What's Really Stressing Me Out

The thing that is top on my stress list is selling my car. It's a 2005 VW Beetle convertible, black interior, black exterior, 70k miles....

Here's the good:

• It's a convertible..what a better place to sell a convertible than sunny San Diego.
• One owner - myself.
• Drives well - I would drive it across country without worrying about it.
• A/C is cold as ice
• Standard sound systems is pretty rockin'
• The inside leather is in good condition.
• I'm selling it for only $9k, which is a real steal. A five year loan on that would be about $200 a month.
• All oil changes have always been on time. All maintenance has always been done on time.
• It has a lo-jack car theft security system.
• It has all it's auxiliary parts, like the convertible top cover, the wind break, etc.
• Brand new tires and back shocks.

Here's the bad:

• The bank still holds the title. Although this doesn't make the care unsellable, it means the new owner and myself have to hassle the bank about sending the title ASAP. And if the person is getting a loan, their bank might want the title to secure the loan.
• It has some scratches. One where I ran over a rock in the mountains and one where I backed into a pole in a parking garage...they're not un-fixable, but they're definitely noticeable.
• The A/C smells like feet, but John assures me that can be corrected before we sell.
• That stupid flower vase that goes in these Bugs is missing (okay I threw it away because it grossed me out).
• The back windows don't roll down. But to be fair these are TINY windows.
• When the car first starts it can't tell the difference between a hot and cold engine, so it always tells you the engine is overheating...which is just annoying more than it is anything else.
• It's been in one accident, which insurance completely fixed everything, but the passenger's side window has been rattly ever since.
• The used car market is bottomed out. Not many people out there looking for luxury cars.

Okay, that's all. My intent with this post is to kind of grasp how I want to go about marketing this car. My planned "start" date for selling it is Feb 14th, the day I give my two week notice at work. We have to have it out of our hands by March, otherwise I don't know what to do. A lot of people have told me to go to Car Max, but I know they'll give me a quote of $5k or less, when I need to pay off the entire loan (which is at $9k).

Oh, did I mention we have to sell John's truck too? Which I'm not too worried about as he's already received two offers. We only owe $5k on his truck and it's a pretty sweet truck with a sweet custom sound system. So I know it'll go pretty fast.

I might try eBay. I'm not a huge fan of Craigslists, as you get many looky-loos and no one who ever bothers to get back to you after viewing the car initially. Or you get a lot of dumb questions like, "Can I take over your loan?" Sure....let me let you pay me every month even though I don't know you....no thanks, plus many banks won't even do loan takeovers anymore.

Okay, that's my biggest stress. I can do this.