Independent pre-sale advice for private sellers
Before your car goes on Bring a Trailer, Cars & Bids, PCARMARKET, a private sale or a dealer trade-in, I'll tell you which repairs will raise the price and which ones to skip. Twenty years buying, reconditioning and selling cars. No stake in your repair bill.
Free 15-min call · $125 review · $350 report · $595 sale support
Illustrative example. Your report covers your car.
How it works
You do the selling and your shop does the work. I tell you where the money is.
Fifteen minutes to talk through the car, where you plan to sell it, and which option fits. If you don't need a paid review, I'll tell you.
Fill out the intake and share 18 photos from the shot list. Not nearby? Order an independent inspection, like Lemon Squad, and send me the report. Around Hartford and Springfield, I can look at it in person.
Every issue gets a call, with what it costs to fix, what it adds to the sale price, and what you net.
You get a realistic price and the best time to sell. With Sale Support, I'm with you through the auction or the dealer negotiation.
What the right fixes are worth
A 1980s Toyota Celica sold on Bring a Trailer for $15,500 with body damage and in less-than-ideal condition. The buyer made a short list of key reconditioning fixes and relisted it on the same site, where it sold for $33,500.
Not every car moves that far. But plenty of listings carry $1,000 to $2,000 of fixable problems that cost their sellers $2,000 to $8,000 at the hammer.
From public auction results. Not a Sale Ready client.
Pricing
Every option starts with a free 15-minute screening call. Prices are per car.
Start here · Free
We talk through the car, where you plan to sell it, and which option below fits. If you don't need a paid review, I'll tell you.
One hour with me, by phone or video
$125
Spend $300 on a fix that adds $1,000 to the price, and you're $700 ahead. That's the math we do on every item.
Usually scheduled within a few days
A written report built for your car
$350
Everything in the One-Hour Review, plus a written report with:
Report in 3 business days
With you until the car sells
$595
Everything in the Sale Ready Report, plus:
Starts when your report is delivered
If you need an inspection report, you pay the inspection company directly. Repairs are done by your own shop.
I don't do repairs, sell parts or take a cut from shops, so the only thing I'm working on is your sale price.
Who's looking at your car
Founder, Sale Ready Motor Co.
My family owned Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick franchises, so I grew up in the business. At 18 I went into dealer-to-dealer wholesale and spent the next 11 years buying and selling trade-ins: putting numbers on cars, reconditioning them, and getting top dollar for every one.
Then I spent 8 years as Director of Remarketing for the largest indirect auto lessor in the country. My department sold lease returns at auctions nationwide. I ran pricing and sale strategy on more than $1 billion in vehicles, with peak months above 2,000 cars sold.
Every one of those cars came down to the same question: what do you fix before it sells? Now I answer it for you.
When I'm not looking at your car, I'm usually working on one of mine, most likely my twin-turbo C6 Z06, which makes a little over 1,400 horsepower at the wheels.
Get started
Fill out the intake and share your photos, or start with a free call if you're not sure a review is worth it.
Questions
No. You take the Fix list to your own shop, and I'll tell you what kind of shop to look for if you don't have one. I don't do repairs, sell parts or take a cut from shops, so the advice stays about your sale price.
Usually, yes. Dealers price reconditioning at their own cost, so most repairs won't come back to you at trade-in. A few cheap ones do: a detail, a second key, service records in a folder and clearing a warning light. The One-Hour Review covers which ones apply to your car. With Sale Support, I'll also help you negotiate the dealer's number up.
Yes. Most reviews are done remotely from your 18 photos and a phone or video call. For higher-value cars, order an independent inspection, like Lemon Squad, and send me the report. You pay the inspection company directly.
One-Hour Reviews are usually scheduled within a few days. The written Sale Ready Report comes back within 3 business days of receiving your photos. Sale Support starts when your report is delivered and runs through one auction or one dealer negotiation.
No one can. Auction results depend on the market and on who's bidding that week. What I can do is keep you from spending money that won't come back, and point you to the fixes that usually do.
No. Sale Ready Motor Co. is independent. I'll recommend whichever venue fits your car, including a private sale or a trade-in.