What's my car worth?!?

[RooflessVW]

Originally Posted by tony1679
The only thing I know is that paying full coverage insurance for 3 vehicles sucks [censored]. And I know, all the more reason to lower it quickly and be done, but I just can't stand letting the most cared for car in my life go for such a puny, pathetic amount. Those countless hours documenting all of it's parts and service... It seems it was all in vain. I don't have kids, but the only analogy I can think of is that it's like watching your only child (who you thought would truly go the distance and make it big) turn their back on/no longer care about you and end up working at McDonald's their whole life. It's just crazy to think that this is the same car that constantly attracted people's interest, compliments, and jealousy the entire time I owned it, and now it's like the kid at school that everyone picks on and nobody feels bad for...

Don't feel too bad. I bought my Phaeton from its original owner who, including purchase price, had spent nearly $125,000 on the car during his 11 years of ownership. It was in absolutely perfect shape when he decided to retire overseas and part with the car instead of taking it with him.

The car was immaculate. I paid $8,000.

 

[GMFan]

Originally Posted by tony1679
FWIW, I decided to drop to $5800. It's considered "in-range" according to KBB's "very good" condition (not excellent). I'm still weighing what I want to do. It's still worth $6k to me, and I know I won't find a car well taken care of like this for $6k down the road, but paying bills is worth something too. I was just hoping to have a little fun money (after bills, the car itself is almost paid off,
I think I'm frozen here unless someone actually shows a lick of interest by driving it and provides feedback, someone actually makes a reasonable offer, or until I decide on a realistic plan for keeping it. Idk.

The only thing I know is that paying full coverage insurance for 3 vehicles sucks [censored]. And I know, all the more reason to lower it quickly and be done, but I just can't stand letting the most cared for car in my life go for such a puny, pathetic amount. Those countless hours documenting all of it's parts and service... It seems it was all in vain. I don't have kids, but the only analogy I can think of is that it's like watching your only child (who you thought would truly go the distance and make it big) turn their back on/no longer care about you and end up working at McDonald's their whole life. It's just crazy to think that this is the same car that constantly attracted people's interest, compliments, and jealousy the entire time I owned it, and now it's like the kid at school that everyone picks on and nobody feels bad for...


People like to complain about how dealerships always low-ball trade-ins. This is why. Selling used cars can be tough-especially if it's an undesirable/niche model. Selling a used car can be hassle. As somebody mentioned, a car is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. This may be drastically less than what KBB says.

Your typical buyer who is shopping for a $5k car on an ad website isn't looking for a performance car. They're most likely somewhat broke, and looking for a 4cylinder sedan that will be as reliable as possible. Selling anything above $5k is tough, as buyers will need to finance. If someone is going to finance, they're going to Carvana/Carmax or a dealer. In my experience, cars that sell in the ads are the cars under $5k marketed toward high school kids or working class. The only time I ever bought a car from the newspaper ad (Craigslist of today), was for $3,800 cash when I was broke and working a construction job in my early 20s.

 

[tony1679]

Ended up selling it today, finally. Got a lousy $5,400. I still can't believe I agreed to that amount. I'm undoubtedly going to be kicking myself for a very long time, but what's done is done. So much for fun money.

 

[Ws6]

Originally Posted by tony1679
Ended up selling it today, finally. Got a lousy $5,400. I still can't believe I agreed to that amount. I'm undoubtedly going to be kicking myself for a very long time, but what's done is done. So much for fun money.

You did just fine, whether you think so or not.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted by tony1679
Ended up selling it today, finally. Got a lousy $5,400. I still can't believe I agreed to that amount. I'm undoubtedly going to be kicking myself for a very long time, but what's done is done. So much for fun money.


The color was wrong, it was a unpopular body style, your original asking price was astronomical, people could care less about OCD records (this has been proven on here so many times-I'm surprised it still comes up - Yea-there are 1 in 10 exceptions). Be happy you sold it.

 

[4WD]

Originally Posted by CKN
Originally Posted by tony1679
Ended up selling it today, finally. Got a lousy $5,400. I still can't believe I agreed to that amount. I'm undoubtedly going to be kicking myself for a very long time, but what's done is done. So much for fun money.


