Author Topic: Should I sell my car?  (Read 5965 times)

chris009

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 23
Should I sell my car?
« on: December 23, 2012, 11:59:56 AM »
I know deep down I should sell this car, but for the price I'm going to get for it, I don't want to.

I have a 2004 Ford Focus. It's a good little car. I've never had a problem with it. The maintenance has been cheap. The most expensive thing I had to do was have the alternator replaced (which was recent). In October, I switched jobs to a place that is very close to where I live (2km, just over a mile). I live with my girlfriend. We mainly drive together all the time (for groceries and such) and it doesn't make sense for us to have two vehicles.

My car is completely paid off and it has been paid off for a long time. I have about 152,000 kms on it. I'll point out that those kms are not "real" kms. The car came with larger tires on it that were expensive, so I put on 14 inch wheels as they're more common and cheaper. I never had adjustment to the vehicle with regards to the smaller tires on it. So the mileage on it isn't as high as it shows. Though something like this doesn't help for selling the car.

Here's the dilemma I'm in. I'd like to get $3k for this car, but I can't get any bites. And I just don't feel like giving away a car for less than that knowing that it is a good car and has a lot more miles left in it. It costs roughly ~$600/year to insure (Canadian insurance rates). It's currently not insured. I have it sitting right now. I don't drive it. I turn it on when I can. I try my best to get the engine up to operating temperature when I turn it on (which is difficult without insurance to take it on the road).

With my driving habits I'll put less than 1000km/year on the car. That's roughly three-four tanks of gas a year (~$40-$45 to fill). $600 for insurance. $85 for yearly registration. For me, clearly there is no reason to have this street legal. Sharing my girlfriend's vehicle is still a very new thing for us. We haven't had any problems being a one car unit though. It could change, but for now it seems to be working well.

But I just keep running into the value my car is being assessed at. I don't want to give it up for $2000 because I feel it is worth more to me, even if it's just sitting in a parking space.

What do you guys think?

Paul der Krake

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5854
  • Age: 16
  • Location: UTC-10:00
Re: Should I sell my car?
« Reply #1 on: December 23, 2012, 12:13:55 PM »
Certainly don't settle for less than what it's worth. Heck, under 90k miles for $3000? Hell, I'd buy it in a heartbeat if I were closer to you. If the car is as good as you claim it is, $2000 is laughably cheap.

So it sounds like you are not advertising your car well enough. Where and how often have you posted your ad? Have you gotten quotes from a local professional dealer?

tmac

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 470
Re: Should I sell my car?
« Reply #2 on: December 23, 2012, 12:27:32 PM »
Is selling your girlfriend's car an option? Is that a better choice?

chris009

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 23
Re: Should I sell my car?
« Reply #3 on: December 23, 2012, 02:27:05 PM »
Certainly don't settle for less than what it's worth. Heck, under 90k miles for $3000? Hell, I'd buy it in a heartbeat if I were closer to you. If the car is as good as you claim it is, $2000 is laughably cheap.

So it sounds like you are not advertising your car well enough. Where and how often have you posted your ad? Have you gotten quotes from a local professional dealer?

Well, the car isn't perfect. I guess when it comes to selling a car and you disclose something wrong it is used as a wedge on price. Like for example, the back door on the passenger side doesn't open. There is some rust on the paint (rust I realize makes things trickier for someone buying). The AC needs a recharge (with roughly 2 months of summer, the $60 + my own labor is hardly worth it.

I've listed it on kijiji, which is basically like Craigslist except far more popular in Canada. I also haven't got a quote from a local professional dealer. This is literally the first time I've attempted to sell a car. I'm not really sure what all the steps I should be taking.

Quote
Is selling your girlfriend's car an option? Is that a better choice?
My girlfriend has a Yaris Hatchback. Also paid off, newer, better gas mileage and about 85,000km (53,000miles) on it. We both have pretty cheap reliable cars. Based on mileage alone, I assume my car would run into heavier maintenance costs sooner than hers would.


-----

And just a side note. I'm just in a relationship. Not to trivialize the relationship, but it could end. And at that point I would need a car. So if I did sell the car, the money would just go into a savings account for the possible next purchase (rather than being used to invest). This is just something that I didn't think of until after I started the thread.

tmac

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 470
Re: Should I sell my car?
« Reply #4 on: December 23, 2012, 03:10:11 PM »
Quote
Is selling your girlfriend's car an option? Is that a better choice?
My girlfriend has a Yaris Hatchback. Also paid off, newer, better gas mileage and about 85,000km (53,000miles) on it. We both have pretty cheap reliable cars. Based on mileage alone, I assume my car would run into heavier maintenance costs sooner than hers would.


-----

And just a side note. I'm just in a relationship. Not to trivialize the relationship, but it could end. And at that point I would need a car. So if I did sell the car, the money would just go into a savings account for the possible next purchase (rather than being used to invest). This is just something that I didn't think of until after I started the thread.

That's a perfectly valid point. I'd say that if the worst happens, it doesn't take long to buy a car so selling yours comes with little risk. I'd go ahead and sell yours, and tuck the money away for a just-in-case scenario.  I don't know much about selling cars either, but I'd imagine that if you're not getting any bites, then lowering the price would make sense. Calculate how much you'd have to pay on it for the next several months, and deduct that from the price and see how it goes. Are there any other cars listing locally at about your price point? Are they in better shape than yours?

