I am retired and can no longer afford to keep up my beloved Saab. It’s a wonderful car and I have put many new parts into it to the tune of over $9000 since I bought it in 2009. I would like to sell it. Manual transmission and drives beautifully. What is the best place to advertise? I live in Jacksonville, FL. Thanks.
Depends on how much hassle you can tolerate where you sell it.
Having sold a 2001 Saab a year ago, I know what you face. First, it is a manual. 10% or less of buyers can even drive one. 2nd, it is an orphan car. 3rd, it is 13 years old.
If you look up its trade in and private sale value ona site like KBB.com, that will give you an idea of what it is worth. Be honest, it isn’t the top of the range. That you post you put $9K into it tells me you likely have an inflated view of its worth. Trust me when I say that matters to no one but you. Sorry, but that is the way it is.
If you need to buy another car to replace it, just trade it in. It will hurt to sell it so cheap but you will get a bit of sales tax relief on the newer car. You could sell it to CarMax or CarGurus. Both will give trade in value at best.
If you really want the hassle of selling it yourself, AutoTrader is a decent source. Stay away from the bottom feeders at Craigslist. It will take quite a while to find a buyer and you will likely need to lower the price as time goes on and it will be a pain in the rear dealing with buyers.
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Thank you for your response. I lived in England for a while and it’s rare to find anything but a manual there! I have always driven a stick and will miss it very much. I have a bad left knee now, so I am forced to be a wuss. I will take your advice. I was even thinking that selling my Saab for parts might be an option. But don’t know how I would find a buyer.
Again, many thanks.
Susan
Then you will likely get less than $500 for the car. Advertising the car “for parts” will turn away most potential buyers, those selling cars for parts generally have ownership issues or a salvage title, buyers don’t want those problems. Also you can’t control what the next owner does with the car, they could buy it “for parts” and drive it for ten years.
There are people interested is unusual cars, you might be surprised at the interest this car might attract.
I don’t know if you mess with eBay but that is a possibility for sellling it. Less yo-yos on that site.
I’m not sure but I think it might be 125 to list it and that’s a fixed fee. Of course you should insist on local pickup and set the auction up with an instant deposit required when a bid is placed. That weeds out the yo-yos.
What surprises me is how in the world you spent 9 grand on on parts for it. That’s highly unusual for a SAAB. Of course I don’t know how much of that 9k involves maintenance, wear and tear items, tires, brakes, etc.
I also agree that a manual transmission might make it a bit tough to sell. Personally, I love manuals but for the majority of people it’s a foreign language they don’t want to learn.
Thank you for this information.