Advice on a price for selling my car

PerfectCreature

I recently had a co-worker of mine ask if I was selling my car. I had been looking into it and jumped about it for over a year now...I have had it for quite some time have put a lot of work into it. What I am wondering is how much should I ask.
The specs are.
1995 Buick Skylark
3.1 liter v6 automatic
126,000 miles

It is well taken care of, I am the second owner I have put new break lines, a new exhaust, gas filter, alignment shims, new spark plugs and wires, new xenon light bulbs, I have Pioneer HU, and kenwood 3 ways in the front and back, new winter and summer tires, I plan on changing my transmission filter and oil within the next week or so. It is inspected for another 3 months but will inspect it before sale, I will put in a new Fram air filter and change the oil before sale as well.
That said what would any of you guys ask for it.

TECHNOKID

A car of that age isn't worth that much usually but nothing beats a car that is in good shape. However, f the car is in good shape it might we worth while to keep it as it is probably worth more to you then a potential buyer. What is it you have in mind as far as replacement?

Cheers!
TK

PerfectCreature

There is a 1995 Pontiac Sunfire T-tops that is supercharged with cold air intake and chrome rims, and it has a modded duel borla exhaust with cherry packs on each muffler at a local dealer for 3900. It is as far as I can tell in amazing condition. I took it for a ride yesterday and am very interested in it. It is like a rocket.
And yeah...I have around 2-3000 into the car since I got it.

Jstas

Why do people ask for advice like this on an audio forum? Anyway.

Even in perfect condition, you won't get more than $2K for it.

It's a 15 year old car that has love-it or hate-it styling and they tend to fall apart. And you want to replace it with another 15 year old car with modifications for twice as much as you can get for your 15 year old car?

Yeah, dude if you buy that, you're asking for problems. Aside from that, even with all the bells and whistles, that Sunfire is still worth less than $2800 retail. Modifications, especially ones that reduce reliability and longevity like a supercharger, reduce the value. Giving that dealer almost 4 grand for it, you're gonna get ripped off.

Oh and these: gas filter, alignment shims, new spark plugs and wires, new xenon light bulbs... They are wear items and not anything to really brag about. The brakes lines and exhaust could work against you in your sale.

What would I ask for it? $1500 and be willing to haggle down to $1200.

You wanna know what it's worth?

http://www.kbb.com
http://www.nadaguides.com/

nooshinjohn

PerfectCreature wrote: »

I recently had a co-worker of mine ask if I was selling my car. I had been looking into it and jumped about it for over a year now...I have had it for quite some time have put a lot of work into it. What I am wondering is how much should I ask.
The specs are.
1995 Buick Skylark
3.1 liter v6 automatic
126,000 miles

I personally would not buy anything with the 3.1 or 3.4 liter engines from GM. They are a horrible design to put it nicely. These cars are not worth the money or the time it would take to crush them IMHO. Donate it to your favorite charity and take the tax write-off.

TECHNOKID

PerfectCreature wrote: »

There is a 1995 Pontiac Sunfire T-tops that is supercharged with cold air intake and chrome rims, and it has a modded duel borla exhaust with cherry packs on each muffler at a local dealer for 3900. It is as far as I can tell in amazing condition. I took it for a ride yesterday and am very interested in it. It is like a rocket.
And yeah...I have around 2-3000 into the car since I got it.

Unless that car has been own by older fox (I wouldn't believe so) I would stay away from, you are chasing for problems. Your car is the same year and you know the condition it is. As I mentionned, people will not pay much for yours. While rude, I believe JSTAS is right about pricing between 1.2K - 2K MAX. I paid 3K (Canadian which you know is less in US $) a couple years ago for a 2000 in mint condition.

My suggestion? Stick with the car you own unless you can afford to go new or at newer car than 1995. Don't replace your old but still good apple for an old but rotten apple

Cheers!
TK

nooshinjohn

PerfectCreature wrote: »

There is a 1995 Pontiac Sunfire T-tops....