The color was wrong, it was a unpopular body style, your original asking price was astronomical, people could care less about OCD records (this has been proven on here so many times-I'm surprised it still comes up - Yea-there are 1 in 10 exceptions). Be happy you sold it.



Yep - Over maintenance is a charity of mine to future owners. (no tax deductions).
Body style ? Also tend to agree - the Impala before that was interesting for the times (we had a metallic brown LS) - and the newer generation is a sharp looking and quiet road car - but that model in between was a plain Jane body style - and I'm saying that as someone who owns 3 Chevy's right now ...

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by tony1679
Ended up selling it today, finally. Got a lousy $5,400. I still can't believe I agreed to that amount. I'm undoubtedly going to be kicking myself for a very long time, but what's done is done. So much for fun money.


Yeah, you did pretty well. I thought you were going to be lucky to get 5k. Fun money was just having unrealistic expectations, there was never any fun money. At least you can update your sign now and get rid of that car from your inventory.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted by tony1679
Ended up selling it today, finally. Got a lousy $5,400. I still can't believe I agreed to that amount. I'm undoubtedly going to be kicking myself for a very long time, but what's done is done. So much for fun money.

You did good. You were asking $6k and got $5,400. Let's assume you figured you'd go down $300 to $5,700. Since you discounted another $300, that isn't bad at all. If it took a few months longer to sell you would have spent that on insurance and maintenance anyways.

 

[JTK]

Tony, you did good. That was a tough sell, but you had to know that going into this with this car.

In terms of resources you put into it over the years, I see that like a hobby. Lots of people spend obscenely more on hobbies. Vehicular or not.

 

[tony1679]

Originally Posted by Ws6
You did just fine, whether you think so or not.
That's what I try to keep saying to myself, but I'm not sure if I can convince myself.
Originally Posted by CKN
The color was wrong [Maybe], it was a unpopular body style [Yes], your original asking price was astronomical [Considering where it finally sold, I would agree], people could care less about OCD records (this has been proven on here so many times-I'm surprised it still comes up - Yea-there are 1 in 10 exceptions)[I still cannot wrap my head around this. It's either get complained at for not having records, or have the buyer not care that you have them. It's a lose-lose

]. Be happy you sold it.

Originally Posted by Wolf359
Yeah, you did pretty well. I thought you were going to be lucky to get 5k. Fun money was just having unrealistic expectations, there was never any fun money [Perhaps]. At least you can update your sign now and get rid of that car from your inventory [Thanks for the reminder, I forgot].

Originally Posted by Nick1994
If it took a few months longer to sell you would have spent that on insurance and maintenance anyways.
This is probably the sole reason I went as low as I did. Well, that and the tag being due this month...
Originally Posted by JTK
Tony, you did good. That was a tough sell, but you had to know that going into this with this car [I definitely did not, and was completely blindsided by the lack of appeal. It was truly shocking to me.]

In terms of resources you put into it over the years, I see that like a hobby. Lots of people spend obscenely more on hobbies. Vehicular or not [I guess that's one way to put it into perspective, but it still sucks no matter how I try to justify it. The phrases "live and learn" and "life throws you curveballs" are the only two things I can take away from this at the moment.]


I truly appreciate everyone's input and advice, no matter how critcial, as it definitely helped me through the struggles I faced. It seems many were right in their advice, and therefore I'm acknowledging the "I told you so" without it having to be said. I was wrong on many things. I wasn't wrong in turning to the right community for advice though. Thanks for that.

 

[PWMDMD]

Originally Posted by tony1679
Originally Posted by Char Baby
You may find the right buyer for your car. Sadly, they just don't have a great resale value but I don't think it's terrible either! Clean up the engine bay some and it could surprise you. I can't tell by the pics however, do some extra cleaning & polishing to the interior & exterior as well and you may get your asking price. Make it look just that little bit snappier. Zip Code also has some effect on the price.
I can't stand engine bays that are slicker than snot from cleaners and detail chemicals. That's the reason it's never been done. The way I see it, if I were the buyer, I would want to see it in this condition. It shows that the seller isn't hiding anything and I know exactly what I'm getting into. I understand I'm not the buyer, and that everyone has different opinions, but surely this point of view can at least be respected as being honest.


