Craigslist retail prices for used cars by owner

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Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
I've generally had a great experience buying and selling on Craigslist, but have ran into a few hard heads.

https://denver.craigslist.org/cto/6006962164.html

Case in point, and I would have bought this vehicle that day IF.....IF the guy would have been more reasonable on the price. I've been looking for a perfect condition, older, used Toyota Rav 4. I found the absolute best candidate: 2002 with 50K miles, all maintinance, perfect paint etc. That year is highly desirable for older Rav4s because of the engine (timing chain, no head bolt/gasket issues etc.).

The guy is still asking 7600 firm! This is after 2 months. KBB, Edmunds highest private party retail is $5164 with options the car doesn't even have. I offered the guy $5500. It's in that good of condition. Nope, he was insulted, we exchanged words, I told him to do something with himself, he told me to get the bleep out of here etc.


Says right in the ad- PRICE IS FIRM.


What's the price of a new one?
 
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Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
I've generally had a great experience buying and selling on Craigslist, but have ran into a few hard heads.

https://denver.craigslist.org/cto/6006962164.html

Case in point, and I would have bought this vehicle that day IF.....IF the guy would have been more reasonable on the price. I've been looking for a perfect condition, older, used Toyota Rav 4. I found the absolute best candidate: 2002 with 50K miles, all maintinance, perfect paint etc. That year is highly desirable for older Rav4s because of the engine (timing chain, no head bolt/gasket issues etc.).

The guy is still asking 7600 firm! This is after 2 months. KBB, Edmunds highest private party retail is $5164 with options the car doesn't even have. I offered the guy $5500. It's in that good of condition. Nope, he was insulted, we exchanged words, I told him to do something with himself, he told me to get the bleep out of here etc.


Says right in the ad- PRICE IS FIRM.


What's the price of a new one?


I took the chance and met up with him (drive 65 miles actually) to see if I could talk some sense into him and show that with cash available instantly, he might budge on the price.
 
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT

I took the chance and met up with him (drive 65 miles actually) to see if I could talk some sense into him and show that with cash available instantly, he might budge on the price.


I guess it was worth a shot, if it worked. I wouldn't have, "firm" in the ad would mean to me that he's not budging.

Two months sitting on it? Must really not be in a hurry.

I've done good enough on CL. I buy infrequently, so at some point I'll probably get burned.
 
Some try high and after a few weeks drop the price. Others expect to be bargained. I have got less for my Jeep and more for my Ram diesel than I expected.

The price it's worth is what someone will pay.

When selling a car, I look on Craigslist, and KBB and Edmund's to come up with a price.
 
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Craigslist is always a cr*p shoot. I saw a used car on there for a great price at a dealership, contacted the dealership. By the time they finally got back to me it was sold and while searching Craigslist later for that same model I saw the same car for sale. It was bought by a small dealership that only sells used cars, it was priced over $2000 dollars more than the dealership I contacted. It was not on Craigslist much longer after that.
 
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
The used car market would be a lot better if cash for clunkers hadn't happened.


I was never for it, but cash for clunkers is no longer impacting todays used vehicle prices. The program ended nearly 8 years ago.
 
I've purchased one vehicle from CL. In 2008 I saw a 2003 Outback with 63K on it. Went to look at it, owner had a manila envelope with about 80% of the service history in it, took it for a test drive, liked it, asked to take it to get inspected on my dime, he agreed, inspection came back decent, returned and told him I'd pay his asking price. He seemed a little confused that I didn't want to haggle, I was content with the deal I was getting, came back the next day with a certified check for him and had a new car.

I'd looked at similar vehicles priced from $8500-$11,000 at dealers. He was asking $8800 and got it. Have put 100K on it since then, starting to get a few "old car from the rust belt" problems but should make it to 200,000ish before the rust claims her.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Some try high and after a few weeks drop the price. Others expect to be bargained. I have got less for my Jeep and more for my Ram diesel than I expected.

The price it's worth is what someone will pay.

When selling a car, I look on Craigslist, and KBB and Edmund's to come up with a price.



Exactly. The issue being is that the vast majority of people (including those on BITOG) are conditioned to believe that Kelley Blue Book or NADA Black Book is gospel on car prices. While $7,600.00 dollars MAY be a bit high fof the vehicle-that "Deww99GT is looking at-it is clean-and if new one's are $25,000.00 one could certainly justify paying a little more-if especially looking to drive the car until it's pretty much used up. JMHO!
 
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They can command higher prices because people have their tax refunds. Prices are often lower Memorial day, Labor day, etc.

How do those prices compare with Edmunds/book value?
smile.gif
 
On the other hand, you have the idiots on CL who can barely write in English. I love the "whats the lowest you can do?", and the "i can do $x" where the amount they say is 35% of the asking price. The natural response is to price higher in order to negotiate down to the desired price range...
 
I'd be willing to pay private party if the vehicle was in mint condition and well maintained. Sadly, 90% of cars and trucks on Craigslist are not even close to BITOG standards, and people seem to think their junk is worth more than book value half of the time.

The worst is used boats. People think their junker cruisers are worth way more than book value, and they're beat. I looked at a Chris Craft last summer that had a clean interior, but the exterior was faded to [censored] and the transom was rotten. Guy wanted 2k more than NADA, and ended up selling it to his neighbor's kid.
 
