messages from people trying to haggle you down. You might think you’ve bagged a buyer—but when the day comes to exchange, you get ghosted.

dealerships and trade-ins

There’s plenty of dealerships in LA and chances are some will be happy to give you an offer for your old car. However, they will be looking to squeeze some profit out of the deal, so don’t expect to make much. A trade-in will usually be the best offer, but you’ll still typically get less than value. If you haven’t done much research, or don’t know your car value, you could get a bad deal.

Dealerships are usually only interested in newer models—and even then, they expect the car to be clean, polished, and in good condition. If your car is an old rustbucket, you’re better off selling it to Peddle (because we’ll buy any car, whatever shape it’s in).

salvage yard

If your car is a real junker, then one option is to head over to one of LAs salvage yards. The downside of this option is that you might end up disappointed at how much cash gets offered—and driving around to different scrap yards to get the best deal is time consuming - if your car still drives at all.

We’ll be straight with you. There are tons of options to sell a junk car in LA, but it’s not the most fun activity you can do in the city—not by a long shot. If you want to sell your old gas guzzler and buy a more economical model, or cash in an old car to grab some World Series tickets for the Dodgers (we can dream, right!?) Peddle’s here for an easy payday.

Just tell us a few details about your car and we’ll give you an offer in minutes. We’ll send a pickup and hand you a check. You can do it all online, which means no lengthy phone calls, or sitting on hold for a sales rep. And you definitely won’t need to sit in traffic driving it to a scrap heap.

In a town where everything can feel like Hollywood fiction, Peddle’s the real deal.