The Sunfire in 1995 did not have T-tops from the factory, so somebody had to butcher that car to put them in. Don't walk, RUN from that one. A shiny customized **** is still a ****, and they all stink.

PerfectCreature

Thanks, I wasn't sure about it so that is why I had asked. I mean, I did not expect to get much out of it...I really didn't plan on selling it unless the sunfire was good.
I may look around see if other dealers have any deals.
Any suggestions instead?
I travel 14 miles daily to and from work, I would like a truck but I assume that it would be way to much gas....
As for the comment about posting on an audio forum, I know that all of you do not have day jobs where you just sit online and oogle your audio equip. You go to work as well, and I would have to assume that most of the people on here are wise and have already gone through the buying used car scheme, and some are even mechanics. I know that there is plenty of left at home talent that many bring to the table from time to time and that is what I was looking for.
Just some advice to reassure myself that my decisions are right, since I have been wrong many times over.
As for the 3.1, I am not sure how well made it is, I havn't really taken the time to research it, all I knew was that older buicks are pretty stubborn and usually don't die out if you keep feeding them with a new part every once in awhile. Many people I know have had buicks for years without problems, so far all my problems were just getting it inspected.
I mean the gas is good on it and it does have power when you need it. the kicker is it is all metal (means safety to me, I take pride in having a ,metal car that will crush some of those fiber glass show cars), show me a car that is 2010 and is made of solid metal top to bottom, you really can't.

halo71

PerfectCreature wrote: »

I travel 14 miles daily to and from

Buy a moped or bicycle!



But really, stay away from the Sunfire. It, like its predecessor the Sunbird, was a POS!

Recommendations you ask? Are you serious? I'd figure out what kind of money you want to spend, reliability, fuel economy, upkeep, insurance rates etc. and go from there. There are TONS of sites on the internet to research vehicles. Personally, I put almost 400,000 miles on a 1990 Nissan pickup before I sold it though.:D

Ironic that its sorta like buying audio equipment ehh? :rolleyes:

nooshinjohn

PerfectCreature wrote: »

As for the 3.1, I am not sure how well made it is, I havn't really taken the time to research it, all I knew was that older buicks are pretty stubborn and usually don't die out if you keep feeding them with a new part every once in awhile. Many people I know have had buicks for years without problems, so far all my problems were just getting it inspected.

I guarantee you have a lower intake manifold leak as we speak. Check the sides of the block for leakage. Also remove the coolant reservoir cap and check for sludge, and the oil cap for sludge/water in the oil.

PerfectCreature

Yeah, I was thinking of doing the seafoam to clean it all out...that is true...I mean I just couldn't make up my mind one way or the other and he said that it was modded, the sunfire and that his cars as as is...so I will be walking away from him.

inspiredsports

PerfectCreature wrote: »

. . . any suggestions instead? . . .

You may hate the styling, but a 1998 or 1999 Toyota with about 140,000 miles on it still has another good 100,000 miles in it and trades for about what you are seeing the Sunfire T-top listed at.

I now have 6 drivers as all 4 of my kids are now licensed. 3 are commuting to college and they each have a Camry as above. Those cars have very few problems and are rarely in the shop unless I don't have time to change the oil.

Things like struts, suspension links, brakes and eventually water pumps will go, but those are straightforward and relatively inexpensive repairs.

TECHNOKID

DSkip wrote: »

I don't really find it wise to swap a reliable high mileage vehicle for an unknown condition high mileage vehicle. The swap might go fine, but why take the chance?

+1

PerfectCreature wrote: »

Yeah, I was thinking of doing the seafoam to clean it all out...that is true...I mean I just couldn't make up my mind one way or the other and he said that it was modded, the sunfire and that his cars as as is...so I will be walking away from him.

