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Hi! My Mom is 79 and is moving into as Assisted Living Facility, and we are selling her car. It's a 1995 Subaru Impreza that has only 27,000-something miles, as she lived in NE Philly and never drove more than a few blocks to the drug store, etc.
Kelly Blue Book said around $2200, and another one (I can't remember which one) was similar. But when I looked at used car sites, all the Impreza's from 1994-1997 had well over 100,000 miles, but sellers were asking for between $2990 and 3,775.
This makes me think that 2200 might be too low for my Mom's given the extremely low mileage. Even if those sellers bargain, they are still going to be in the same range afterward that my Mom's car is in per the guides, but with 5 times the mileage. Does anyone have any suggestions so I know what is truly the fairest price to set?
2 things to keep in mind: One is I am NOT a bargainer. I hate doing it and am terrible at it, so I would prefer to state a fair price and keep it firm. Two, both her next door neighbor and the real estate person handling my Mom's house are interested in it. Her neighbor is the one I will offer it to first as he has been a lifesaver doing things for my Mom like shoveling snow and checking on her. I don't want him to feel I am asking too much, but my Mom deserves (and needs) all she can get.
You mom's car has been "short tripped" less than 2000 miles a year for 15 years. I'm sure it's immaculate, and if someone bought it and continued to drive it the way she has it would probably last forever.
But if someone buys it and starts driving it the way most people drive their cars, things are going to start falling apart in a hurry. Frankly the 100K+ mile cars are a better value for the money.
That being said, there are folks who don't grasp that concept and will go wild over the idea of buying a car that old with that low of mileage.
We bought a 1998 Buick Park Ave 2 years ago that had only 9200 miles on it. The elderly couple drove it weekly only to church, doctors and grocery store. It was in showroom condition and garaged. The only thing we've had to do to it was change fluids and we just recently put in a new battery. The car runs fantastic and has given us no problems.
OP. Your Subaru if it's in immaculate condition I'd price it at least $3800.00. It's a seller's used car market right now and at that price would give you room to negotiate. Someone would probably offer you $3500.00 for it and would also appreciate the car and it's value.
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I'd offer it to the neighbor who has been helpful for an attractive but reasonable price. The RE person may have just cashed a $10k-$20k commission check, and a Impreza is NOT an IMPRESSA that a RE agent needs. they will turn it for a quick buck, or give it to one of their kids. The neighbor has some sentimental value, and if they have been real helpful, a few hundred dollars savings to them will go a long way (I volunteer w/ senior living transitions). It is Ironic that the sale of this primary asset (to your mom) will cover about 5-10 days of her care.....
Have your 'high' price, and if neighbor does not want it for reasonable, then hold out for HIGH. You will get it... be firm. No one gets a 'deal' except the neighbor !
Do you know which model Impreza she has? That era had options as not all were AWD, and some had the smaller engine, not Subaru's 2.2L 4-cylinder. If it's the 1.8 FWD in base trim, I would say that $2200-2500 is probably a fair price, but if it's the AWD with the 2.2L with options, then closer to $3k would likely be a fair price.
You could ask the neighbor what he wanted to pay for the car, and if it falls within your guidelines, you could sell it for that price without haggling. The real estate agent is already getting a paycheck from your mother, so if they wanted to purchase the vehicle, they could do so at your advertised sale price. I would not negotiate an insider discount with the agent, but would be inclined to give the neighbor a break on the price for being such a good neighbor over the years.
For an advertised sale, I would agree to start higher and negotiate, since you may approach the situation with a firm price, but the marketplace will want to haggle. Factor the haggling into the price if you do not make a deal with the neighbor, or the agent at the public sale price. Then again, the last thing you want is a complicated sale with appointments, test drives, and haggling, so if the agent came within a couple of hundred dollars of the initial offer, I'd take it.
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After you figure out which model and options it has then list and you will get a better price. But in all honesty I would skip everything and call the neighbor and say $3000 and they will buy it I am sure. If not then put it on craigslist but be prepared to ignore offers of 1/2 and 2/3 of your price. Say it is firm. It will be sold. But I agree with above. ONLY the neighbor gets a deal.
See how much they are going on e-bay with the high miles and give it to the neighbor for that price. Just make sure the neighbor understands that he is buying a 17 year old car that could fall apart any minute, so he doesn't complain later. At the end of the day if you kill yourself with craigslist ads and other options, you are going to waste a lot of time and get a lot of grief from buyers to maybe get an extra $500 if that-you might get a fake cashier's check.
Agree around $3k to the neighbor, then bargain accordingly, depending on the model. I'd price it the same as average mileage units.
Also agree you could waste plenty of time trying to get an extra $200-$400 from Craigslist, then find out that something went wrong with the transaction. For a $3k car, probably not worth the effort, IMO.
Considering the owner, I'll assume it's an Automatic, had it been a manual, I would've taken it off your hands myself.
Most people actually like to haggle, even if you don't, so what I'd suggest doing is put it up for $500 more than you're willing to let it go for, and then assume that $500 will go away again.
Sadly the mileage isn't going to have too much of an impact at that price, so I'd throw it up for $3500-3750, and hope to get $3000-3250.
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