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Comments
For 10K minus the estimate of getting the damage fixed (which being a cheapskate, I probably would pocket!), I will fly down to B-ham and pick it up, and have a nice drive home. I think I can get there on Southwest!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Maybe it's NY, but these tend to be more in the 12 to 14k range here and than one has the right color combo and the right tranny. I like it.
Oh, I prefer blue, but burgandy and green are fine too. No black interiors. And if you can make it a wagon, doubly good.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Also it's a stick shift so that's a hit, too.
Remember, whatever gets you into a car cheap will haunt you when you go to sell.
As far as the 5sp, I don't think that seriously detracts fromt he value. They have their friends, and are hard to find. Anyone interested in the 5sp will have very few others to choose from. So maybe a $500 deduct, max.
On a 3-year-old off-lease car, sure that cuts yoru market by 90%, but for an '03 Bimmer, the sissies aren't in the target market anyway ;->
Cheers -m
I mean from back then, not the huge ones they have now.
But I get what you mean; it's all a perception thing. I always think of the W123 Mercedes as a "large" car, and the 2.8 liter inline 6 as a "large" engine. Even though in reality, neither was big.
-Mathias
Besides, if I bought this it would be to keep for a long time, so pretty irrelevant. I would worry much more about spending 35K on a 3 YO one, and trying to selling in 1-2 years.
as to the damage, it would honestly depend on how noticeable it was as to whether I fixed it now. From the descriptions, it seems to be pretty minor (on the surface at least).
so that factored in, if it was 2K to make it perfect, yes I would pay $7,500 for it as it sits. And decide later about repairs.
Personally, I would be happy with a 3 series wagon. Probably a lot more common too.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
and to me it just drove like a slightly bigger 3 series. And felt smaller than the Maxima I ended up getting instead.
I do, however, like the BMW AT found in the 5 series at that point. I just live in fear of getting an older and/or higher mile used car with an AT, given the frightening cost of replacing one!
Must be the fact that I already own 2 V6 AT hondas, so I have to be prepared for multiple catastrophic tranny failure at any time.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
That brings up a larger problem to me - unless you spring for an M car, from the driver's seat all BMWs seem to look, feel, and drive almost identically. That can be a good thing, but it is making me bored with the idea of getting another. Putting up with all the extra maintenance and repairs it would require in comparison to something like a G35 doesn't seem worth it.
Maybe a 540i would do the trick. I bet that feels like a hot rod. But then again, my Lexus, albeit automatic, has more horsepower. And it is really reliable.
And, like shifty said, those things that kill value now will kill value later. The stick is rare, but for a reason.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Yep, you might not care about a small dent but when you go to sell everyone is going to rub it in your face and grind you about it.
The only way out of this for you is if the owner has photos of the damage. If not, I'd walk because the car isn't worth more than $7K now.
It also reminds me of why I am always leery when I am looking at used cars.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
The guy is totally honest, but isn't a car guy. He bought a 4runner because the 525i was too sporty for him to handle. I suspect if they had to do a little blending paintwork around the rear end, he'd never know it nor would he care.
You might be right that the car is worth $7K, but it is really unlikely that it would sell for that. Somebody with a less discerning eye will likely pay him $9-10K.
I mean, i wish him luck, not his fault probably that he got rear-ended. I'd personally consider him fortunate to get $9K at this point. I wouldn't give him that, because I'll have to deal with the CARFAX thing when *I* sell the car again, with more miles on it.
I, of course, chuckled in the knowledge that the mythical 158K '88 Isuzu exists only in California.
But, I would agree with you. When looking at used cars in the $8-14K price range, any hint of an accident (or major mechanical repair work) will deduct tremendously.
Drat. There goes the big bucks I was going to get for my 1987 Corolla FX with a clean carfax... :P
Actually, I think I'm just going to drive it 'till it dies - otherwise the curiosity would kill me, not knowing how long it would have lasted if I sold it.
My mom and stepdad have a 1999 Altima with about 325,000 miles on it, and they mentioned giving it to me or selling it cheap to me at one time. It still looks great and runs great, but I can tell you exactly when it would die...about 15 minutes after the title had been transferred to my name!
