Rusted roof rack... and selling a car in Alberta

"BaconSandwich is tasty." (baconsandwich)
12/08/2015 at 22:31 • Filed to: None

I knew it was bad, but until a few weeks ago, I didn’t know quite how bad. Amazing how something from 2007 can be rusted so badly. I’m pretty sure it was made from 100% Mazda Protege rear fenders, or something.

So... it looks like I’ll get to have some fun making some new ones! :P One more excuse to buy a welder. :)

On an unrelated note, we’ll be selling my wife’s Cavalier. It’s a 2-door, 2001, with roughly 240,000 km on it. Having never sold a car before, I might need a little guidance here, to make sure I do things right. Other than what’s listed here ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ), is there anything else I should do? I know Steve Lehto would say keep a copy of the ad (which I’ll do, once I post it).

As I was falling asleep, I was thinking about the Cavalier. It’s the car my wife had when we first met. It’ll actually be sad to see it go.

DISCUSSION (10)

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > BaconSandwich is tasty.
12/08/2015 at 22:36

Best advice I can give for selling a car, especially a cheaper/older one, is to be ready for the sheer amount of dumb people who will profess interest in the car but never show up to buy it.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
12/08/2015 at 22:48

I’m already going through that fun trying to sell a Macbook Air. :P So far I’ve had two offers cancel and one no-show.

Seat Safety Switch > BaconSandwich is tasty.
12/08/2015 at 23:03

Hello neighbour!

My tips for selling a car in this great, great province:

Clean the interior! Make sure to adjust the front seats through all the angles while you vacuum because the Cavalier seats trap a ton of schmutz in the crack.

Apply 303 Aerospace Protectant (now available at Canadian Tire!) to everything that’s black plastic, both inside and out. Yes, trim pieces, mirrors, pillar trim, the whole nine yards. You’ll be amazed at how it looks.

Spray wax it.

Use the Alberta Vehicle Bill of Sale ; it’s not required to register a car but it makes ‘normal’ people a lot more comfortable with the purchase when they see an official-looking form that you know by heart how to fill out.

Note that 2001 is now old enough that some insurance companies will ask for an insurance inspection to be performed in order to insure the car for more than just liability; this inspection is totally laughable and can be done for cheap/beer by a friendly mechanic.

Specific tips about the 3rd gen Cavalier:

Everyone who wants it is desperate or uninformed. Make sure to constantly re-iterate that it is dependable transport. Try to get in their shoes and tell them about scenarios in which it would help them (e.g. “this would be great for your daughter in the snow, because it has winter tires and ABS”). Perhaps this car saved your wife’s life during a dangerous storm. These are good stories to have on deck.

Every single one of them has a crack on the upper dashboard area

The valve cover gasket is probably leaking! Sometimes this is misinterpreted as a head gasket, because the 2.2L in particular is known for head gasket failures. To head this off, clean the block and head of oil and then throw muddy snow (of which you should have a lot) onto the engine to make sure it doesn’t look suspiciously recently cleaned. I fell for this one once.

Nearly every single one of them has a dangling rear muffler that bounces on the highway (you’ve probably noticed). Yours is probably no exception. Test it with your foot, and if there’s too much play, snug up the bushing with a Home Depot hose clamp until it stops moving. Trust me, nobody will check, but they’ll notice the noise that it makes if you don’t fix it on the test drive.

Good luck!

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Seat Safety Switch
12/08/2015 at 23:21

That’s some solid advice! In take it you have owned a few Cavaliers? :)

I do plan on giving the interior a very good cleaning. I’ve got some Maguires stuff that works quite well, but I’ll certainly look into that 303 stuff. Apparently my wife was already on the ball and grabbed a pair of Bill of Sale papers when she was last at AMA.

Oddly enough, the Cavalier has left us stranded once, but it was a simple fix. It has been incredibly cheap to keep running. And the valve cover gasket is perfect. The engine bay is surprisingly clean. I wish I could say the same for my Civic! As for the muffler, I’m already one step ahead there - last summer I picked up some hose clamps. It hasn’t wiggled since!

I take it you are in Alberta as well?

Seat Safety Switch > BaconSandwich is tasty.
12/08/2015 at 23:24

I have sold two Cavaliers to date, a 4-door 2001 that was mine and a 2-door 2003 Sunfire that wasn’t. Surprisingly the really nice Ecotec engine in the latter didn’t translate into increased revenue; people just don’t care.

303 is great because it keeps plastics shiny for a long time without making them greasy like Armor-All does, which gives a whiff of subconscious impression that the car was really well cared for and not just recently spruced up.

Yeah, I am in YYC.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Seat Safety Switch
12/09/2015 at 08:47

That 303 Aerospace stuff, do you use the spray bottle or the wipes?

Seat Safety Switch > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
12/09/2015 at 10:13

Spray bottle and microfiber. Spray onto the surface, then scrub it in with the towel, not the other way around (it works crappily when it starts to dry on the towel).

Then I wait a day and usually take a can of computer duster to blow all the dust that accumulates while it dries.

Didn’t realize there were wipes, that must be new.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Seat Safety Switch
12/09/2015 at 11:12

Yeah I just typed it into Amazon since I was curious. Both came up in similar price range. Been looking for something better than just using my vinyl top cleaner that I usually use on the interior and the outside trim pieces.

Seat Safety Switch > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
12/09/2015 at 11:29

FYI it works great on Miata vinyl soft tops too. It doesn’t last quite as long there but it’s better than the Autoglym convertible top cleaner by far.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Seat Safety Switch
12/12/2015 at 11:16

I do greatly appreciate the advice. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to clean it up and list it today.