Hi I’m gonna be selling my 2008 Chevy equinox soon and I don’t know what to price it at. KBB at fair condition was 1900-3300. She runs great but has a lot of body damage. I had a tire blow up on each side of the car and the tire flaps really damaged the car. The windshield has a long crack all across it. The ac doesn’t blow cold air, the carpet is really stained and the check engine light is on. I recently replaced the brakes and rotors, tune up, oil change, spark plugs, and thermostat sensor. She will pass smog and I’m getting that done really soon. I won’t take less than 1000 but I’d like to try for 1600. Am I expecting to much with the things wrong with her? What should I price it at in the ad? Thank you in advance for your help!
Even at 1000.00 you will not get many interested in this thing . Just list it at 1000.00 and take the first offer of cash over 700.00
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What’s the mileage? You could try to put it at $2,000 knowing you’ll negotiate down. If you want to unload it more quickly, put it at $1,000-1,250 range
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Ask $1600 and take $1000.
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That check engine light could be a big problem, depending on whether you’re required to have car inspections. Any idea why it’s on?
It won’t pass smog with the check engine light on.
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If you get that, it’ll be a bloody miracle.
A lot of people will not buy a car with a check engine light unless they know beyond any doubt what the light is caused by. The assumption, usually correct, is that whatever is wrong is so expensive to fix that the owner doesn’t want to spend the money, and they will not want to take on that expense themselves.
The first thing you should do is figure out why that light is on because, no, it will not pass emissions with a check engine light on.
Beyond that, you describe a vehicle that looks like it was hit with a sledgehammer, and looks like someone got murdered inside it. At the very least, borrow a carpet shampooer and clean up the stains.
Look at it this way, even if it were otherwise worth $1900, you can deduct a couple hundred to replace the windshield, $1,000 to fix the air conditioner, and who knows how much to fix the check engine light that absolutely must be fixed before the next owner can register the car. That’s why, as long as that CEL is on, it’s worth $0 to all but the most gullible buyers.
The code is crankshaft/camshaft sensor. I’ve replaced both and the light is still on and the code.
Some places you’ll be on the hook for repairs or refunding if it fails emission and/or safety inspection. In MA, it will fail both in its current condition. Here’s what that says-
The Massachusetts Failed Inspection Law allows you to void or cancel a motor vehicle contract or sale if your vehicle fails to pass inspection within 7 days from the date of sale and if the estimated costs of repairs or safety related defects exceeds 10% of the purchase price. This law applies to both dealer and private party sales of cars and motorcycles purchased for personal or family use regardless of mileage or age. It does not apply to leased cars.
I wouldn’t pay more than $500 for it and wouldn’t expect much more if I was selling it. Even then, you’ll be looking for a very specific set of buyers willing to deal with all the problems. Good luck.
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Thank you everyone for the information.
Donate it. The repairs cost far more than an LS Equinox would be worth in clean condition with 120,000 miles. Edmunds estimates the average sales price at $2825 for the Equinox I just described.
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I think I’d at least try for, say, $1000 on Craigslist or in my local newspaper. Cash on the table, as is, full disclosure of all known problems. Someone might want a challenge, or a fixer-upper, or even need such an Equinox for parts.
But otherwise, yeah, I’d either donate the vehicle or perhaps even take it to a junkyard. You’re just above the cost/benefit/value threshold of “not worth fooling with.” At least in my mind.
Good luck.
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Likely a stretched timing chain is the problem and thats not gonna be cheap either. You might call a junkyard and find out the scrap value…
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With all due respect, this vehicle is worth maybe $500 to $600 to someone who lives in an area with no emissions testing, and just needs an ugly beater to get around in. For anyone who actually has to get this thing through emissions, it’s worse than worthless. If you’re getting DTCs set due to camshaft and crankshaft sensors out of sync, it’s either a stretched timing chain, defective PCM, or defective wiring harness. None of these problems are cheap to correct, or worth fixing on a vehicle with so much body damage.
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Won’t your car insurance cover the broken windshield? I would have that done before trying to sell car. There is a OBDB2 code reader called FIXD that will read the codes that set the CEL, and it can reset the CEL… Put it in and read the codes then reset the CEL. If it comes back on there is something else or the job replacing them was bad. Good luck.
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Yes you are. If I were looking for a car, I wouldn’t even consider one with that much wrong with it. But suppose for some reason I was considering it. I would take the private party sale price for an example of that car in good shape. Then I would start deducting my offer based on how much it would cost me to correct the defects. In this case lets say that that an example of the same car in good shape would be be worth $5000. I would deduct for the body damage, AC, windshield, and CEL. In all likelihood, this vehicle would cost more to repair than it’s worth, so it would be a hard pass from me. For $1600 you can (barely) get an old taxi, police car than definitely won’t be in outstanding shape but also won’t need a trip to the body shop either. To me a car in the condition you’re describing should’ve been totaled out, and sent out to pasture.
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