Now I did get my '68 Dart up to around 338,000 miles before the fuel pump went bad and it quit running, and I just let it sit. But on that car whenever something broke, it was usually a cheap, easy fix. And it had gotten a rebuilt engine around 242,000 miles, and a lower mileage, but still used, rear-end soon thereafter.
Sometimes I wish I had just gotten the fuel pump fixed on that Dart and just kept it in service, to see how long it would have lasted. But at the time that it happened, I didn't have the time or money to mess with it, and sort of lost interest in the car. Interestingly, it died about 2 or 3 months after I got my '79 5th Ave...I wonder if the Dart just got jealous and decided to throw a hissy fit? :P
We had an early 2000s Maxima that was a salesman's car here at work. It had over 250K on the clock. It ran perfect, but had a CEL due to some sensors and the cat. converters were shot. It would have cost too much to repair ($1500+) and they sent it to a junkyard. IMO really a shame because it was the driven by the one salesman here who actually kept the car nice. He garaged it too. I was thinking of grabbing it cheap and calling every junkyard around looking for the parts it needed. Of course with my luck I would get it on the road, through inspection and something else would go.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
Yeah, that's one thing I hate about newer cars...they have components that didn't even exist back in the older days, but can still fail and be cost-prohibitive to fix. I'm kinda surprised though, that it would cost that much to get to the cam position sensor on the 3.8. I was always under the impression that the 3.8 was a fairly cheap, simple engine to work on? Well, for a modern-ish engine, at least. A couple years back, my Intrepid started stalling at random, and wouldn't always restart. Unfortunately, there was no computer code for the camshaft or crankshaft position sensors, so I just had the mechanic replace them both. I think the total bill on that one was about $500. Not TOO hideous I guess, but still, no repair bill at all would have been better!
Hopefully my 2000 Park Ave behaves itself for awhile. It's been a good car so far, but I'm only into it about 11 months and 10,000 miles.
I ended up replacing it with a 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis that belonged to my wife's aunt's family. Her aunt's husband had passed away a few months before and the aunt couldn't drive as she was 85 years-old and blind in one eye. Unfortunately, it's afflicted with one of those tacky carriage tops, but I bought it anyway as a favor to my wife's family. I drive it as my everyday hooptie.
Pretty sad when a vehicle that stickered for over $80,000 new, and then worthless because a part is not available.
I wonder if an industry will spring up (reparing these sealed modules)?
It might make sense to put a few thou into grandpa's passed-along low mileage beauty, but it makes no sense to try and restore a car like this anymore. Who "restores" a Ford Jaguar anyhow?
As for Rovers, maybe if they were utilitarian models with all the jungle jewelry, those might be saved---but the run of the mill "Mall Explorer"---I doubt it.
In the "old days", 60s Jaguar sedans like the 3.8s, and Land Rovers with all the jungle jewelry on them had tons of character, smashing good looks and were a blast to drive. But now they are more or less anonymous cookie-cutter cars. Caring owners will preserve a few but once they get ratty, I think they are gone for good.
An aftermarket might spring up if demand were really strong, but I personally don't sense any kind of rabid ownership loyalty with newer Jaguars or Rovers.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
What I don't understand is why sales of these vehicles doesn't tank, but I probably answered that in my first sentence.
The new sales don't tank because most people bail at warranty termination, or they are leasing.
The used car sales definitely show the massive depreciation of luxury cars---which is why they are bought by people who can't possibly afford to fix them. If my friend were to offer me his BMW 750iL for free, I honestly would decline---because i couldn't just sell it after he gives it as a gift, and I'd be terrified to even go 100 miles with it. What if the left cylinder bank # 10 intake valve low pressure variable sequential actuator module died on me? :P On the other hand, I *could* drive it until it broke and then use that as an excuse to sell it---for scrap iron, or parts, no doubt. Nice drivin' car BTW.
It's like my BIL's experience with his Audi A4-once that car hit 90,000 miles, it needed stuff replaced every month-he was overjoyed when his son hit a log on the highway last month (ripped the transmission case open and totalled the car)-he was so happy to get rid of that money pit. :lemon:
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S