To sell a car on Autotrader, you buy a private ad for $9, $29 or $49, depending on the asking price; it also runs on KBB.com. A sale paid through its Private Seller Exchange adds a fee of 0.99% of the price, at least $99. Or take a Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer, which a dealer pays.
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Autotrader’s Sell My Car page starts with your VIN or plate and lays out four steps: list the car, talk to buyers, sell online, get paid. The ad gives you:
The terms of sale carry rules worth reading before you pay. You must have “possession of the actual vehicle listed and the ability to transfer title,” and be prepared to sell at the price you list. The year, make, model and VIN can’t be edited once the ad is bought. Private sellers may list no more than five vehicles a year. An ad can be held for fraud screening for up to 24 hours before it appears, and the fee is generally not refunded, even when the car doesn’t sell.
Private Seller Exchange, or PSX, is the checkout behind Autotrader’s private ads. It began as a separate company: Autotrader’s FAQ says “TRED has joined the Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book family and is now called Private Seller Exchange.” When the buyer pays through it, PSX:
Two of its rules differ from an ordinary private sale. Don’t hand the title to your buyer: PSX tells sellers to send it to PSX once the buyer’s payment is confirmed, a step it says protects against “title skipping.” And PSX recommends taking payment only through its checkout, rather than cash or a check handed over in person.
Two charges, at two moments. You buy the ad, $9 to $49 depending on the asking price, as you list. The PSX seller fee applies when the sale goes through PSX, charged “at the time of sale” on top of the ad. Autotrader’s FAQ says a car that sells for more than $10,000 pays 0.99% of the price “instead of our flat $99 seller fee,” though another answer on the same page gives the rate as 1%. On a $20,000 sale that is $198, plus the ad.
Two other figures. PSX charges $99 to replace a lost title, and a Direct Offer, described below, carries no selling fee. And if you sell the car to a participating dealer through a Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer while the ad is live, Autotrader’s terms say you can get the ad fee back: generate the offer while the ad runs, ask for the refund in Ad Manager within 60 days of the offer and no later than five months after buying the ad, and name the dealer.
The Instant Cash Offer on Autotrader is Kelley Blue Book’s program, and its page carries KBB’s fine print: “Kelley Blue Book does not redeem Offers, purchase vehicles or own/operate Participating Dealers,” and “Dealer inspection required.” The offer “is good for 7 days.” A participating dealer inspects the car and buys it, and if what you entered differs from that inspection, “the Offer amount may be decreased.” Dealers pay a fee to take part. Our guide to the KBB Instant Cash Offer covers what the dealer checks and which cars it excludes.
PSX also has an offer of its own, the Direct Offer. You submit the car, or list it, and PSX says it will “reach out to our Autotrader network to find a suitable offer for your car.” If you accept, PSX says it can pick the car up, with payment “within 2 business days after we get your car” and no selling fee. The offer is “subject to updates every seven (7) days,” and the accepted price stands “as long as the overall condition of your vehicle matches what you have represented.” The FAQ says Direct Offers are for eligible vehicles without saying which.
Autotrader hands that question to Kelley Blue Book. Its seller FAQ points to a valuation tool for “the Kelley Blue Book® Value of your car,” and the link opens KBB’s car values page; its sell page recommends that guide “to set your sale price.” For an ad, start from KBB’s Private Party Value rather than the trade-in figure, then compare cars like yours listed near you.
For a car buyers want, listing is the route aimed at the higher number. KBB’s values FAQ puts a private sale above a trade-in, and KBB’s terms say the Instant Cash Offer may come in below the trade-in value. What you give up is time: Autotrader’s FAQ puts the average PSX sale at two to three weeks. An instant offer suits a car with faults a private buyer would balk at, or a seller who needs it gone, and the refund rule above means you can list first and still take the offer.
Autotrader’s Sell My Car FAQ and its PSX FAQ list the cars its exchange can’t take:
| The car | Autotrader’s rule | Who does buy it |
|---|---|---|
| Doesn’t run | PSX needs a car “in running and safe operable condition” | As-is and junk buyers |
| Salvage brand after a total loss | Can’t be listed | Buyers of branded-title cars |
| Built before 1989 | Not through PSX; Autotrader Classics instead | Private buyers, donation or scrap |
| Leased | PSX won’t sell it until you buy it out | Your leasing company’s buyout routes |
| Fails the safety assessment | Repair it and send the bill first | Buyers of damaged cars |
| Not in your possession, or not available for test drives | Can’t be listed on PSX | Its pages don’t say |
| Police or law-enforcement vehicle | Not through PSX | Its pages don’t say |
| RV or motorcycle | Not through PSX | Autotrader RVs and Autotrader Motorcycles |
A car PSX can’t handle can still be sold, just not through its checkout. For a car that doesn’t run, or one with a salvage or missing title, look to buyers who price cars as they sit. Our buying partner says non-running cars can still get an offer and that, in many states, salvage, rebuilt or missing-title cars may still be eligible, and it arranges the pickup at no cost. Get a second offer to set against the ad; it doesn’t buy motorcycles, RVs or boats.
Be honest about the trade-off. For a clean, popular car with no faults, a private sale through Autotrader is likely to net more than any instant offer, ours included, if you can wait out the listing. We are not affiliated with Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book or Cox Automotive; every rule quoted here was read on their own pages on October 25, 2026.
Not through Private Seller Exchange. Autotrader’s FAQ spells out what running means to it: the engine doesn’t stall, the brakes work, the horn can be heard and the seatbelts buckle. The KBB Instant Cash Offer it carries means delivering the car to a dealer. Our guide to selling a car that doesn’t run lists buyers that take it as it is, and our partner makes offers on non-runners.
Autotrader gives two answers. Its Sell My Car FAQ says “Probably not” and tells you to apply to your state’s DMV for a replacement title before selling. Its PSX FAQ says that if you’ve lost the title, PSX will “work with the state on your behalf” to get a new one while it sells the car, for a $99 lost-title fee. Either way the title or registration must be in the name on your account, and PSX can’t accept a title stamped with a lien release. Ask PSX which applies before you buy the ad; for a car with no title at all, see selling a car without a title.
High miles, yes: its sell page counts a high-mileage car among its “simple selling solutions.” Age is the limit, since PSX won’t sell a car produced before 1989 and points those owners to Autotrader Classics. The KBB Instant Cash Offer on the site turns away cars over 24 model years old or past 300,000 miles.
You can advertise it, but PSX won’t complete the sale: its FAQ says that to sell through PSX you must first buy the car from the leasing company. Autotrader points lessees to the KBB Instant Cash Offer instead, where the dealer works out the payoff. Weigh both against returning the car with our guide to selling a leased car.
A salvage-branded car that lenders wrote off as costing more to fix than it was worth can’t be listed, Autotrader says. Its pages don’t bar other damage outright, but every car sold through PSX must pass its safety assessment, which covers seat belts, lights, the windshield and tire tread. See selling a salvage or rebuilt car or selling a damaged car.
Autotrader’s seller FAQ says to open the Sell My Car page, choose Manage or Remove Ad, sign in with your email and ad ID, and click Remove Ad. Its terms ask you to cancel promptly once the car is gone. If a participating dealer bought it through a KBB Instant Cash Offer, request the ad refund first; Autotrader removes the ad when it confirms the refund.