IMO, the exchange is the best method to sell the old car. But then it's not always possible that we get that best rates. In that case, brokers come into the picture. I sold my last two cars to a freelance broker/dealer. I got a better price than the exchange

Both my earlier cars - the Maruti 800 and the Maruti Swift- were exchanged when I upgraded each of these cars. In both cases, I got what I considered a fair price and one which was well over what others in the market (Cars24 etc) offered me. Of course, I could probably have got a bit more if I had opted for a private sale, but I did not have the patience or inclination to undertake that exercise.

Exchanging the car with the used car division of the concerned dealerships proved to be a smooth, hassle free and well managed affair with nothing required from my end but signatures on a couple of forms.

Voted for "individual/via online classifieds.
I wanted to sell my 2013 Tata Nano LX last year. Dealers were offering me Rs 35000 - 38000.
Sold the same car for Rs 70000 on OLX. Hence I'd prefer selling my car through an online platform.
Also, I m concerned about the car being misused at the dealers place and not being transferred for month's altogether.

Here's how I remember our last few vehicles were sold.

Pre-online era:

1999 Model Daewoo Matiz was sold in 2003 to a private individual via AdMag Classifieds newsletter.

2004 Model Maruti 800 was sold in 2007 to a private individual via AdMag Classifieds newsletter. The exchange rate offered by India Garage, Bangalore while buying our Scorpio was very low.

Online era:

2003 Model Ford Ikon was sold in 2014 to a private individual via OLX. The exchange rate offered by Advaith Hyundai, Bangalore while buying the Grand i10 was a pittance compared to the market rate.

2007 Model Mahindra Scorpio was sold in 2017 to a private individual via OLX. Once again, the exchange rate offered by Advaith Hyundai, Bangalore while buying our Creta was very low.

Edit: I also remember while evaluating our Grand i10 purchase, we also looked at the second generation Maruti Swift at the Pratham Motors Showroom on Outer Ring Road Bangalore, and the Toyota Etios Liva at the Nandi Toyota showroom on ORR. We had our Ford Ikon evaluated by them too, and both of them quoted a very low price. That being said, Advaith Hyundai's atrocious offer was literally low-balling.

Voted for "Exchanged for a new car"

Reasons why I would not sell to individuals/dealers :

1. I completely dislike interacting with strangers, specially if it involves showing my car/letting them drive it. I am very sentimental with who drives my car.

2. I don't like bargaining or simply put, I don't have any interests or inclination towards debating about the worthiness of my loved car for a few thousand extra bucks.

3. Exchange makes sure the RC transfer is done properly. I can not keep running behind individuals to transfer the ownership from my name.

Online classifieds didn't work for me after few enquiries and test rides. Both Safari (for X3) and Iron 883 (for Fatboy) were exchanged for new with respective dealers. WagonR was sold to a relative and Yamaha and Kinetic Style to individuals through mutual connections So, online classified hasn't worked for me so far. You need a lot of patience and due diligence when dealing with strangers connected online. I prefer peace of mind. A little less valuation is fine, so dealer exchange it is for me- Is haath do us haath lo (take in one hand, give in other) .

Both Bavaria Motors (BMW dealer) and 2 Rivers Harley did a thorough professional job in handling exchange and RC/Insurance NCB transfer etc.

Edit: Voted- exchange for a new car

-BJ

I prefer selling though OLX or any such online classifides. My last car was sold through expatriates.com/classifieds . The only drawback is that you might need to handle a lot of calls and Whatsapp messages if your car and offered price is " Eye-catching ".

I voted "exchanged for a new car".

I replaced my I-gen i20 1.4 Crdi Magna(O) with a Maruti Baleno last year in September. I got 2.90 lakhs as exchange for a car that had already run 1 lakh + kms and was 7+ years old. I didn't have to worry about ownership transfer as that was taken care by the dealers itself.
I got a good deal for my old car and discounts on the new one , I would say that the experience was good !

It has been independent dealers so far for us but the major problem arising today is dealers are no longer brokers, they want to earn atleast a couple of lakhs of profit from selling your car (i'm not talking about BMWs here but even cars like Honda City) and for this reason alone the market price for selling most cars is really bad, direct selling to customer is the way to go but it does take a lot of effort, some customers just straight away resort to silly nitpicking like pointing to one small scratch on the bumper, i mean come on it is by definition an "old car" and you are paying 5 lakhs for a car which costs 17 lakhs on road and one ultimately just takes the easy route and sells it to a dealer.

We have never ever sold to a car dealership (showrooms) or taken any exchange offers because of the laughably insane prices they have quoted, we have tried atleast 10 car showrooms in the past years and the trend is uniform across all, we always got atleast couple of lakhs more from independent dealers, sometimes without even trying too hard.

I exchanged my old car at the dealers for my current car. Was hassle free, and they did all the paperwork.

It's been a mix of various modes of sale for me:

1. Car #1 - Year 2000 - I'd printed notices and put them up in shopping centers of large company townships - the buyer emerged from one of the townships - NOC obtained and given to buyer, transferred to another State by buyer.

2. Car #2 - Year 2004 - got sold within the same apartment - ownership transferred immediately by buyer

3. Car #3 - Year 2010 - sold to my own friend cum FNG owner - ownership transferred by buyer

4. Car #4 - Year 2012 - sold through word of mouth relay to an old colleague - NOC and transferred by buyer to another city

5. Car #5 - Year 2014 - sold via online platform in two hours of posting the ad - ownership transferred by buyer but after 4 months of follow up

6. Car #6 (with me for a short period) - Year 2016 - sold on olx after almost 2 months of meeting all kinds of people - ownership transferred by buyer

I found some dealers in Chennai who insist on ownership transfer initiation before delivery of the car - by adopting this route of sale, even a 50k loss is better than living with heart aches selling to irresponsible individuals.

I remember when we sold our 1st gen Santro in 2008, we got buyers by posting an ad in the FreeAd Admag magazine. Initial talks used to happen on phone and if the party was interested, they came to our place to see the car physically.

The cars which I remember:

1982 Premier Padmini MMD365- Stolen, found, later sold to scrap dealer
1994 Maruti 800 8929 - Sold to the mechanic in who maintained it for 7-8 years in 2004; he used it for another 8-9 years and then scrapped it because the floor rusted
2004 Indica 809- sold directly to someone I know still using it as a rural cab
2010 Manza - sold via OLX have no clue where the car is

Have owned very few, and sold ONLY ONE :

1980 YEZDI D250CL -- still have

1987 Nissan Jonga -- still have

1995 Gypsy MG410W -- Got many offers online (OLX) from Meghalaya, Sikkim, Mumbai etc. But sold to a Gypsy lover in Calcutta who reconditioned it and proudly owns it.

2011 Gypsy MG413W -- still have.

Sold my civic via olx. Dealers or websites offering to do the same want a big cut, so doesn’t make sense.