Wait...what? Why clean the outside or inside then? All a clean engine bay shows is someone really cared for the car or said another way looking at that engine bay I would think gee he made the parts you can see easily (outside and interior) all shiny but clearly that was just for show because under the skin this thing is filthy! IMO....this comes across the exact opposite of how you intend it to. I know you still sold it and maybe it wouldn't have mattered but in the future I'd clean the engine bay too.

 

[Andrew1972]

Powerful engines in normal cars do not appeal to the mass buyers especially $5k cars.

I ran into this selling wife's 2005 Legacy GT Wagon (0-60 6 seconds -250 HP WRX motor) with rare manual transmission (235k)for $3200. Many buyers for scared of by turbo and the manual transmission until I found a hardcore Subaru fan who bought for $2200 newly discovering it dripping 1" puddles of oil every 5 minutes(oil breather or turbo oil lines). I had thought addressed but no.

It sat for sale for 3 months. Niche car. Loved it but wife had emotional attachment however at same time good riddance as the 180k+ range was $$$.

My take away if your car under $7500 and has really high performance engine in normal car good luck.

 

[JeffKeryk]

You did well!
In fact, when I sell one of my depreciating assets (aka cars) I will humbly ask for your advice!

 

[fdcg27]

I think ya done good.
You got a decent buck for a car that's neither a cheapish family car nor a highly desired performance model.
Given the fuel economy you report in daily use, I'm not sure how much sense it made to hive this car off for a Civic.
With what you pay for fuel, you won't really save all that much with the Civic.

 

[DuckRyder]

Somebody probably just watched the "twinpala" episode of Hot Rod garage...

I think you did pretty well...

 

[tony1679]

Originally Posted by fdcg27
I think ya done good.
You got a decent buck for a car that's neither a cheapish family car nor a highly desired performance model.
Given the fuel economy you report in daily use, I'm not sure how much sense it made to hive this car off for a Civic.
With what you pay for fuel, you won't really save all that much with the Civic.
Oh it makes sense, and then some. I did all kinds of crazy math before making this decision. I did a side-by-side of what my operating costs would be for both cars over 100K miles. Novel incoming:

The current cost of 87 E-10 for the Civic is $2.149. The price of 91 E-0 I would be using for the Impala is $2.879. Let's use these numbers for all comparisons. The Civic's tank capacity is 13.2 gallons, the Impala's is 17. That means the Impala would cost $48.94 to fill if empty, the Civic a puny $28.37. Now factor the average MPG for both cars on the same identical commute. Round trip to and from work is 60 miles (30 each way). On this commute, the Impala would average 23, the Civic gets 36. So strictly counting just the daily commute, the Civic consumes $17.91 a week. The SS a whopping $37.55. Multiply that savings by 52 weeks and the yearly savings add up to $1021.28. The Civic fuel cost for 100k adds up to $5,969.44. The SS an insane $12,517.39

. Fuel savings alone total $6,547.95. If the cost of fuel rises, so do my savings, so this is seemingly a worst case scenario.

