could someone explain to me why edmunds and KBB do not have consistent info on used car values?
Because they are averages and subject to interpretation. Where cost of living is high and so are salaries, the cost of goods are typically slightly higher. The converse is also true. Those guides are meant as just that, guides to help establish valuation. They are not gospel. I seem to recall one of them asking for zip code and that’s an effort to adjust the valuation based on region.
We had one dealership offer 2700 for a trade in, and they only buy these old cars at wholesale value?
Dealerships will only pay wholesale for ANY car. They are a business and like to make a profit. If they paid you retail, how would they ever make any money?
It doesn’t matter what any of the GUIDES say your car is worth. All that matters is what people are willing to pay for it. As pointed out, things sell fast if they are priced attractively. If you’re going to try and get what you think the car is worth, then you better be prepared to wait for the right customer to come along.
I think you can make one of the following two choices:
Choice 1: Repair the dent and either have the car detailed or do it yourself. This may fetch you a price over $3000.
Choice 2: Do nothing more and hope for and grab any offer around $2500.
I’ve sold a couple cars that were in pristine condition: 1)a 1995 Mercury Grand Marquis; 2) a 1993 Oldsmobile 88. The Mercury belonged to my inlaws who were no longer able to drive. The Oldsmobile was our own car and we decided we wanted a Toyota 4Runner to get us through to the inlaws in bad weather. I sold both cars around wholesale book The Mercury went to a neighbor who found the car attractive and a colleague bought the Oldsmobile. By the “book”, both cars were worth a lot more. However, I am not a car dealer–the only warranty I can offer is “5 minutes or out of my driveway–whichever comes first”. Advantage: I sold both cars for cash and the cars were out of my hair. Disadvantage: The prices were really too low. The person who bought the Oldsmobile resold it a year later for the same price he paid me.
Certain vehicles will sell better than others. My son had a 1999 Ford Windstar minivan with over 150,000 miles. He bought my 2000 Windstar that had half the miles. We really cleaned up his minivan and had it looking really nice. He sold it quickly for about his asking price–slightly above wholesale. Why did it sell? It was a minivan and many people want a used minivan for its utility. Ordinary cars like my Mercury, my Oldsmobile or your VW are a dime a dozen.
People have learned…When econo-boxes like your Golf cross the 100,000 mile mark, their automatic transmissions are living on borrowed time…When these transmissions fail, generally, it totals the car…
Put the car on E-bay and IT WILL SELL. You might not like the price you will get, but that’s life in America after a complete credit collapse. You need to start thinking about cars the same way you would think about a washing machine. The Market values them the same way…
I think your biggest problem is exactly what VDC pointed out: that kind of car of that age with that mileage appeals mostly to young kids who want manual trannys.
Frankly, young kids are also having a hard time getting jobs right now, so money is short. The jobs they used to get are either gone or filled by laid-off older workers.
The price has to reflect the market. This car in this market evidently has to come down in price. It does not matter whether you feel the price is reasonable for the car, nor does it matter what Kelley BB or JD Power thinks. The only thing that matters is what the kids in your local market think…and apparently they think it’s too high.
Put it on eabay with no reserve, $1.00 starting bid, local pickup and cash payment. It will sell in less than a week. Something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.
“Maybe I should check salvage yards and see if i can get another door. that might be the easiest solution if i can find one with the paint that is approximately the same color (not more or less faded).”
You are guessing that you might need a door, maybe. You could find out for sure by going to a body shop or three and getting an estimate. Explain that you want it to look good, but that you can’t afford a lot for the repair and see what they say. Dress down for the occasion and act like a you are one step from the poorhouse. If none suggests replacing the door, ask what it would cost if they replaced it. Remember that if you buy a salvage door, it will have to be painted to match the rest of the car. A yellow door on a green car is at least as bad as a dent in a green door.
Just wanted to update you all that we sold the VW golf for 3,300. I now wonder if we could have gotten more had I waited! ha ha… always second guessing myself! Every car of this vintage seems to be on craigslist for a lot more (I know it doesn’t mean they are getting it though). I only actually posted two craigslist adds. One at 4200 garnered a small amount of interest. One at 3800 got a little more interest but still only one looker. Finally I negotiated with someone who had expressed interest and offered it for 3400. In the end I took another 100 bucks off.
I hope it was a fair price and that I didn’t just cheat myself out of money… but in the end it was 1100 more than the honda dealership would give us for it. A subaru dealership offered 2700 but I believe it was because they are desperate to get rid of their 2009 outbacks… with the body changing for 2010.
I think KBB might be on the high side, that they don’t take mileage into account the same way a normal person takes it into account for cars over 100k miles.
texases, your advice about being cautious a high trade value is definitely correct, but we did tons of research and would have been getting an awesome deal on the outback. If we really wanted that car it would have been a great deal… but in the end, I just wasn’t sure I wanted a wagon.
anyway, I am actually a little sad about the golf being gone. It was fun to drive. I have a mazda protege 2002 and am now wondering if we gave up the wrong car. My car had 30k less miles so we thought we should keep it… but it has never felt as solid to me as the VW golf. I hope it hangs in there for a long time. Now that we are buying a CRV we definitely can’t afford another car.
by the way… i had a problem with my original account password so I had to setup a new account, hence the different user name.
I think you did very well to get $3300 for your car. One thing that makes a difference is loan value. Your Golf was too old to have a loan value and the dealer would most likely send the Golf to the auction. When one trades in a car, there are two transactions: 1) you purchase a car from the dealer; and 2) the dealer purchases a car from you. The dealer wants to sell you his car for as much as he can get. At the same time, he wants to buy your car for as little as possible, partly because he probably doesn’t even want it.
You did one transaction and worked the dealer to his best price. You then sold your car for much more than the dealer would pay for it. You won!
When I’ve sold cars, if someone offers me cash for anything near the value of the car, I take the money and run. I then don’t have to keep the car licensed and insured.
Quite a few ideas as to “WHY”, but I can’t see how those will make all the potential customers decide against buying the car?
Do people at least come to take a look at the vehicle.
First of all, most cars sell well below KBB value these days, but Golf is an attractive vehicle for students and such…
I would detail the car and take as many HQ pics as possible, hence picture posting on CL is free.
List the history of repairs and make sure to mention that you have all or most of the service records on hands, if this is the case.
It is a big plus if you are the original or at least the second owner, since multi-owners’ vehicles are usually not an attractive option.
So hese are the facts that in my opinion play a crusual role when buying/selling a car.
Just a word on KBB prices. Those guides are used by dealers as a way to justify higher prices. Kelly is higher than NADA guides. Life is tricky. I knew a vehicle vulture who would advertise a car before he bought it to see if anybody was interested. If he got four calls in a hurry, he would go and buy the car. We honest sellers don’t get all the breaks but we seem to get by.
Absolutely! I have found that Kelly Blue Book values are usually overblown, especially the “retail” value. That’s just my opinion. I usually take their “loan” value as the real starting point.