I'm going to be taking the bus to my job, so we're going down to one car to save money. We're going to buy a different car. The decision has been made, for better or worse.
Her car is very basic and not the best in winter. She hates driving my car. So just selling off one of the cars and keeping the other is not an option. Sorry. Trust me, I tried to convince her to just drive my car. Can't be done.
We have:
- 2011 Chevy Malibu LS, PAID OFF, 65k miles, "Good" condition except: lots of dings in rear bumper, big crack in front bumper and tires are just about toast ($650 to replace tires)
- 2010 Honda Fit, owe $4000, 47k miles, "Good" condition except: one ding in passenger side (might still qualify for "Good condition")
- both of us have great credit scores
Factors to consider:
- neither of us have sold a car privately before, but we're willing to learn and do it if necessary
- we live in Minneapolis, not the best neighborhood but hardly the worst -- I suppose there's always a risk that something bad/shady could happen off Cragislist no matter where you are
- we won't pay income tax on a private sale of either, because both are well at a loss by now
- but a trade-in at the dealer will directly reduce the sale price of the new car, which then reduces the sales tax (MN 6.5%) --- for whatever reason, a down payment does not have the same effect
So, what's the best way?
A) sell both cars privately, use money as down payment on new car
B) sell my car privately, use money as down payment on new car & trade her car in
C) trade both cars in
And questions:
1) would there be any hope or reason to think that replacing the tires on my Malibu would get me more than $650 on the trade in/sale?
2) should I try to replace either or both of the bumpers myself, to regain that value? I have no idea if I could pull it off, but maybe? I'm guessing there's no way I'd recoup the cost from taking it to a body shop
3) similarly, any good reason to fix the ding in the side of the Fit?
4) would there be any good reason to pay off the Fit before selling or trading it in? Or is the just going to be the same money either way?
Thanks! PS - if you want to just link to relevant web pages or previous threads/posts on this forum, I wouldn't begrudge you! :)