PC, stay away from this car for your own good!

inspiredsports wrote: »

You may hate the styling, but a 1998 or 1999 Toyota with about 140,000 miles on it still has another good 100,000 miles in it and trades for about what you are seeing the Sunfire T-top listed at.

I now have 6 drivers as all 4 of my kids are now licensed. 3 are commuting to college and they each have a Camry as above. Those cars have very few problems and are rarely in the shop unless I don't have time to change the oil.

Things like struts, suspension links, brakes and eventually water pumps will go, but those are straightforward and relatively inexpensive repairs.

Exactly, if you are looking for used Toyota and Honda are the best car too look for even Mazda would make for a reliable used car.

PerfectCreature

Yeah, I have been looking around at a few Mazdas, they are tiny cars, which I like because they will be good on gas. What about the Pontiac Grand ams and such...I see tons of them around. Like everywhere I go.
Any particular Mazda? I know they ahve a ton like the mazda 3 and all that...

TECHNOKID

Mazda 3, Mazda 6 all good japanese car as far as I am concerned :cool:

PerfectCreature

I have been told that they cost a lot of money to get repairs since its all like imported.

TECHNOKID

PerfectCreature wrote: »

I have been told that they cost a lot of money to get repairs since its all like imported.

This was thrue years back but not so much anymore (cars like Toyota, Honda, Mazda and Hyunday are almost if not more popular than N. A. cars nowadays so parts are readily available. You also have to realize that mass shipping is also much cheaper). Even if you were to pay a little more, that is ofset by the longiity of the parts since repairs don't occur as often. I once owned a Mazda 323, never had enay problems with it, the usual maintenance like any other cars and since I couldn't kill the motor on tha thing, I gave to my son as first car.

Jstas

TECHNOKID wrote: »

This was thrue years back but not so much anymore (cars like Toyota, Honda, Mazda and Hyunday are almost if not more popular than N. A. cars nowadays so parts are readily available. You also have to realize that mass shipping is also much cheaper). Even if you were to pay a little more, that is ofset by the longiity of the parts since repairs don't occur as often. I once owned a Mazda 323, never had enay problems with it, the usual maintenance like any other cars and since I couldn't kill the motor on tha thing, I gave to my son as first car.

Ummm...my first hand experience says you're wrong. Not only with the availability of parts but also with the repair costs of Hondas, Toyotas and even Hyundais. They routinely cost 10-30% more than their domestic counterparts but usually 10-15% less than the European counterparts. They also don't break down any less or any more than any other company. You can also get just as many junk parts from them as you can from any other company.

Parts are not readily available unless they are wear items. Often times, the repair parts are coming from overseas and boatloads of shipments can get tied up in customs by the Feds until proper paperwork, tariffs and fees have been paid. I've had Hondas sit on the lot for a month waiting for a Denso alternator to show up. I've had Toyotas come in for a simple thing like a starter motor and wait a week or more for a job that shouldn't be more than a 3 hour deal.

Speaking of tariffs, they drive the cost of parts up. Which is why companies like Toyota use Canadian and Mexican parts manufacturers to exploit NAFTA. But they still get taxed on the raw materials and even partially assembled parts of the parts that come over here.

The only ones that don't have those problems are the Mazdas and that's mainly because Ford, while hurting, is still a gigantic company with resources that span the globe. They also have those global platforms and drivetrains which means that alot of Ford and Mazda parts are interchangeable. I rarely had a Mazda wait more than a day or two for parts unless it was some goofy part like an intake gasket set for the Millenia with the Miller Cycle engine.

PerfectCreature

Hmm, well. I don't want to pay a 10-30% markup on traditional parts by buying a non domestic car....
So I have looked in my area and Mazdas seem to be fairly priced, I did see a Honda Tibouron that the sales man told me was just like the mazda buy he said it was faster then tried his salesman voice and told me it was better suited for me. Heh.

