Oppo Hivemind Advice Sought

"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
10/19/2018 at 15:45 • Filed to: None

Update: While I was typing this she haggled and extra $100 out of a dealer and took $4100 for it. Based on your responses the deal seems well worth skipping the hassle of going private party to maybe get a few hundred more.

Hi Oppo - hope everyone is having a good Friday afternoon! Here’s the situation: My mom, who is a 67 year old widow living 1,600 miles away in Pittsburgh, is trying to sell my dad’s ‘08 Camry that she hasn’t been driving much since he died in February. The car has 75k miles and looks great inside and out. The rub: in January it was hit on the front right by a goofball who rolled through a stop sign. Basically it needed a new fender, wheel and CV. It was repaired by a reputable shop, but the damage does show up on the CarFax. So far she’s taken it to a few dealers that buy cars and the best offer she’s gotten is $4k. I’m not all that well versed in the beigemobile resale market, but I figured that without the damage it would be easy to get $6-7k for it. Even with the damage $4k seems a little low to me. Am I just overvaluing this thing or might it be possible to get a better offer? Is it worth going private party to get more? Any advice for an older single woman to deal with buyers who would want test drives, etc? Thanks!

DISCUSSION (14)

yitznewton > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/19/2018 at 15:54

KBB gives a range of $3,616 - $4,451 for trade-in on that car in “good” condition in my market, so it sounds like you’re on par.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/19/2018 at 15:55

I’d take that trade. There’s billions of these and they ain’t worth much. It’s also the ugliest Camry

ToyotaFamily > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/19/2018 at 16:00

Has she tried CarMax?

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > yitznewton
10/19/2018 at 16:00

Thanks! It didn’t occur to me how much the market matters - I just poked around on the Pittsburgh CL and it does seem about right - people are asking $6k-ish for similar cars which means about $4k for a cash offer is right on. Around here they sell for more, but its a small town with limited supply and no rust so everything sells for more.

BigBlock440 > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/19/2018 at 16:01

It’s “trade-in” value, the dealer will sell it for more. Whether it’s worth it or not to sell it on your own is up to you.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > ToyotaFamily
10/19/2018 at 16:01

Closest one is 3 hours away. Pittsburgh is one of the few metros of decent size that doesn’t have one. I asked her to go there first and she said she didn’t think there was one near by which surprised me until I went and checked.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > BigBlock440
10/19/2018 at 16:03

Thanks. For some reason I thought the trade-in was a little higher on these - I think my thinking is just skewed by living somewhere that all used cars are expensive.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
10/19/2018 at 16:03

Yeah I’ve never been a huge fan of it. For some reason my dad bought multiple cars in these ugly shades of green too. She haggled $100 more out of them and took it lol. I’ll update post.

Future next gen S2000 owner > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/19/2018 at 16:06

Dealers are going to basically get it for bottom dollar or pass. That’s probably in the realm of trade-in if it retails for 7-9K.

ToyotaFamily > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/19/2018 at 16:06

That’s unfortunate, they usually give you a good baseline to start with.

I’m sure the accident history is scaring away those dealers that buy cars. I know when my dad was trading in a Corolla they were a bit low because of an accident that didn’t even cause any damage.

BigBlock440 > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/19/2018 at 16:07

I don’t have anything but anecdotal data on it, but it seems like a switch was flipped some time in the last few months on used car prices. In the spring/early summer, looking at cars and the only things I’d see listed in the under $1k range you’d be lucky if they ran, anything decent with even 150k on it would be $3k+. Recently looking, I’m seeing lots of vehicles that look good in adds and are comparably low mileage (~100k) for $1,500 and under. I don’t know if it’s seasonal or what, but I’m looking to sell one of mine but it’s almost not worth the effort for that price.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > ToyotaFamily
10/19/2018 at 16:13

Yeah - I always go to CarMax first. I’ve sold 2 cars to them now. They made it especially easy to unload one that still had a loan. I think it took less than an hour to walk out with a check for the $700 or so that their offer was over the balance. Would’ve been a headache to sell for maybe $500 more and deal with the bank with another dealer or private party. Amusinlgly, although I bought the car from them 7 years ago and sold it back to them 3 years ago I still get emails from them asking if it is still running OK.

From the other responses on here it looks like the accident history might be having a little impact (no pun intended) but not much - I probably just thought the car was worth more than it is.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Future next gen S2000 owner
10/19/2018 at 16:15

Indeed. I was hoping she could find a better way to unload it than going to a dealer, but once she had the title in her name (it came on Tuesday) she was pretty intent on unloading it as quickly as possible.

facw > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
10/19/2018 at 18:24

I think she made the right choice here. She might have gotten more with a private seller sale, but honestly, unless she is really pressed for money, the time, hassle, and avoiding the risk to personal safety are probably worth sacrificing some money.