Selling an older car with repairs pending?

[BobTheBuilder]

Hi all,

I am quite sure I will get a new-to-me Hybrid car (Hyundai Ioniq) in 6 to 9 months from now, when the technichal check to renew the safety certifciation is almost due.

I now drive a Hyundai i30 2008, base model, 180.000 km.
I do not want to drive that car until 2022 or until it breaks down. I work in research in the car safety / automotive parts sector and I would like to have a safety upgrade and have a Hybrid to decrease pollution and oil consumption.

The car has the following repairs pending:

Paint scratches and and minor bumper marks (mostly not my doing...)
One button-top on the radio is missing :-D
More seriously: There is work to be done on the front axle (steering, strut bearings) additionally to regular maintenance, and new summer tires will be necessary to continue dringin next spring.

Estimated cost in March to keep the car going: 1500€

Currently estimated resell value if everything was in good order: 2000€ on a good day.

Apart from not thinking that this is the optimal car for me, I did the math on selling or keeping it. It would be a wash with owning newer cars over the next 24 months given the low reliability of a 12 to 14 year old Hyundai. Stuff just keeps on breaking, and it is noisy.

So do you think it would be wise to adress one or several of the issues mentioned above before selling the car in terms of total value? A dealer may be able to do those repairs for little money if he buys the car, but I don't want to overspend on a very young used car just to get a reasonable trade-in.

[wotan]

just sell the car on craigslist.
people understand they are buying an old car.
just sold a 1989 toyota camry station wagon on craiglist for $750.
had 5 people want the car.
don't worry about the repairs, they're called "beater cars" for a reason.

[Car Jack]

Don't fix anything and sell it as is.  Unless you can fix stuff for free, you're throwing money away.  If you were to trade at a dealer, they're just going to send it to auction.  Have you considered buying a used car instead of new?  A 5 year old Prius costs close to nothing and does exactly what you're looking for. 

[RWD]

Sell as is. People spending only a couple grand on a car expect some things to be broken.

[MayDay]

Sell it as is and list what is wrong with it. 

We sold of POS 99 Corolla when it was at 200K miles and ~10 years old.  It had SO MUCH wrong with it, including potentially fatal (to the car, not people!) issues.  We listed it all, and someone snapped it up about 5 minutes after I posted it. 

[Syonyk]

Yup.  List it with the issues you know of, offer it for a fair price given the issues, and you'll get it sold.

If nobody bites, drop the price because you're asking too much.

In my experience, people who are shopping for cars with a few issues tend to be mechanically apt and low on cash - and have a good idea what a car is worth, a solid idea of the repair cost, and a solid idea of how much other stuff you don't know needs work.  I learned years ago that any used car will need about $500 of parts in the first 6 months - regardless of the car cost.  $100 car, $5000 car... doesn't matter.  They'll all need about $500 of parts in the first 6 months of ownership.

[chemistk]

In addition to selling it as-is, if where you live doesn't already require this kind of document, it would be extremely wise to include in the bill of sale (and have notarized too) that the buyer understands that the car is being sold as-is, and that you are being absolved of all responsibility from future issues with the car.

[RWD]

In addition to selling it as-is, if where you live doesn't already require this kind of document, it would be extremely wise to include in the bill of sale (and have notarized too) that the buyer understands that the car is being sold as-is, and that you are being absolved of all responsibility from future issues with the car.

This is implied with private sales. The "as-is" disclaimer is a dealer requirement. As long as you do not factually misrepresent the vehicle (e.g. wrong year or rolled back odometer) then you can not legally be held responsible for problems with the car. Once the title is transferred it is their problem. And on that note, make sure the title gets transferred.

[BobTheBuilder]

Wow, so many insightful comments. Thank you all, I think the way forward is clear: Hope it is fully operational by the time it is supposed to sell, and list it "as is". Maybe I can give an update to you once it is sold. Thanks again!