This is strictly the fuel aspect. We're not counting the $2k worth of repairs the SS needed that the Civic does not. This doesn't count the inevitable $3k+ transmission swap/repair the SS would need. But those are what-ifs. The Civic could have what-ifs down the road too. The non-what-ifs are things like tires. I actually did buy the same tires for both cars, but since I'm not near my records, I'll use current pricing from the store I purchased both sets from. The tire set on the Impala runs $134 each, $536 for all 4, with a 45K lifespan. The Civic tire set runs $71 each, $284 for all 4, and last 65K. Let's assume I would keep both cars for 100k more miles. The Impala would need 2 sets, and be 15K away from it's 3rd set after 100K because I already had 20K on the tires when I sold it. So 2 sets bought. The Civic will need 2 as well, but have 30K left on set #2 after 100K. So $504 saved there (without factoring in pro-rating the remaining tread life). Oil changes are another factor. I'd use the same filter for both, so I'll leave that out. I'm also using the same oil, however the oil capacities are different. The Civic takes 3.9 quarts (let's say 4), the SS took 6. To keep the math easy, let's say 5 quart jugs are $25 (usually Valvoline synthetic runs ~$24.97, and I only buy 5 quart jugs... individual quarts are too expensive for me). So every oil change, I'm spending $30 on the SS, and $20 for the Civic (assuming neither car needs top-up oil, which the Civic doesn't need, and the SS definitely did due to leakage). Now what's also required to be factored in is OCI. I'm doing 5K on the Civic, I did 4K on the SS due to the tune. So over the next 100K miles the guaranteed cost for the Civic is $400 in oil, the SS $750. There's $350 saved.

I'll spare the entire list, but the cost to own each car over the next 100K was added in detail. I even considered (wildly guessed based on book values of older models, with an extra 100K added to them) what both will be worth at that point, but separated end worth from the equation. Even things like insurance cost were thought of. Basically the math said the Civic would save about $11k when all was said and done. It was enough to literally justify the cost of the car, essentially paying for itself.

Any omissions made in my calculations (such as driving anywhere besides work and saving more in fuel, pro-rating the remaining tread life on the tires, and adding top-up oil to the SS) will only further strengthen my savings with the Civic.

Not to mention at the end, I'd have a 2013 Civic with 150K on it, whereas on the other hand I'd have a 2008 Chevy with 235K. One clearly is worth more than the other there...

So yes, it did make sense to hive it off for a Civic, and I will save "that much."

 

[Mr Nice]

Civics are excellent cars for the money.

 

[fdcg27]

What did you pay for this Civic?
Also, the Impala probably has knock sensors that allow for the use of RUG with some reduction in power but no reduction in fuel economy if you don't tromp on it.
Bear in mind too that a cheap Honda is like a cheap Mercedes.
Lots of gotchas that lurk in the dark insides of the machine.

 

[tony1679]

Originally Posted by fdcg27
What did you pay for this Civic?
About $11k, because for once I didn't get the most stellar deal on the planet. The deal came with a few strings attached that made it sweeter. Overall I'm happy with it.
Originally Posted by fdcg27
Bear in mind too that a cheap Honda is like a cheap Mercedes.
Lots of gotchas that lurk in the dark insides of the machine.
No gotchas with the car except the ones known before the deal was made. It needed tires (which I had to fight to NOT have them put new ones on, because they'd throw cheap junk tires on and I prefer quality and a warranty), it had an oil leak that would be fixed before delivery, and needed an alignment. The only gotchas came from the dealer. After 3 tries, they still didn't correct the oil leak or get the alignment correct. All was on paper in the sales contract, and now even the GM (who signed a separate document reaffirming the repairs required by the contract) refuses to honor it. So since it's finally time to do the first oil change (4K just for cheap insurance), it's at the dealer getting fixed properly and I'm sending said GM the bill. Even though he's long forgotten about me, I never forget or forgive... He can pay it then and satisfy the contract, or he can pay it later plus damages and court costs. His choice. So yes there technically were a couple of gotchas lurking.

 

[Srt20]

I forgot about this thread.

I just sold a 2006 Impala LT v6 blah blah grandma car last week. It was literally my grandmas car before she passed away. My wife drove it for 2 years to work. VG condition, brand new name brand tires, fresh oil change, 72k miles.

My brother told me to list it for $6500. I laughed at him.

I listed it for $4500 on FB marketplace. I was bombarded with messages. First person to message me bought it as soon as they got here. I honestly figured if I got $4000 I would be happy.

2 things people care about, no rust (obviously in rust belt areas like mine) and miles. And Im pretty sure that since I had all original paperwork proving it was my grandmas car kinda helped too, since many people asked about that. I luckily had all 3 going for me.

Im pretty confident if I would have listed it for $5000 I would have gotten it fairly quickly.