Really impressed with autotrader.com

[flot]

I just wanted to share with everybody - I've been half-heartedly posting my car for sale (91 300ZXTT) on here and a couple other message boards, basically longshots but I've been prepping the car to sell, cleaning it up, etc.

Well Saturday at about 4:30 I went ahead and posted an ad on autotrader.com. The website mentions it might take up to 48 hours for my ad to appear, and I was like doh, that's a long time... but get this.

At 5:30 my phone rings and some guy is like "hey I saw your ad for your car for sale, when can I come look at it?" and I'm just baffled... apparently he saw it on autotrader... like... 45 mins after I finished uploading the pictures. And then today (mon) I get another call. That's a pretty damn impressive response rate. Now I don't know how likely a sale will be, but so far I'm amazed!

 

[FrustratedUser]

Cool.

I think the 48 hours is just a disclaimer. Just to avoid angry customers who expect their ad to up in 10 mins.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Wow!

 

[Black88GTA]

How much you asking for it? Just curious, as I was thinking about getting one a while ago, but then money ran out . Still want one though.

 

[caboob]

since i ran a combo print/net ad, it never showed up until I got the vehicle picture submitted but I got calls about it within 24hrs of the ad posting on the site an got it sold inside of a week. Great place to sell a vehicle.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Why are you selling your 300ZX?!

 

[RossMAN]

Thanks, this is good to know.

 

[flot]

For those who were curious - here's the ad.

And to answer the questions, basically I'm just selling because it's time for a new project. I've owned the Z for 6 years now, and just recently bought a house and haven't had the time to play with the Z like I used to. In fact, I've put more work into it (just fixing the little things, finally got it repainted, etc) in the last month than I had in the previous year. I think the autotrader (online only) ad was about $70 - I decided to go with online only because I wanted to put up multiple photos of the car, and have a short attention span so wanted to get it on there quickly. (before I decide to keep it)

 

[RossMAN]

Thanks for posting a link to the ad.

How much more cost it cost to have 3-4 total pictures? It would be nice to have 2 side shots, an interior shot and maybe the engine.

 

[Yossarian]

nice looking car! there are several pics in there RossMAN, you gotta go to the link for them tho.

 

[Bullhonkie]

Looks sweet, very clean and sharp. Good luck with the sale!

 

[LordSnailz]

damm you! you have your xmas lights setup already!?!

 

[SSP]

Damn thats a nice car, which is why I think you got a fast response.

 

[flot]

The car is very photogenic.

I think a normal ad was about $45, and the ad with 6 pictures was about $70...

 

[StageLeft]

I was thinking about an early 90's Z NA, but decided that I wouldn't be able to get a loan for a car that old and also it was a 10-12 year old car and...ah, i would really like one... :heart:

 

[flot]

Skoorb, in all honesty I don't think the NAs are worth it. It's still a beautiful car - but while it's quick at 220 horsepower, it's nothing fantastic - especially these days. Hell, when I bought my twin turbo 6-7 years ago it was practically the fastest thing on the road - but over the last few I've even gotten a run for my money by some 4 door sedans! With the naturally aspirated version, well, you've got all of the looks and none of the power... just doesn't seem right.

The TTs are a great buy, but you have to find one that has been well maintained and not abused. Sadly, most of the really pristine ones are going for $13-15,000, while the really ragged out ones are going for $4000-5000.

 

[StageLeft]

Yeah, then I've heard that the TTs will need replacing at some point. I would not want to buy a used turbo personally

 

[Budmantom]

That is one sweet ride.

 

[flot]

There's no big mechanical reason not to buy a used 300ZXTT. As above, mine has 155k miles on it and the original turbos are still going strong. (plus, these days, replacement turbos are relatively affordable.. and aftermarket 500 hp capable ones are only ~$2500). In many older turbo cars, what would happen is that when the car was shut off, the oil would sit in the turbo housing and bake (turbos get incredibly hot under use) - and eventually the deposits from the oil would gunk everything up.. it was not uncommon to have to replace turbos every 50 or 60,000 miles. However, in the ZXTT, the turbos are both oil and water cooled, so the temperatures stay reasonable, even after you shut off the car.

And as much as I hate to admit it, as the ZXTT becomes more of a boy racer car, the availability of cheap aftermarket parts, engines, etc, has grown considerably. Used to be that a complete engine swap would cost you $9000... these days I've seen them going for $2000-3000, engine and labor included!!

 

[Red]

Well, it seems to really work with certain cars. I had my '85 Celica GT-S listed, and I kid you not... someone e-mailed me about the car 15 minutes after I submitted it to Autotrader. I received 10-15 emails within the next week and a half and the car was sold to the first person who came and looked at it.

However, my 2002 Civic has been listed on autotrader for 3 weeks and I haven't received a single e-mail or call.

 

[Blieb]

that ride is in pristine condition!!!

if I was in the market for a toy car, I'd love this!

(well, and if it was manual )

 

[Vic]

I've had some very good experiences with autotrader.com

Good luck selling the Z. She's a beaut.

 

[maziwanka]

sweet. thanks for the heads up in case i need to sell a car online.