Jstas

PerfectCreature wrote: »

Hmm, well. I don't want to pay a 10-30% markup on traditional parts by buying a non domestic car....
So I have looked in my area and Mazdas seem to be fairly priced, I did see a Honda Tibouron that the sales man told me was just like the mazda buy he said it was faster then tried his salesman voice and told me it was better suited for me. Heh.

A Hyundai Tiburon is nothing like any Mazda I know of.

If I were Mazda, I'd be insulted by that statement.

The only semi-sporty cars that Mazda ever had that are like the Tiburon are the MX-6 which will beat the pants off a Tiburon while being 10 years older and the Eunos which is more like a Nissan Silvia and still 10 years older. Anything else sporty from Mazda like an MX-5/Miata, RX-7, RX-8 or Cosmo have such historical significance that even mentioning them in the same sentence as Hyundai anything is automotive blasphemy.

nooshinjohn

Grab an old Camaro(pre 1982) and have fun!!! They are insanely easy to work on, parts are cheaper than dirt and if you build the car right, you won't loose to much money on it. In fact you may even pocket some coin if/when you sell it.

PerfectCreature

Yeah I would love a muscle car, but I can never find any that have a good frame. My dad has a a 400 something engine from a charger he had back "the day" we had a car that had a good enough frame for it but it ended up buckling under the torque power.
Problem is finding a decent priced camero.
As for the Mazdas, I may look further into it?
Any other votes? for other cars?

Zitro

Jstas wrote: »

A Hyundai Tiburon is nothing like any Mazda I know of.

If I were Mazda, I'd be insulted by that statement.

The only semi-sporty cars that Mazda ever had that are like the Tiburon are the MX-6 which will beat the pants off a Tiburon while being 10 years older and the Eunos which is more like a Nissan Silvia and still 10 years older. Anything else sporty from Mazda like an MX-5/Miata, RX-7, RX-8 or Cosmo have such historical significance that even mentioning them in the same sentence as Hyundai anything is automotive blasphemy.

Being a 2007 Tiburon owner, and one who has never had a single problem with their car outside of typical maintenance after 60k miles, I would own my car over anything Mazda has new for anywhere near the $16k I paid for my car. Hyundai now is nothing like Hyundai of a decade ago. Even so, no point in comparing the sports car credentials of Mazda and upstart Hyundai, who just released their first true RWD sports car less than 2 years ago. Rhys Millen seems to like them

nooshinjohn

you will find anything you want right here. Just type in the year, make, model on the search tab and you will be looking nation-wide on Craigslist.


http://craiglook.com/

FiveORacing

By any chance, did Jon Voight ever own it?

PerfectCreature

Is that like a craigslist for autos?
I don't much like craigslist. I will check it out though.
So it seems a mazda or a tibouron is the way to go. Or an older mustang, charger, camaro....heh. I'll need tons of luck to find one of those.

nooshinjohn

It is Craigslist, but this site turns it into an Ebay-type listing that can go nationwide...

Jstas

Zitro wrote: »

Being a 2007 Tiburon owner, and one who has never had a single problem with their car outside of typical maintenance after 60k miles, I would own my car over anything Mazda has new for anywhere near the $16k I paid for my car. Hyundai now is nothing like Hyundai of a decade ago. Even so, no point in comparing the sports car credentials of Mazda and upstart Hyundai, who just released their first true RWD sports car less than 2 years ago. Rhys Millen seems to like them

???

What does that have to do with anything?

Also, the Genesis is not a sports car. It's a 2 door sedan with a decent amount of power. I wouldn't even call it a muscle car. But the cars it is meant to compete with (Mustang, Camaro, Challenger) outclass it with just the base models. BTW, The Mustang, Camaro and Challenger are all classified as 2 door sedans as well. They are sporty, not sports cars. There are very few true sports cars left on the market. Even the now piggish Mazda MX-5 is moving away from that.

