Sell, Keep, or Export Your Vehicle

Introduction

At the end of your visit, you have a choice: you can sell your vehicle, you can keep it for future visits, or you can export it for use elsewhere in the world.

This section will detail each of these choices.

Selling your vehicle

If you're planning just one visit to the US and don't want to bring your vehicle home with you, you'll probably want to sell it at the end of your visit. You have several options.

Valuing your vehicle

It's important to understand what your vehicle is actually worth. The most commonly used vehicle pricing resource in the US is Kelley Blue Book. Simply enter a few pieces of information about your vehicle, and in less than five minutes you'll receive a private-party (selling to an individual) value range and a trade-in (selling to a dealership or at auction) value range.

Selling to an individual

You will likely get the highest price for your vehicle if you sell it to an individual.

Listing your vehicle on Craigslist, Facebook, and/or Autotrader will be the easiest way to attract individual buyers. Be sure to add plenty of pictures, a detailed and positive description of the vehicle, and multiple ways to contact yourself.

It can take several weeks for the right buyer to come along, so if you're in a hurry, or can't be asked to deal with a bunch of people, you might consider selling your vehicle to a dealership.

Selling to a dealership

Selling your vehicle to a dealership can be a quick and easy process. You won't get as high of a price for your vehicle if you sell to a dealer as you would by selling to an individual, but a dealer can buy your vehicle in less than an hour.

Carmax, Carvana, and Vroom will provide a competitive online offer for most vehicles. Consider valuing your vehicle with one of these services before visiting a physical dealership.

Selling at an auction

One way that dealers source vehicles for their lot is by buying them at wholesale auction, where licensed auto dealers go to buy and sell vehicles to and from each other.

The largest wholesale auction in the US is Manheim, with 82 sites located in most major cities around the country. visitor.us is a Manheim partner, which means that we can list vehicles for sale at any Manheim location.

If you don't want to bother with individuals or dealers, visitor.us can run your vehicle at a Manheim auction that's convenient for you. Simply drop your vehicle off at the Manheim gate, and visitor.us will arrange to sell your vehicle to the highest bidder.

(Keep in mind: vehicles sold at auction are subject to an auction fee from Manheim and a brokerage fee from visitor.us.)

Multi-step selling strategy

When you're selling your vehicle, we recommend giving yourself as many options as possible, and choosing the best one for you.

In practice, this means:

1. Valuing your vehicle using Kelley Blue Book,
2. Obtaining offers from online vehicle buyers such as Carmax, Carvana, and Vroom;
3. Listing your vehicle on Craigslist, Facebook, and/or Autotrader to see if you can get a better price than the online vehicle buyers,
4. Visiting dealerships in person to see if you can get a better price than any of the above, and
5. Keeping the auto auction as a fallback option.

Getting your payment back home

If you sell your vehicle to an individual, the individual can pay you directly in cash, with Paypal, or a bank transfer.

If you sell your vehicle to a dealership, the process might be a bit more complex (but still manageable). Many dealers still make payments for vehicles with physical checks, which may be difficult to deposit in your home country.

If you have a good offer from a dealer, but the dealer can only write a physical check, visitor.us can cash the check (which must be made out to visitor us LLC) and remit the funds to you. We will generate and email you a Fedex shipping label to send the physical check to our office. You will receive the sale price less visitor.us' facilitation fee of $100, less foreign exchange fees (if applicable).

Terminating your LLC

After you sell your vehicle, visitor.us will send you an LLC Termination Request Form for your signature.

After you sign this form, visitor.us will terminate your Montana LLC and provide your LLC's Articles of Termination on your Dashboard.

Keeping your vehicle

If you want to visit the US in the future, you are welcome to keep your vehicle for as long as you want. Here's how.

LLC renewal

Every Montana LLC (that has not been terminated) must file an annual report by April 15th of each year, starting the year after it was formed. If you wish to keep your vehicle, visitor.us will file your LLC's annual report(s).

Registration Renewal

A standard Montana vehicle registration is valid for one year. When a vehicle's registration is renewed, a new registration document and decal (indicating the new registration expiration date) are mailed to the vehicle's registration address.

If you wish to keep your vehicle, visitor.us will renew its registration and Fedex your registration document and decal to a location convenient to you.

Storage

Many vehicle storage options exist in the US. You might consider the following options:

• Self-storage - U-Haul is the largest self-storage franchise in the US, and can provide outdoor (gated) storage, as well as indoor options,
• Peer-to-peer storage - Individuals rent out spare garages, like Airbnb, through platforms like Neighbor and StowIt, or
• Concierge storage - services like Adkos and Recnation keep your vehicle's battery topped up and tires rotated while you're away.

Exporting your vehicle

Want to bring your vehicle home with you after your visit? No problem!

visitor.us has worked with Schumacher Cargo Logistics since 2018 to ship vehicles around the world.

Simply book a quote, drop your vehicle off, provide its title (or instruct visitor.us to forward your title to them), and Shumacher will containerize and ship your vehicle to your desired destination. (Import duties / taxes may apply.)

Conclusion

Whether you want to sell your vehicle at the end of your visit, keep it in the US for your next visit, or ship it home with you, visitor.us has you covered.

Go on, buy a vehicle in the US, even if you're just visiting.