1997 960 Volvo Sedan, in Sarasota County FL

I would take it to an auto detailer, have them clean it inside and out, maybe even get the engine cleaned.

Then I would make sure you know everything that has been done to maintain the car, any work done or parts replaced. Also be prepared to inform the buyer of any problems you see with the car.

I think the best way to sell a car is for it to be clean, have information to inform the buyer of what he/she's buying, and not surprise the buyer with things going wrong soon after (if there are problems).

Check the Kelly Blue Book Value for private party kbb.com and see how you compare.

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Make sure it is tuned up and runs reasonably well.

Spend most of your time and money DETAILING the car, interior, exterior, heck take it to a DIY carwash and powerwash the engine bay.

Then list it in the classifieds at your local newspaper, also IPD and craigslist.

From your description I would say that you are going to have a hard time paying off your loan when selling the car. According to Edmunds.com such a vehicle is worth under $2,000 as a trade-in value and around $2,500-$3,000 in a private party sale.

Carefully with that. It is VERY EASY to get water into ignition and other critical components by blasting away at the engine bay with a pressure washer.

John

I've never found Edmunds to be useful for relatively sought after cars, the few Volvos I've sold I got about double what the listed book value was, and for a while late model 240s were going for closer to 3x book value and real nice ones still are.