I'm glad you're happy with your Hyundai. Even if they were the last company on Earth, I'd sooner walk than drive a Hyundai/Kia. I would rather have a Toyota try and kill me with fiery death than drive a Hyundai/Kia. I would drive a Chevy before I drove a Hyundai/Kia.

nooshinjohn

It's a 2 door sedan...

Cars with two doors are called a COUPE....

Sedans have 4 doors...

vc69

Jstas wrote: »

I'm glad you're happy with your Hyundai. Even if they were the last company on Earth, I'd sooner walk than drive a Hyundai/Kia. I would rather have a Toyota try and kill me with fiery death than drive a Hyundai/Kia. I would drive a Chevy before I drove a Hyundai/Kia.

So are you saying saying you don't like Hyundai/Kia's? You are being a little vague.

Jstas

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Cars with two doors are called a COUPE....

Sedans have 4 doors...

BZZZZT!!

Wrong.

From Dictionary.com


se·dan
   /sɪˈdæn/ Show Spelled[si-dan] Show IPA
–noun
1.
an enclosed automobile body having two or four doors and seating four or more persons on two full-width seats.

From Wikipedia:

A saloon car car (British English, pronunciation /sɪˈdæn/) or sedan (American English) is a passenger car with two rows of seats and adequate passenger space in the rear compartment for adult passengers. The vehicle usually has a separate rear trunk (trunk in American English) for luggage, although some manufacturers such as Chevrolet, Tatra, and Volkswagen have made rear-engined models. It is one of the most common body styles for modern automobiles, and is often marketed at families under the rubric of family sedan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedan_(automobile)



There is such a thing as a 2-door sedan.


The difference between a coupe and sedan?

From Wisegeek.com:

Many definitions of a coupe and a sedan will define the coupe as a two-door or three-door model that is roughly equivalent to the sedan. A sedan almost always has four doors in contrast. Actually there are four-door coupes, and two-door sedans, so the differences between a coupe and a sedan automobile may not always be quite clear.

In reality, a coupe is strictly defined by its interior volume or space. Distinctions between a coupe and a sedan has little to do with doors and are made clear by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), which standardizes definitions of the different types of cars on the market. Measurements of a coupe and a sedan are as follows:

* Coupe equals less than 33 cubic feet (.934 cubic m).
* Sedan is equal to or greater than 33 cubic feet.

Thus a coupe and sedan can be determined by volume alone rather than being determined by number of doors. A two-door car with a larger than 33 cubic foot volume or interior space is essentially a two-door sedan. Likewise, a four-door car with less than a 33 cubic foot volume is a four-door coupe.

Nevertheless, many manufacturers call a car a coupe when they want to evoke a sportier concept for the car. They may include the name coupe in the car, though technically what you are really buying is a sedan. The Cadillac Coupe de Ville is a classic example of what is really a two-door sedan. So it can get difficult to determine the differences between a coupe and a sedan when the word coupe is added to the name of the car.

Some people mistakenly think a coupe and a sedan are differentiated by whether the car has a hatchback rear. While it is true that many coupes have a hatchback opening, usually called a three-door car, not all do. Some have the traditional trunk. Further, there are four-door coupes with a hatchback, but additionally there are four-door sedans with a hatchback, which are more properly called station wagons or simply wagons.

It is untrue that the difference between a coupe and a sedan can be made by counting the number of seats. Some define coupes as having merely front seats, and possibly a removable back seat. Actually coupes can have two rows of seats or one. In contrast, the sedan always has two rows of seats, but the distinction between a coupe and a sedan can’t be made here because of the variation of rows of seats in the coupe.

The best bet is to stick with the car’s interior volume, when differentiating between a coupe and a sedan, rather than worrying about what the car is named. When choosing a car it may matter little what it is called. Usually what does matter is the car’s performance, space for passengers, and ease of use, rather than whether a car is a coupe or a sedan.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-coupe-and-a-sedan.htm

That is the accepted form of measuring a coupe vs. a sedan.

It's got nothing to do with the number of doors.