Tips on selling my car?

[dafatha00]

I'm selling my sister's 1993 Nissan Maxima and was wondering if its worth it to go to the dealer. Should I have the car detailed or serviced? Mechanically its in pretty good condition and there are no major defects. Any tips would be appreciated.

 

[conjur]

If it's in GREAT condition (no door dings or body damage, tires aren't cupped or bald, no powertrain leaks, no torn seats or burn marks, low mileage), then you might get up to $2500, at BEST. If it's over 100k miles...good luck getting $1000 on trade.

 

[RossMAN]

Speaking from personal experience, I would recommend:

1) Definitely get your car detailed, so it's cleaned inside and out, may cost $150 but it's worth every penny. First impressions are everything when buying a new (used) car.
2) Sell it locally in your newspaper, what I did was list the car price major options and our local newspaper had a site where you can submit 3 pictures of your car.
It was nice that the buyers could see picts of the car's interior and exterior before calling me.

 

[dafatha00]

Originally posted by: conjur
If it's in GREAT condition (no door dings or body damage, tires aren't cupped or bald, no powertrain leaks, no torn seats or burn marks, low mileage), then you might get up to $2500, at BEST. If it's over 100k miles...good luck getting $1000 on trade.

Do you mean from the dealer? or for private sale?

 

[dafatha00]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Speaking from personal experience, I would recommend:

1) Definitely get your car detailed, so it's cleaned inside and out, may cost $150 but it's worth every penny. First impressions are everything when buying a new (used) car.
2) Sell it locally in your newspaper, what I did was list the car price major options and our local newspaper had a site where you can submit 3 pictures of your car.
It was nice that the buyers could see picts of the car's interior and exterior before calling me.

Thanks for the advice. I was planning on getting it detailed already. Also I live in a college town so I'm going to advertise in the school paper.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: dafatha00

Originally posted by: conjur
If it's in GREAT condition (no door dings or body damage, tires aren't cupped or bald, no powertrain leaks, no torn seats or burn marks, low mileage), then you might get up to $2500, at BEST. If it's over 100k miles...good luck getting $1000 on trade.

Do you mean from the dealer? or for private sale?

For trade-in at a dealership. If you're going to trade it in...detailing is worthless and all of the aftermarket add-ons (new rims, aftermarket radio, car alarm, etc.) don't mean bupkis either. Dealerships give you wholesale value for your trade. Meaning, they'll check with the local auction place or check someplace online like Manheim (sp?) and find out what same-year models are going for with similar mileage and similar condition. It's typically very low.

Your best bet is to sell to a private individual and, in that case, detailing is worthwhile and check out Edmunds for an estimate on the value.

 

[RossMAN]

I would sell it privately simply because you'll get more $ vs a dealer.