Author Topic: Advice on private selling my car  (Read 5188 times)

wsamsky

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Advice on private selling my car
« on: October 20, 2013, 09:06:37 AM »
So I have a very antimustacian car that needs to go and I know my best return on investment will be from a private sale. I feel that if i get the exterior detailed I will be able to sell it for more than if it was all swirled and dull as it sits now. What is the mustache communities opinion is a $150 detail worth it? BTW this will be my first time private selling a vehicle.

bawaboy

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Re: Advice on private selling my car
« Reply #1 on: October 20, 2013, 09:20:12 AM »
 I am selling my 2003 Grand Am and took it down to the local car wash yesterday for a good scrub and a vacuum. I spent about $9 total and used an hours worth of elbow grease to clean the windows etc. and get it looking respectable.

Here is my view - I have a mechanic who does/did all the work on it and asked him to print me out a copy of all the service work that has been done on it. To me, and hopefully to a potential buyer, showing that the car has been properly maintained and serviced is better than showing its been detailed. $150 for the detail is about 5% of my asking price - not something I am willing to pay. As I listed it on CL yesterday, I am happy with how it looks (should a 10 year old car look perfect?) and how it has been maintained and think this will lead to a successful sale.

As other mustachians weigh in, I will be shocked if they recommend a detail vs. elbow grease at the local car wash. Good luck with your sale!

Spork

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Re: Advice on private selling my car
« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2013, 10:17:35 AM »
I'm going to agree with bawaboy here.  I'm damn near 50 and I've never in my life had a car detailed and sort of don't even understand what is being offered for the >$100 price.  All I can understand is "really clean".  To me that sounds like soap, water, windex, Armor All, a vacuum cleaner and (optionally) a tub of wax.

olivia

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Re: Advice on private selling my car
« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2013, 10:36:40 AM »
I had my car detailed inside and out before I sold it and it made a huge difference.  It seriously looked brand new.  My husband and I are not particularly messy and we cleaned the car ourselves regularly, but the seats and carpeting in particular looked so much better after the detailing.  I never knew how dingy they were!  Worth every penny IMO.

wsamsky

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Re: Advice on private selling my car
« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2013, 10:40:54 AM »
I guess to clarify to main purpose of the detail would be to restore the paint. It is pretty swirled and dulled, with a nice detail it should look near new. To explain my rationale it is on a newer BMW 2007 so I feel like the potential buyers would pay more attention to the condition of the exterior than an older non luxury car.

orangeblaster

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Re: Advice on private selling my car
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2013, 01:22:07 PM »
Advice from someone who recently made a living pushing tin.
$150 detail will return at least $1500. A proper detail on most cars is worth it. On a 'luxury' car that is a little too old... the look is EVERYTHING.  Home cleaning a beamer is a waste of time. 
Spend your time working on preparing to sell the car (the advertisement, bill of sale, emissions if needed, title, and practicing your in person sales skills). Good luck.

bawaboy

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Re: Advice on private selling my car
« Reply #6 on: October 20, 2013, 07:43:42 PM »
Update - sold the Grand Am on the first Craigslist hit. I asked $3500 and after a test drive, quick review of the service records and look under the hood, they peeled off 35 $100 bills.

A detail may make sense on some newer luxury cars but for the majority of us mustachians, who drive mustachian cars, the $9 spent at the local car wash was plenty.


olivia

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Re: Advice on private selling my car
« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2013, 08:23:53 PM »
Update - sold the Grand Am on the first Craigslist hit. I asked $3500 and after a test drive, quick review of the service records and look under the hood, they peeled off 35 $100 bills.

A detail may make sense on some newer luxury cars but for the majority of us mustachians, who drive mustachian cars, the $9 spent at the local car wash was plenty.

Awesome, congrats!  I think it makes total sense to skip the detail when the price of the car is on the lower end and just DIY it. 

We were asking $11k for our car (2007 Subaru Outback) so I think the $150 made sense there.  Seems like it would definitely make sense for a 2007 BMW too.

bawaboy

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Re: Advice on private selling my car
« Reply #8 on: October 20, 2013, 08:49:33 PM »
Update - sold the Grand Am on the first Craigslist hit. I asked $3500 and after a test drive, quick review of the service records and look under the hood, they peeled off 35 $100 bills.

A detail may make sense on some newer luxury cars but for the majority of us mustachians, who drive mustachian cars, the $9 spent at the local car wash was plenty.

Awesome, congrats!  I think it makes total sense to skip the detail when the price of the car is on the lower end and just DIY it. 

We were asking $11k for our car (2007 Subaru Outback) so I think the $150 made sense there.  Seems like it would definitely make sense for a 2007 BMW too.

Thanks for the note - I was very pleased! :) I agree with the comments and learned something here today. Detailing is not a one size fits all. Have a good night.

Zamboni

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Re: Advice on private selling my car
« Reply #9 on: October 20, 2013, 08:51:02 PM »
I just took mine down to the local car wash, told them I was selling it so please make it extra sparkly, and paid $20 something.  It looked pretty darn good when they were done and the first buyer who saw it paid full asking price for it.  On the other had, that was an 11 year old Corolla that I was selling for $2500, not a 6 year old BMW.  A BMW probably does particularly need to sparkle to sell.

wsamsky

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Re: Advice on private selling my car
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2014, 09:43:00 AM »
Just wanted to update this thread for everyone who gave me advice. It did take me some time but I did finally sell my car but not without having some issues. While the car was listed for sale for the past three months I slowly lowered the price to find a sweet spot in the market and finally sold it yesterday for $3,500 more than what I owed on it. During the time I had it listed the clutch went out ($1,800 repair) and the tires needed replacing (steel wire was exposed on 3/4 tires SCARY!) so all in all I recouped what I had to spend on repairs + a little left over. As for the detail, looking back I think it was a waste of money and didn't get me any more than if I had just taken it through a car wash. Oh well I guess we all live and learn and then don't buy german sports cars! Thanks everyone for their advice!

olivia

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Re: Advice on private selling my car
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2014, 10:26:06 AM »
Congrats on unloading the car!  Sorry about the issues in between though-OUCH.  I will never buy a German sports car, no matter how much my husband loves Audis!  :P