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Ok, I've got a couple threads on here about the 2000 Olds Silhouette that I was dumb enough to buy from someone before the mechanic could check it out because he was a 'good Catholic man and teacher in the church' . Long story short, as soon as we bought it, it started over heating. We've had the mechanic replace the thermostat, radiator, something or other gasket that's on the back left side of the engine that they said frequently leaks on this type engine, and had the coolant system bled half a dozen times. Also replaced the battery.
Aside from those issues, the CD player on the AM/FM/cassette/CD keeps giving an error message when you put in the CD and then ejects it. Don't know why. We drove the van up the mountain Thursday afternoon and it did great. No overheating at all. Drove it to town today and had to shut it down to cool off twice. The times after that when it would start getting hot I could put it in park or neutral and rev the engine to about 2500 RPM for a while and it would cool down. I noticed when it's hot like that the heater doesn't work either. Also, there's a very faint ticking noise when the van is running (noticed it when I first started it today). The A/C wasn't on, don't know if that makes a difference or if it means a thing. Other than minor stuff - a couple very small dings and a small piece of missing trim, and a small line of blue paint on one of the back seats - the thing is in fantastic shape. There's one small rip in the front passenger side leather side but the rest of the leather in the van looks great.
I have pictures here if you want to look. I had the seats out because I had to go pick up hay, so I took the photos of the seats while they were out in the light. I'll vacuum out the van later and get photos of the empty space so you can see the carpet and then put in the seats and get pictures like that too. But the rest of the van photos inside and out are on the link. It just rolled over to 186k miles.
So, based on this info, what do you think would be a fair price for someone? Our zip code is 38581 if that helps. I checked KBB and a private party sale for it in good condition is just shy of $5000. We've decided to sell it and take the massive financial hit and use the pennies we can get from it to buy something else or hopefully trade someone for something older / uglier that's at least reliable for the time being.
2000 Olds Silhouette It just rolled over to 186k miles.
So, based on this info...
All the rest of the info you provided is just about meaningless.
A high mileage Silhouette is somewhere between "beater" and "POS"
Quote:
what do you think would be a fair price for someone?
I checked KBB and a private party sale for it in good condition is just shy of $5000.
Off hand... I'd say that $5000 is in the "act of God" range;
that you'll be doing well to get $2000.
(and that... only if it passes the safety and emissions tests that most states require)
All the rest of the info you provided is just about meaningless.
A high mileage Silhouette is somewhere between "beater" and "POS"
Off hand... I'd say that $5000 is in the "act of God" range;
that you'll be doing well to get $2000.
(and that... only if it passes the safety and emissions tests that most states require)
hth
It's definitely in the beater range. That's why we bought it. Don't know what to tell you on the 'act of God' comment, just that's what KBB.com said it would be worth in good condition. I certainly didn't expect to get anything even remotely close to that. That's why I said we'd use the 'pennies' we get for it. I'd actually be insanely thrilled to get $2000 for it. I listed it for $1500 OBO and gave every single bit of HONEST information about the vehicle, something that someone didn't have the decency to do for us.
We don't have any emissions or safety testing here.
I didn't think so either. We paid 2k for it thinking it was a 'great van' as we were told. Just not sure what's a fair price given it's issues. I don't want to scam or screw over someone else like they did to us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrRational
Well, I was already being a bit harsh so thought I should temper that some
Good luck with the sale.
I wasn't looking for anyone to be overly nice or harsh. Just wanted someone's honest opinion on what I should price it at. Like I said, we want to be fair. If someone knows what's wrong and how to fix it and can do that and sell it and make a few bucks or keep it and have a good family vehicle that's great. But we can't fix it and our garage mechanic we use seems to be stumped. So it's really useless to us right now. So we just want to know what would be fair to someone else.
Before you decide to throw in the towel, why don't you take it to a GM dealership and let them take a look at and give you an estimate. According to your zip you have two nearby:
Looking at your photos, this is a base model (no options looking at the buttons) and the previous owner was abusive to the van. So with the mileage of 186k+ its past its prime. At some point it went from a commuter van to a station van. That being said, even if you shop for a better looking vehicle with another owner who promises you everything is perfect you still run the chance of getting another POS. So if you paid $2k thats not terrible. Get an estimate from a dealer before going any further.
Just an FYI on used cars. Before I choose to buy a used car, I go in with the expectations of spending $1k-$2k on it and I figure worst case scenerio into my offer price. This is because a dealer will only do enough to pass inspection and make it look nice. A private seller just washes it and prays it passes inspection. Looking at the van, somebody actually cared for it at one time. Why? the tires are michelins.
As to the radio, if you don't have funds to replace it then get a cheap mp3 player and a cassette adapter and play your music that way.
So they changed the gasket on one side, is this the head gasket-then they should have done both. The car has overheated and now the engine has a noise-makes me think it is a rod knock. So engine is toast if you are going to be honest about it to the next buyer. Either you or the next owner has to put a salvage yard engine in this car and then hope that the rest will hold up. I would say cut your losses and anybody that gives you more than $500 just take the money and smile.
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. Long story short, as soon as we bought it, it started over heating. We've had the mechanic replace the thermostat, radiator, something or other gasket that's on the back left side of the engine that they said frequently leaks on this type engine, and had the coolant system bled half a dozen times. Also replaced the battery.
