Selling car, fix problems or give discount?

[lord_emperor]

In less than a month I intend to sell my '93 Civic Si. It's generally reliable but my father-in-law bought me a senior-owned '95 Corolla with <50,000Km and I'd be a fool to turn down a free car that will probably last forever.

Anyway, my purpose in this thread is three-fold:

• Confirm my diagnoses of the problems
• Estimate cost to fix / feasibility of doing it myself.
• Decide if fixing before selling is a worthwhile investment.

Symptoms.

1. Knocking noise when turning, more so when backing up. Google indicates a CV joint. Seems like a slam-dunk diagnoses but how do I figure out which one?
2. Loud sound from the back, louder at higher speeds, goes away when I turn left. Google says probably left wheel bearing.

Costs.


If you've replaced either of these components, do they require special tools? How difficult are they (aka how long would I be spending outside in the Canadian winter)?



Alternately how much labour would I expect to be quoted by a mechanic. I have technical manuals for the car and usually tackle stuff myself.



Sale.


I paid $2100 for the car 2 years ago with 297,000Km, it now has 305,000Km. Came with summer + winter tires on two sets of rims. Obviously I want to get as much out of the sale as possible. Assuming I try to recoup 100&#37; of the buying price how much should I knock off if I let the buyer know upfront he must fix these problems himself?


Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Neither of those are major repairs but I wouldn't want to do either one outdoors during winter in Canada. It would probably cost you a few hundred to pay a mechanic to do the work for you.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

If the car is drivable I would sell as is. To fix both issues parts and labor will likely be several hundred, not worth it IMO on a $2k car as you will not likely increase the saleable value by the amount it will cost you.

 

[Doppel]

In this case I'd also just be done with it. Certain repairs you definitely want to do yourself, like if you sell a $8k car with "It won't start, but I think it's just the starter", that's a small repair but nobody is going to risk the purchase without a steep discount.

To figure which CV joint you could duct tape your cell phone to the wheel wells and record audio and figure out when it's louder (seriously), as long as it doesn't fall off 🙂 Or see which if either of the CVs have a torn boot, in which case that one is the bad one.