Minimum selling price of a running vehicle??

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brages

brages

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I have this 98 Honda Accord that I'm going to be selling soon. It runs OK, maybe leaks maybe burns some oil, but nothing terrible. 295k miles, clutch and timing belt done around 230k. A/C and heat work, radio is good. Shocks are probably dead, tires are nearly new, brakes are ok i guess. Passed the state safety and emission inspection in January.

I've been driving this thing daily for 10 years and it's never let me down. But it's looking pretty hideous inside and out - dirty interior, peeling clearcoat, dents a plenty and so I've replaced it with a newer car.

What is the price that something like this would go for? I'm looking at the local ads, and $1000 seems to buy you a running car that is a lot better looking or newer. So I guess under $1000.

Scrap value these days is what, $300 or so? Maybe I should donate it and get a tax deduction.

What do you think? There has to be some minimum value for comfortable, reliable (past performance not indicative of future results) transportation...?
 
I had a 99 Accord coupe for 9.5 years and 166k miles. They are good cars. I sold mine for $3800 privately and it was in great shape inside and out.

I think what hurts the value of yours would be the dirty interior and it being a manual. I'd price it at $900 and hope for a quick sale. Put a little elbow grease in cleaning up the interior. A little tlc will go a long way. Also Lowe's rents the Bissel Big Green steam cleaner for $35/day with upholstery attachments. Get some Zep Premium carpet cleaner at HD and that should go a long way towards selling it quickly. People dislike sitting in some else's dirt.
 
I generally find a family member in need of a car and give it to them. They probably aren't going to have a car because they neglected the last one they had. Don't expect to see them get another 100K out of it.
 
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The used car that is unusually clean is a red flag that it's going to be a lemon.

Really insist on slightly more than scrap value so you don't get all the scammers who just want to scrap it.
 
I see stuff like that on FB Marketplace going for $1,000 minimum.

Most anything that runs today is $1,000 minimum. If it needs barely anything, it's closer to $2,000.
 
A couple recent examples of mine:

Sister picked up a 2000 Accord, 170K miles but similar condition to yours for $900 and the timing belt had been done 20k miles ago. Runs great, but needed valve cover and distributor seals. Newer tires, but shocks are done for.

Picked up a 2005 Taurus 3.0 Vulcan for my dad for $850. Exterior is "OK"....mismatched color hood. Interior is very, very good condition. 200k miles and runs really, really well.

In my area, I think your car would go for $600-$800 if you made the interior presentable.
 
You're better off scraping it than getting a tax deduction. If you donate it, they will scrap it. Then you'll get to deduct whatever tax bracket % you're in. Donate it to a person down on their luck or poor college student.
 
This is as much personal opinion as anything, but I think even the poorest Geo Metro that'll go down the road with minimal work should be worth $400. Your Accord, with the parts you've put on recently, sounds like something that I'd look for about $800 out of. I agree, there's a selection of decent looking, operable cars out there for a grand, but "runs n drives great clean title cold ac" on a Facebook or CL ad doesn't make a believer out of me.
 
My personal rule of thumb :

If it runs , passes state inspection and the a/c works - $1,500.00 minimum

YMMV
 
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Originally Posted By: Bud_One
My personal rule of thumb :

If it runs , passes state inspection and the a/c works - $1,500.00 minimum

YMMV


SOLD!

Private message me for the Paypal, LOL...

Been poking around the local craigslist, and most of the stuff $500-750 has issues like missing title, major mechanical problems, serious crash damage... So I'll probably start in the thousandish range but be flexible. "I KNOW WHAT I GOT"

I plan on cleaning out the interior, but it's had a few drink spills in the back seat over the years, so it's never going to be perfect.
 
Originally Posted By: Alex_V
even the poorest Geo Metro that'll go down the road with minimal work should be worth $400.


During the last gas panic when gas was $4.50 gallon a few years ago, Geo Metro's were selling on ebay for $6000-$7000. These were $1500 cars before...
 
Originally Posted By: brages

Scrap value these days is what, $300 or so? Maybe I should donate it and get a tax deduction.


Do NOT donate it. The tax deduction isn't worth anything. Only donate if you really care about the charity. If they charity gets $300 for scrap value, you get to write off $300 on your taxes and if you're in the 25% bracket, that means it's worth $75 as a donation. Better to just get the $300 directly. It used to be worth it to donate it, but they changed the rules a while back so you get to write off only what the charity gets instead of the book value.
 
I have a decent running but high mileage(229,xxx miles) rarer car I am trying to sell, 2005 Legacy Turbo wagon with 5 speed manual.

Interesting what offers are for it but people are interested. Very interested what this thread says. I am asking $3100 but will only budge about $300 which may not be correct way of doing CL.
 
Originally Posted By: madRiver
I have a decent running but high mileage(229,xxx miles) rarer car I am trying to sell, 2005 Legacy Turbo wagon with 5 speed manual.

Interesting what offers are for it but people are interested. Very interested what this thread says. I am asking $3100 but will only budge about $300 which may not be correct way of doing CL.


What's the real book value? You don't have enough details to figure it out, but typically used cars are in the average to clean trade in price. Most people on CL tend to price near retail or above so it's too high. So if you look at other ads, you'll think you're right in line, but all the other ones are high priced and don't sell so you end up joining them. Dealers are just there to move metal so you can find cars priced a little below retail from a dealer. Private party should be way below retail. If you price it near rough, it usually sells right away. And don't think that because it's rare, it's worth more. There's no shortage of cars to buy and with all the various options you can get, it's possible for every car to a rare one. Rare doesn't mean valuable.
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Originally Posted By: Alex_V
even the poorest Geo Metro that'll go down the road with minimal work should be worth $400.


During the last gas panic when gas was $4.50 gallon a few years ago, Geo Metro's were selling on ebay for $6000-$7000. These were $1500 cars before...

There's always a fool out there.
 
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