How much would you pay for my car?

  • Thread starter Thread starter my3needsaname
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Don't believe any of the crap KBB, Nada or hell... even Edmunds says. The reason their numbers are inaccurate has to do with the extremely basic way they compile the data. The reason the numbers are so inflated (I feel) is because they want to increase the amount of hits their site gets (notice all the advertising?) and the best way to do that is to essentially tell people what they want to hear.

Don't believe me? Look up ANY car's value. Then ask yourself if you'd buy it for that price. You can even go a step further and look up what dealers are asking for cars and what those sites say they are worth. Mind you, dealers will usually mark a car up with the expectation the buyer will negotiate it down so take that into account. All I know is, those sites are complete BS and anyone that thinks their car is really worth what they say is out of their mind.


Now as far as your car goes... I just priced it on carsdirect.com and got a price of $21.7k (w/sirius) Any savy buyer will look at what it would cost to buy one new (as well as the lower APR)so your price needs to be low enough to get their attention. As is the case with any car, the value of mods are relative to the person buying the car. Some might see the value and be willing to pay more while others (those that would have never bought those mods themself) could care less. Being a GT, the chance of the latter option being the case is far greater. (MS3 shoppers on the other hand would undoubtedly be more interested based on the typical demographic they represent.)

So with all that said... I think $17.5k would be a fair asking price. But what do I know? Since the value of something isn't what some website says (unless the website is going to buy it) and instead, what people are actually paying for it... I'd suggest checking out closed/sold auctions on ebay, checking out what similar cars are being listed for at dealerships (taking into consideration what I said earlier) and possibly even getting a subscription to galves.com (the ONLY legitimate resource out there) If you have any friends in auto sales... they can probably get you the info for you.
 
Although you all offer very unpromising words, I'm giving it a whack at what I think my car is worth and will list it up accordingly if I do so.
Any dealer giving me less than 18K for it is insane and will not have my business no matter what they have or the price they give me for it.

I like how every post here is of discouragement in selling but I have a feeling that when they see how clean and perfect the car is inside, outside, and under the hood somebody will realize that it's a great car and worth somewhere within what I say.
Aside from that, I will list it accordingly and see what happens.

I don't see why dealers base it on auctioned cars since all of those are p.o.s beaters that were most likely repo'd or falling apart from age/lack of care.
 
By all means... try to sell it for as much as you can! Certainly well within your right as a seller. Maybe you'll get lucky and find someone who... well, let's just say isn't quite as savvy as those on here. As for your comment about a dealership not giving you more than $18k goes... assuming they're not making it up on the front end by screwing you over on the price of a new car, they'd have to be crazy to give you $18k for it. After all, as they certainly would know, the car can be bought NEW for $21.7k Most dealerships make the majority of their profit on selling used cars. Because of the power of the internet (and the fact that there are far less variables) it's a lot easier for people to nickel and dime a dealer on a new car purchase. Because of the grey area with used-cars... dealerships are often able buy low and sell high. Buying your car for $18k would be buying high... pretty much leaving no room for profit. In short... aint gonna happen. Your best bet is to try and find a sucker..I mean buyer. (that was a joke) More than likely... you'll be hanging on to your car for a while. Nearly impossible to sell any car (without taking a loss) during the 1st year of ownership. Hell... I was upside down on my MSP for the first 3 years! Fortuneatly for you... you've got a very desirable car in a mainstream color. No doubt there's a market for that car. But I wouldn't put any more money into it as far as mods go. Sorry to say but... the majority of the people who'd be interested in your car wouldn't know a CAI or a catback exhaust if it hit em in the face. If and when you do sell you car... since you're obviously interested in these types of mods, the MS3 is gonna be your best bet. Good luck!
 
I definitely plan to. I'm even hoping to find a really out of it sucker who will pay my price for it and we'll all be happy in the end.
If I have to, the dealer I go to could be very nice and buy my car for about 17.5-18K but that means what I'd be buying would have to be below invoice...not gonna happen...and ready to move.

I stopped putting money into it a few weeks ago since I was pretty close to selling it then but didn't. The good thing is that all my mods have absolutely nothing to do with performance but aesthetics and aside from the clear coat I had done and the tint were relatively cheap.

When I do sell her, I'm going to be sad to see her go even if my relationship with her is sometimes good but I'm getting myself a Tacoma. I wanted one first but was pushed out of it and an MS3 so now I have to fall back on it and lose some cash to pick up a Tacoma.
 
Whoops... I misread your sig. I thought you had a CAI and all the other stuff you listed on the to-do list. My bad.
 
Whoops... I misread your sig. I thought you had a CAI and all the other stuff you listed on the to-do list. My bad.
I knew something was getting miscommunicated here...I was reading your post like "I don't have anything that good on my car, it's basically stock..."
 
Haha, yea once in a blue moon you'll get a good dealership. The Mazda dealers around me are not. The Walnut Creek Toyota dealer is and if i do get to sell the car (that's in for warranty right now) then I will be buying from them.
 
I'm not going anywhere especially since the damned thing came home today and is going back to Mazda tomorrow so the service manager can take a look at it and try to fix my problems. I hope it can be fixed so there's less skepticism if/when I sell it.
 

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