I have a 2011 JGC. It has approx. 215k miles on it. Over the past couple of months it has started to delay while shifting. Sometimes if I park it, shut it off, and turn it back on it will run a little better. I’m assuming it will need a new transmission. I have 3 other vehicles I bought over the last decade that are reaching high mileage and are in need of major repairs if I want to keep them. I just want to list this one “as-is” explaining that it needs some transmission work. My fiancé works away and I have an infant. I also live 20 miles from the nearest mechanic, point being I just want to list it and sell it. The exterior is in great shape, as well as the interior. Tires are in good condition, and I have never missed an oil change. I realize there’s a hundred different things that COULD be a factor… but IF YOU had to list it, what would be the price? Thank you so much!
I’d go to Edmunds.com, use the “Appraise My Car” feature. Put in all the relevant information, and use that price as a starting point. Be willing to have some flexibility given the age and mileage.
Yes, get the honest average trade in value, then deduct the $5000 or so cost for a new transmission, and deduct another couple thou for the aggravation and profit for the buyer. Like the dealer told me once, a car with no engine, (or transmission) is not worth much. I suspect you are in the $3-5000 range, even today.
Suggest to surf over to Ebay and Craigslist, see what they have for sale there in the way of a 2011 era Jeep C. I’ve no expertise with used car pricing these days, but my opinion, with 215k miles on the clock & your JC needing a replacement transmission, I’d be surprised if you can sell it for much more than about $500, probably to a diy’er or shop tech who will plan to replace the trans themselves, then either keep it for a daily driver or sell it for a profit. They’ll be taking a risk even then, b/c it may take installing several used transmissions before they get a good one that works correctly, and there may be other expensive problems lurking, like engine compressions problems or needing a new cat. On the upside, you’ll likely get better offers if you offer up proof to putative buyers of the vehicle’s repair history, and that you’ve done all the routine maintenance on the manufacturer’s schedule or before.
If I owned that Jeep and had no other option than to list it, I’d price it at $500. If I got an offer for $400, sold.
If a perspective buyer asks you what you are “asking” for the car, never answer with a wishy-washy reply like, “I’m hoping for 2,000 to 3,000 dollars…” if you do, the starting price is now $2,000…
If your price is FIRM and the buyer wants to know what you are asking, you reply, “I’m sorry, I not asking anything, but I am taking $XXXX, are you still interested?”
If the buyer offers you less than you want because they found some issue with the vehicle, tell them, “I know that and I’ve already taken it into account…” and then smile and say, “And I’m not charging you anything extra for that…”
If you do come to an agreement, I would put in the bill of sale, in BIG Letters, that this vehicle is being sold As-Is with no warranty expressed or implied…
Offer them the opportunity to have it inspected by a professional mechanic at their place of business at “their expense”, you do not want their “Uncle Al” stopping by with his tool box to start taking things apart…
Buying and selling is all a game, sometimes, there are winners, and sometimes there are losers…
Remember, it’s all business and treat it that way, do not take it as a personal attack. If you get a low-ball offer, smile and thank them for stopping by and wish them good luck find a vehicle for that price and walk away…
And the final piece of advice is, “He who cares the least, wins…”
What makes me an expert? I was stationed in Italy in the late 1970s and I lived on the economy (off base…) and it was all a “barter society”… If I bought anything on the economy, I had to negotiate and it soon became fun… I had to barter with the trash collector each month just to have the trash picked up… He would say he needs more, he had children to feed… I would say I can’t pay more, I have children to feed… We would laugh and joke, he would call me a robber and I would call him a thief and we would seal the deal with a glass of Ouzo…
Ask $3000.00.
If you’re offered $2000.00, take it.
Tester
Depending on the trim level which you left out and 200,000 miles AND a failing transmission, probably $3000 to $4000, the national average is $8200 to $9000 with average miles on it… minus a possible $4500 to $5000 transmission… As mentioned, price a little higher ($1000 to $1500 higher in your case anyway) but with a firm price, not a guess, then let the counteroffer(s) begin, once you are both ok with a mutual price, sell it…
All Good Advice, but whatever you do, make sure the Bill of Sale says, “This vehicle is sold As-Is, with no Warranty, expressed or implied.” It may sound like you are trying to scare the buyer off, but this is business, not personal… If they want it, they will take it…
I’ve seen too much court TV, especially Judge Judy, when a remorseful buyer changes their mind about a non-running trailer’d car that they had to tow off and then they claim they were not told about (the oil burning, the slipping transmission, the leaky radiator, etc…).
And when you make that Bill of Sale, you make two copies, fill in the buyer’s name and address, and you keep one copy, just in case the police come looking for the last registered owner… Saying you sold it but you do not remember who bought it will not cut it…
Good Luck!
Yeah, six months after i sold my car I got a summons from one county for unpaid parking tickets. I had to take the day off and appear with my paperwork to prove I had sold it and sign an affidavit to that effect. Then I had to go to the main dmv office in St. Paul where they did a forced title transfer. I’ve had to do this three times already if you had good plates that didn’t expire for a while. Luckily only one thought with fines attached. So lost a whole vacation day proving my innocence in traffic court. Those that say you are innocent until proven guilty are naive. On criminal matters, you can lose everything trying to defend yourself. No joke. There needs to be some major changes in our Justice system.
I’d drop by a few car dealers, see what they’d offer. At these prices it’s not worth a lot of hassle.
Maryland requires that you turn in your plates when you sell a car. Once they have the plates and you have a receipt there should be no reason to go to court. The insurer won’t stop your insurance on the car until the state notifies them of transfer of title. If I read your post correctly, then there are some states that make this problem less likely.
In NJ, it’s not required, but it’s surely recommended. All one has to do is to go to the back door of a state-run inspection station (no need to wait on the line for vehicle inspection), where you will be given a receipt, noting the date of the surrender of those plates. Some people don’t do this, and then they are “surprised”(??) when they run into legal problems regarding a car that they sold to another person.
I Think plates and title transfers are two different things. The seller can pull the plates but then it is up to th3 seller to go to the dmv and turn the plates in and then up to the buyer to go to the dmv again to get new plates and a new title. Seems like double the work and someone driving without plates or else hav3 to follow them home to grab the plates. Then usually insurance is just transferred to the new car and not canceled. In Wisconsin the plates are issued to the person
Not the car I guess, so I had to just send the plates back so they could put them on something else. To each their own I guess.
Do you really want to trust that the buyer of your old car will do the right thing?
You can notify the DMV that you sold the vehicle on the day of the sale, before crimes are committed.
Same procedure here, with the first advice being to remove the plates, since the buyer needs to get new one’s anyways. Along with letting your insurance company know.
It sounds like this Jeep still drives.
How is the buyer going to be able to drive it away without plates on the vehicle?
Tester
You mean they don’t come and give you ice-cream, then take you away in a limo and put you up in a nice luxury hotel with paid for room service until your court date???
Yeah, I guess handcuffs (and not the pink fluffy ones) and jail bars proves you are guilty until YOU can prove you are innocent…
The buyer would get a set of temporary plates for the vehicle from the nearest office. Good for 60 days.