Most people who sell their own cars use Craigslist or classified ads in local newspapers. So that’s going to be the best place to start looking. Next you should get the word out to other people.

Tell your friends and family that you are looking for good deals on clean used cars. The next step is to keep your eyes open and keep a notebook with you at all times.

When you see a car parked somewhere, that’s for sale, write down the phone number and call them. Make a very low offer even if you don't want it. Never be afraid to ask a seller "would you take $(low offer) for that car right now.

You will need to know the market value of that car and I will show you an easy way to that later on.

You should also watch for cars parked in malls or along busy streets with for sale signs on them. Next, check bulletin boards at work or the grocery store.

You should be on the look out in your own neighborhood for cars that don't get driven much. It may be the case that the owner has more cars than he needs. There may have been a death in the family or some other change in circumstances.

Don't be afraid to knock on somebody’s door or leave them a note. Even though there is no for sale sign on it, they may be wanting to sell it.

 Once you have some targeted cars in mind then its time to do some research.

This is how I determine market value. I go to ebay.com and do an advanced search for the model and year of my targeted cars. First you click on search and then advance search. I select completed auctions to see what similar cars have sold for. This will bring up all the completed auctions that match my search terms.

For example if you do a search on "saturn" you will see all the closed auctions with the word saturn in the title. I also go to kbb.com where I can do a free price quote using the on online Kelley Blue book.

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I can do my research from the comfort of my living room in a matter of minutes. Once I get an idea of what a car is worth on the open market I work from there. I allow 75 to 100 dollars for advertising costs. Then I decide how much profit I think I can make, at least $500, and now I have my best offer.

Don’t use the prices in the classified ads to estimate the value a car. I once bought an Isuzu pick-up that was advertised at $1800.00 for $1,000. That’s about a 45 percent discount!

So remember, classifieds are just displaying the asking price. You have no idea what the selling price is. Most of these sellers are flexable on their price and some are extremely flexable.