[TheNewGuy8]

Hi All - I wanted to get some non headfi-related advice.
 
I have an old Honda CR-V.  1997, 4wd, 160,000 miles.  It has a bunch of stuff wrong with it and im ready to get a new car but im wondering if its worth selling the car private party, and if not how /where do i sell it and what can i expect for it?
 
Here are some of the problems:
 
*Brakes definitely need to be replaced - probably rotars too
*I was told by a mechanic that the fram is bent slightly in the middle - so the tires are wearing more on the inside edge. I don't know if this is true - but the back tires I just replaced WERE only worn on the inside edge.
*There is lots of rust under the car (I'm in Cali now but the car lived in the northeast for many years) - i had to replace the B pipe a few years ago b/c it rusted through.  Visual inspection says the muffler looks pretty rough.
*The back-door gate needs some work on the latch - it often gets stuck once you open it and won't close unless you pry the handle back open
* The AC system doesn't really work very well
*a silly electrical thing that the overhead lights dont go on when you open the doors anymore.
*The car is black and looks pretty scuffed up - not scratch but scuffing in the paint/coating.  
*Inside there are various costmetic things missing - a button for a light, a mirror cover flap, a cover for a screw on the hand-hold in the backseat, etc.  Nothing big at all just small things.
*The car has been in a one very small accident but all was completely repaired by insurance.
 
 
All that said - the car seems to run fine.  I think with new brakes it would be in decent shape assuming nothing happened to the underbody from rust and the frame damage didn't get worse.  And the inside is very clean.
 
 
So I'm just wondering - is it worth trying to sell?  Kelly Blue Book with "fair quality" gives the car a $3,265 price.
 
I have NO experience selling cars.  Any thoughts?

 

[appophylite]

You have a Kelly Blue Book rating for the car in, what I am expecting, is the highest condition you personally would feel comfortable with rating the car at and got a quote on it at that (from their online website?). I would recommend doing the same quote a step below that (poor condition?) and see what KBB gives you as a quote for that. I would wager that you could expect to try to get something between those two values but it still isn't a guarantee. If you have a really good used car dealer in your area who buys/sells used cars and gives free estimates, have him take a look at it and gauge what he would give you for it if he were to buy it. Then, you have a good range of prices to consider offering it at if you do decide to take care of selling it yourself.
 
About 2 years back, my father, mother and I all bought new cars. We had my mother's old '99 Grand Cherokee, my dad's '01 Cherokee Sport, and my old '95 Suzuki Sidekick that we needed to sell before we officially bought the new ones, and I KBB'd all three of them. In the end, we decided that it was too much of a hassle to try to sell the cars privately so we took them to the biggest Used Car salesmen in town and had them quote the two Jeeps (I couldn't give up the Sidekick and ended up giving it to my sister as her car the next year). My dad and I must have done a pretty decent job of self-assessing our two Jeeps because we got a couple hundred under what KBB quoted for the Grand Cherokee, and actually got nearly $1000 over what KBB quoted for the Cherokee. Personally, I preferred going this route because it saved the hassle of dealing with trying to sell the car privately and as you can see, we got more or less what we wanted for the sale of both vehicles.
 
I'd personally say, take it to the use car buyer and if he gives you a quote you are happy with, take the money and let him have it. You may end up getting more for it if you try to sell it privately, but that really depends on the market in your area and your abilities as a salesperson.

 

[TheNewGuy8]

Good idea - i didnt even THINK of bringing to a used car place.
 
Taking it to one today, we'll see how it goes.

 

[cifani090]

Price competitivly and you'll sell faster.

 

 

[salannelson]

I would pay no more than $2,000 for that.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Have you considered donating it? Many charities will take it and you'll get a tax deduction.

Otherwise, put it on Craigslist and be honest about the problems. It might make excellent cheap transportation for someone.

 

[cifani090]

Quote:

Have you considered donating it? Many charities will take it and you'll get a tax deduction.

Otherwise, put it on Craigslist and be honest about the problems. It might make excellent cheap transportation for someone.

Or post it for free on the craigslist ad, or barter the car. Lots of teenager's like myself need a car. 
 

 

[TheNewGuy8]

Unfortunately donating cars to charity is a LOT more complicated than it used to be.  You can only deduct $500 without needing lots of other paperwork from the nonprofit, and you can't know at the time of donating how much you'll get.
 
The used car place I brought it to  Said they'd give me between 1200 and 1800.  I'll take it to a few others and see what I can wrangle. The nice thing about doing it to a used car place is I can drop it off the day before I leave so I don't have to worry about being carless for any length of time.
 
 

 

[LingLing1337]

Quote:

Unfortunately donating cars to charity is a LOT more complicated than it used to be.  You can only deduct $500 without needing lots of other paperwork from the nonprofit, and you can't know at the time of donating how much you'll get.
 
The used car place I brought it to  Said they'd give me between 1200 and 1800.  I'll take it to a few others and see what I can wrangle. The nice thing about doing it to a used car place is I can drop it off the day before I leave so I don't have to worry about being carless for any length of time.
 
 

 
Sounds about right, I was going to say no more than $1500. Good luck.
 
 

 

[winma]

Around $1700, its a fair price to me...List Your Car on all Online Used Car Classifieds. 
 

 

[appophylite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheNewGuy8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
The used car place I brought it to  Said they'd give me between 1200 and 1800.  I'll take it to a few others and see what I can wrangle.
 

 
Based upon your description of the condition of the car in the first post, I'd say this is probably the range you're likely to get for the car through a Used Car Lot. Figure $2000 is the max you'll get. You have to consider that any Used Car Dealer who will buy the car with the intention of flipping it for sale will be considering the additional cost to them to fix what is wrong with the car to get the highest price on it they can when they try to sell.