Keeping A Car In Storage While It’s Up For Sale
A car on the market still has to be somewhere, kept well, shown occasionally and insured by somebody. Work out who’s paying for that and the rest of the decision gets simple.
Search for this and you’ll be offered one answer. Hand the car to a consignment dealer, who’ll store it, show it and sell it, and take a percentage. It’s a real option and plenty of people are happy with it. It just isn’t the only one, and nobody selling it is going to tell you what it costs you. REVCity Auto Storage is at 7185 Bermuda Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89119, and you can call 725-272-1803 to talk about keeping a car properly while you sell it yourself.
The Storage In A Consignment Deal Isn’t Free
Published consignment terms commonly sit around 5 percent of the sale price, often with a minimum fee. Storage during the listing is usually described as included.
Do the arithmetic once and the word included starts to look different. On a car that sells for $120,000, five percent is $6,000. On one that sells for $60,000 it’s $3,000, and a minimum fee can mean you pay close to that either way. The storage inside that deal isn’t a gift. It’s one line in a bill you’re paying out of the sale price.
That’s not an argument against consignment. If you don’t want to field calls, vet buyers, handle a test drive or deal with payment, the percentage buys you something real. The point is only that it’s a trade, and you should price both sides before you sign.
| What you’re deciding | Consignment | Selling it yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Who stores it | The dealer, inside the commission | You do, at a monthly rate you can see |
| Who shows it | The dealer | You do, by appointment |
| Who insures it | Needs confirming in writing | You do, on your own policy |
| Who answers buyers | The dealer | You do |
| What the sale costs you | A percentage, often with a minimum | Storage plus your own time |
| Where the title sits | With you until the money clears | With you throughout |
Three Questions That Decide It, And Only One Is About Money
Insurance is the one that catches people. A car in somebody else’s care is a question of whose policy responds when something happens to it, and that includes while it’s being transported and while it’s parked in a showroom. Get the answer in writing before the car leaves your driveway. Collector guides on consignment agreements make this their first warning, and they’re right to.
If you’re keeping the car yourself, the question is simpler but not automatic. A stored car is still insurable and most policies will cover it, though often on different terms from a car you drive daily. What a policy actually covers while a car sits is worth checking before you reduce anything, because a car on the market may need to be driveable at short notice.
Access is the second question. A car for sale has to be viewable, and that’s a real operational difference from a car in long term storage. Ask any facility whether a prospective buyer can see the car on site, and on what notice. Published consignment terms often set a notice period for the owner’s own access, which tells you something about how these buildings work. Ask us the same thing on 725-272-1803 before you book, because it’s the detail most likely to shape how you sell.
The title stays with you until the sale is funded and the money has cleared. That’s the standard position and it’s the one to insist on. Nothing about storing the car changes it, and no storage arrangement should ask you to hand it over.
Why A Car On The Market Shouldn’t Sit Outside Here
A car for sale is being judged on exactly the things this valley attacks.
Paint is the obvious one. Sun works on a clear coat quickly and the damage shows in photographs before it shows to the eye. Dashboards and trim dry and crack. A dusty car photographs badly and a car washed twice a week to stay photogenic picks up swirl marks instead. What the heat here does to a car left outside is worth understanding if the listing might run for months.
Our building is sealed, so no daylight reaches the cars and there’s no blown dust. Temperature sits between 50 and 70°F and relative humidity between 40 and 50%, held year round. Every space has its own BendPak four post lift, which keeps the weight off the tyres. A buyer who finds flat spots on a test drive has just found a reason to negotiate.
Access is gated and monitored around the clock. For a car that strangers are enquiring about, that’s worth more than it is for one nobody knows exists.
How Long These Things Take, And What To Do About It
The honest answer is longer than you think, and that’s the planning problem.
Consignment arrangements are often written on a three month term, which is a reasonable indication of how long the trade expects a car to take. A private sale on an unusual car can run longer. If you’re storing it yourself, that means thinking in months rather than weeks and asking what happens if it doesn’t sell on the first attempt.
Depreciation runs the whole time, and on some cars it runs faster than the storage costs. How storage affects what a car is worth later matters here, because a car that presents perfectly after six months stored indoors is a different proposition from one that spent six months on a driveway.
We won’t put a monthly figure on a web page, because it depends on the car and the length of stay. Call and we’ll talk it through against what you’re expecting to sell for.
Preparing A Car That’s Being Looked At, Not Put Away
Preparation for sale and preparation for storage pull in slightly different directions, and it’s worth knowing where.
Wash and detail it before it goes in, the same as any stored car. Then document it properly, because a car for sale needs evidence more than a car in a garage does. Recording condition and mileage before a car goes away gives you something to show a buyer and something to fall back on if anyone disagrees later.
| Before it goes in | Why it matters for a car that’s selling |
|---|---|
| Wash and detail it | It’ll be photographed and viewed, not just stored |
| Photograph it thoroughly | Your listing images and your condition record both |
| Gather the paperwork | Service history sells a car faster than words do |
| Keep it driveable | A test drive may happen at short notice |
| Keep the battery maintained | A car that won’t start loses a sale on the spot |
| Leave the tyres unloaded | A flat spot is a negotiating point for the buyer |
Keep it ready rather than mothballed. That’s the main difference. A car being sold shouldn’t have its fuel treated for a two year sleep, because somebody may want to drive it next week.
Booking It, And Getting It To Us
The process is short. Call to reserve a space, tell us what the car is and roughly how long you expect the sale to take, and we’ll talk through what’s available.
You’re welcome to come and look at the building before you commit, and a walkthrough first is normal. Then schedule a drop off time. Check in takes a little while because we go over the car with you and record what state it’s in, which on a car you’re selling is useful to you rather than a formality.
If getting it here is the awkward part, we publish a concierge pickup and delivery service and can collect it instead. Ask when you call and we’ll tell you what’s involved.
And if the car came out of an auction rather than a driveway, holding a car after an auction works much the same way. Call 725-272-1803 and we’ll sort it.
We’re at 7185 Bermuda Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89119, which is central enough that a viewing isn’t a trek for a buyer coming from the Strip or from Henderson.
Frequently Asked
It’s included rather than free. Published terms commonly take around 5 percent of the sale, often with a minimum fee, and the storage is one line inside that. On a six figure car the percentage is a substantial number, so it’s worth pricing both routes.
Ask us when you call, and ask the same of anywhere you’re comparing. It’s the detail most likely to affect how you sell, and it’s worth settling before you book rather than after.
No. The title stays with you until the sale is funded and the money has cleared. That’s the standard position and nothing about storing the car should change it.
You do, on your own policy, if you’re keeping the car yourself. If you hand it to anyone else, get the insurance position in writing before the car leaves, including cover during transport.
Not fully. A car that’s selling needs to stay driveable, because a test drive can come up at short notice. Wash it, document it, keep the battery maintained and leave the heavy mothballing alone.
That’s common enough to plan for. Tell us you don’t know how long it’ll be and we’ll work from that rather than from a date.
Keep The Car Right And Keep The Commission
Tell us what you’re selling and roughly how long you think it’ll take. We’ll talk through the space, how a viewing would work, and what the car needs to stay ready to drive rather than just stored.
7185 Bermuda Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89119