Maybe also make sure that your advertising is as professional as you can make it -- great photos, listed lots of places. My cars have always sold just from being on our front lawn (we live in the center of a small town), or from a listing on cars.com, but I suspect I've been lucky. We're about to put one of ours on the lawn, once it's been detailed, and we're going to price it pretty low for quick sale.

As an aside, when we had an old car we couldn't sell in the past, we donated it to our local NPR station and got the deduction. We probably could have sold it for me if we'd held out, but it just wasn't worth it to us.

Self-employed-swami

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1090
  • Location: Canada
Re: Should I sell my car?
« Reply #5 on: December 23, 2012, 10:37:58 PM »
Hey, I'm in Canada too, and I've bought and sold a few cars privately in the last few years. 

Places to list it:

autotrader.ca 
Older folks, like my Dad, only shop for used vehicles this way.  Online is free, and the printed autotrader is decently cheap, like $8 or something.  (I don't know how many times he's bought an auto trader magazine, just to browse).

Facebook Marketplace.  Also free, and who doesn't go on Facebook?

Craigslist.   Also free.  And in BC, it seems to be what people use, instead of kijiji.

A lot of university newspapers run free classifieds, and at that price, it might be just the kind of car that a student would like to buy.

Take pictures of the damage too, and put it in the ads.  There is no point in wasting your time with people who are going to freak out over a little rust.  I'd spend the $60 and the time to fix the AC.  You never know what might tilt the balance for someone doing their math on the car.  That AC repair might mean $400 to them.   

Caution: total side-tracking story ahead...

We once got a smoking good deal on a lower milage 7 year old echo 4 door sedan.  The car was worth $4000 to the seller, and to us.  We were going to offer her that, when I saw the ad, and recognized her name (she was an old co-worker of mine) but she mentioned that the car wasn't available for purchase for 4 weeks from then.  Upon talking to her, it had been the victim in a hit and run accident in a parking lot, that caved in the front side panel, and cracked a headlight.  She didn't have collision insurance on it, and so had saved the $1800 to have it fixed at a dealership (they had talked her into repainting the whole front end, as well as replacing both headlights, so they would be the same new colour plastic) and was waiting for the appointment. 

When my husband, my mechanic Dad, and I went to look at the car, my Dad laughed at the damage, and said he could fix it for about $400 in parts (and he'd do it for free because he is awesome).  We talked to her about it, and she agreed to let us have it ASAP, for the difference between the $4000 value, and the $1800 she'd saved up to have it fixed, since she was only going to net $2200 selling it to anyone else (she'd been trying to sell it for a while, and was getting frustrated by the process).

So, with an aftermarket front panel, painted close enough to the same colour as to not stand out, and one new headlight, we were off to the races, for about $2600.  When I changed jobs a few months later, and I needed a work vehicle, we sold it for $4000 :) 

Anyway, the point of my story is that the trouble for someone else to get the AC fixed, along with the cost, should make YOU want to fix it, since the ROI is pretty fantastic for $60 and a few hours of spare time.

Blackbomber

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 61
Re: Should I sell my car?
« Reply #6 on: December 24, 2012, 07:18:40 AM »
I couldn't agree more with charging the AC. One less negative, and a big unknown. For the savvy buyer who knows a $60.00 home recharge kit will likely rectify the issue, they will leverage that against you, so you will loose more than the $60 either way. And it's not really $60 when you consider the refrigerant cans cost much less. The investment you are paying for the hose and gauge will probably come in handy down the line. I used mine to recharge the systems of two co-workers in the company parking lot since buying mine. One stopped some whining, the other gave me an Amazon gift card valued at more than the kit (plus paid for the refrigerant). Point being that if word gets out that you know how to recharge AC, you can take in a side job or two that will pay for the tool. Just do it.

chris009

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 23
Re: Should I sell my car?
« Reply #7 on: December 24, 2012, 08:31:32 AM »
I think everyone is making very good points. So I guess what I'll do next is take the time to make the little fixes I can. I know the AC recharge thing is a pretty standard procedure with my car. I'll also see what I can do about that back door not opening. When I get that done, I'll relist it and go with the sites that Swami suggested.

Thanks everyone.

BlueMR2

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2313
Re: Should I sell my car?
« Reply #8 on: January 01, 2013, 11:06:57 AM »
Certainly don't settle for less than what it's worth.

I disagree with that as a general principle.  It can be worth a lot more money in the long run to get out from underneath the insurance and maintenance now.

In this case, perhaps you don't need to get rid of it, but don't let that be your deciding factor.

James

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1678
  • Age: 51
  • Location: Rice Lake, WI
Re: Should I sell my car?
« Reply #9 on: January 01, 2013, 11:18:24 AM »
It's a good little car. I've never had a problem with it. The maintenance has been cheap.


Actually, you have a few very significant problems with it right now, the A/C doesn't work, a back door doesn't open and there is rust.  Just because these seem insignificant to you doesn't mean they don't greatly affect the value.  Either fix it and get more money for it, or realize it's simply not worth as much in the current condition.  It's only going to drop in value sitting around, especially as the rust spreads.


As long as you are placing ads that are reaching a fair number of people the value will set itself.  Just keep dropping the price until it sells.  Then you will know the actual value for your specific car in your specific location.  If it's worth more to you than the market is offering then keep it, but that doesn't mean it's worth more than the market is offering.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!