A sign in the window shows your number to everyone who walks past.
Anyone can read it, and anyone who sees your ad can too. Put a number there that you can end, and keep the one your family calls out of it.
A number for your car for sale
Get a phone number for selling a car that rings your real phone.
Put an ExpressNumber number on your car ad and the For Sale sign in the window instead of your own. Buyers call it, your phone rings, and you burn the number once the car is sold.
$0 todayLive in about a minute
The sign in the car window
The sign shows a number you can burn, not your own.
(619) 555-0134On the sign, named Selling the SUV
Your own numberStays off the sign
Burn the numberBurn it once the car is sold.
This is how you get a number for selling your car.
- Start your 7 days free and open Create a number.
- Name it after the car, such as Selling the SUV.
- Put the number on your online ad and on the For Sale sign in the window.
- Buyers call it and your phone rings. Burn it in one tap once the car is sold.
9:41
Your numbers
Selling the SUV
(619) 555-0134
Forwarding
Car window sign
(801) 555-0177
Texts only
Old sedan ad
(407) 555-0118
Blocked
Private sellers put a second number on their car for three reasons.
The calls do not stop when the car sells.
A number on an old ad or a forgotten sign keeps getting calls. Burn it the day the car is gone, and calls and texts to it stop at once.
Fake buyers write to the number, not to you.
The FTC warns about buyers who send a check for too much. On a second number, their texts land in your inbox under the car’s name.
How a call reaches you
The buyer calls the number on the ad or the sign. Your phone gets the call.
A buyerReads your ad or the window sign and calls the number on it.
Calls and texts
Selling the SUVYour number for this car.
Forwards
Your real phone ringsLike any other call
Texts land in your inboxUnder the name Selling the SUV
The caller only ever sees the number you gave them.
Burn the number once the car is sold.
One number for one car, from the day the sign goes up to the day it sells.
- 1The ad and the sign go upWith the Selling the SUV number on both
- 2Buyers callYour phone rings like any other call
- 3The car is soldYou hand over the keys and the title
- 4Burn the numberCalls and texts to it stop at once
This is what Craigslist, the FTC and a state DMV say about selling a car on your own.
Read October 25, 2026, with a link to each page.
A Craigslist posting shows a phone number only if you tick the box.
Craigslist says the show my phone number box must be ticked to enter one, and that phone calls OK puts the word call before the number on the posting.
Craigslist help: Phone/TextCraigslist says to deal locally and face to face.
Its page on avoiding scams says this one rule avoids the vast majority of scam attempts, and that requests to wire money, pay with gift cards or deposit a cashier’s check are scams.
Craigslist help: Avoiding ScamsThe FTC warns about a buyer who sends a check for too much.
Its alert says the supposed buyer mails a check for more than the price and asks you to send the difference back. That is a scam, the FTC says, and banks can take weeks to find a fake check and then reverse the deposit.
FTC consumer alert: Fake check scam targets online car sellers, February 27, 2025California tells a seller to report the sale in five days.
The California DMV says a seller must file a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability within five calendar days, and that you are then no longer legally responsible for violations after the date of sale.
California DMV: Notice of Transfer and Release of LiabilityThe FTC warns about fake buyers who ask for a code.
Scammers target people selling on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace and ask them for a Google Voice verification code. The FTC says never to share a verification code with someone you did not contact first: that is a scam, every time.
FTC consumer alert: The Google Voice scam, October 29, 2021
Try it free for 7 days.
Then pick the plan that fits how many numbers you hand out.
Basic
7 days free$9.99/mo
- 5 numbers, one for each site, store or dealer
- 100 forwarded minutes a month
- Burn a number in one tap
- Extra numbers $1 a month each
Pro
7 days free$29.99/mo
- 100 numbers
- 1,000 forwarded minutes a month
- A number per vendor, client or listing
- Extra numbers 50¢ a month each
$0 today. Monthly plans, cancel any time.
People ask these questions about a number for selling a car.
More in the full FAQ.
Create a number in your dashboard and name it after the car, such as Selling the SUV. It is live in about a minute. Put it on your ad and the sign in the window. Calls ring the phone you already carry, and the caller only ever sees the number you gave them.
Burn it in one tap, and calls and texts to it stop at once. Do your state’s sale paperwork too: California’s DMV, for one, says to report a sale within five calendar days.
Do not take it. The FTC says that if someone sends a check for more than the selling price and asks you to send money back, it is a scam.
No. Your numbers are receive-only: they take calls and texts, and they never make them. You answer calls on your own phone, and you cannot reply to a text from the inbox.
Yes. Every number has three modes: Forward rings your phone and lets texts in, Texts only stops calls and keeps the texts coming, and Block stops both. You change the mode from your dashboard.
More ways to use a number
Every rule on this page comes from a public page you can check.
Each one is linked where it is quoted, and all of them were read October 25, 2026.
Put a number on your car ad that you can burn.
Hand out a number you can burn. Keep the one your family calls.
Try it free for 7 days