Originally Posted By: SirTanon
Craigslist does not charge a fee for listing cars for sale, therefore sellers who don't need to sell their cars quickly have little incentive to price their cars cheaply. If it doesn't sell at their high price, they simply renew the listing and keep it going until their 'sucker' comes along.

There's also a lot of [censored] lowballers on Craigslist, so pricing the car high is the natural countermeasure.


Yeah, that's pretty much the conclusion I came to.

CL is a hodge podge of everything pretty much. As pointed out above - there are deals and they get snagged relatively quickly. OTOH if a vehicle is floating out there for weeks or months...
 
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
I've generally had a great experience buying and selling on Craigslist, but have ran into a few hard heads.

https://denver.craigslist.org/cto/6006962164.html

Case in point, and I would have bought this vehicle that day IF.....IF the guy would have been more reasonable on the price. I've been looking for a perfect condition, older, used Toyota Rav 4. I found the absolute best candidate: 2002 with 50K miles, all maintinance, perfect paint etc. That year is highly desirable for older Rav4s because of the engine (timing chain, no head bolt/gasket issues etc.).

The guy is still asking 7600 firm! This is after 2 months. KBB, Edmunds highest private party retail is $5164 with options the car doesn't even have. I offered the guy $5500. It's in that good of condition. Nope, he was insulted, we exchanged words, I told him to do something with himself, he told me to get the bleep out of here etc.


Nice car... but: "POsted for 25 days" LOL

And the $7600 budget opens up a lot of possibilities and competition.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
On the other hand, you have the idiots on CL who can barely write in English. I love the "whats the lowest you can do?", and the "i can do $x" where the amount they say is 35% of the asking price. The natural response is to price higher in order to negotiate down to the desired price range...


LOL "What's the lowest you can do" crowd seems to be there on a full time basis, it's a job for them, calling 1000 sellers and picking up maybe 2-3 out of that volume for a steal.
 
Originally Posted By: Hollow
I've purchased one vehicle from CL. In 2008 I saw a 2003 Outback with 63K on it. Went to look at it, owner had a manila envelope with about 80% of the service history in it, took it for a test drive, liked it, asked to take it to get inspected on my dime, he agreed, inspection came back decent, returned and told him I'd pay his asking price. He seemed a little confused that I didn't want to haggle, I was content with the deal I was getting, came back the next day with a certified check for him and had a new car.

I'd looked at similar vehicles priced from $8500-$11,000 at dealers. He was asking $8800 and got it. Have put 100K on it since then, starting to get a few "old car from the rust belt" problems but should make it to 200,000ish before the rust claims her.


a 5 year old Subaru with 63K miles for $8800 sounds like a good deal, certainly.
 
Originally Posted By: 69GTX
My friend in Orange County LA just got a black, 2000 GS400, 155,000 miles off of CL for $2500. So Cal car from new. Looks very nice with maintenance up to date. Seller started off at $4K and all they got were tons of phone calls trying to pay 1/2 to 2/3 of asking. No one ever showed up. My buddy shows up with $2500 in hand and buys the car. He has 2 others just like it so he knows a high mileage Lexus. The owner said the number of calls was ridiculous and insulting. Still, only one person every showed up to make a deal. That car new was $52K. He says that while CL is a cesspool of noise and buyers trying to rip cars, it's a great system for people willing to actually show up. The seller of this car is still getting his phone ringing off the hook trying to buy it for $2500-$3000, a week after it sold....lol.


neat story.
 
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
I've generally had a great experience buying and selling on Craigslist, but have ran into a few hard heads.

https://denver.craigslist.org/cto/6006962164.html

Case in point, and I would have bought this vehicle that day IF.....IF the guy would have been more reasonable on the price. I've been looking for a perfect condition, older, used Toyota Rav 4. I found the absolute best candidate: 2002 with 50K miles, all maintinance, perfect paint etc. That year is highly desirable for older Rav4s because of the engine (timing chain, no head bolt/gasket issues etc.).

The guy is still asking 7600 firm! This is after 2 months. KBB, Edmunds highest private party retail is $5164 with options the car doesn't even have. I offered the guy $5500. It's in that good of condition. Nope, he was insulted, we exchanged words, I told him to do something with himself, he told me to get the bleep out of here etc.


Says right in the ad- PRICE IS FIRM.


What's the price of a new one?


I took the chance and met up with him (drive 65 miles actually) to see if I could talk some sense into him and show that with cash available instantly, he might budge on the price.


I have found out this helps a bit -- sometimes - get a listed of used and sold (not just completed) Ebay auctions and say xxx model with yyy mileage sells for zzzz - generally. If that doesn't help, there is no reason to drive even 20 minutes.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
On the other hand, you have the idiots on CL who can barely write in English. I love the "whats the lowest you can do?", and the "i can do $x" where the amount they say is 35% of the asking price. The natural response is to price higher in order to negotiate down to the desired price range...


I expect 90% of my asking price. I also price right and expect to sell in a week.

I just say no. It's cheap entertainment.

If I'm asking $2k and they say $1500, I say $1800 is the best I can do. They counter with $1750. I say no. They must think I'm a jerk for not playing the game.

I tell 'em if I don't get what I'm asking in a week they'll see the price in my ad drop and are welcome to try again. Since the ads are free, I ask what I want. They seem perplexed by this logic.
 
When they ask a silly question via email I don't even reply back. Much easier that way. One guy said he was a priest and only had $2500 when I was asking $3800.
 
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