schwza

i'm going to try to sell my car to my mechanic, and i'm looking for some help in figuring out a price.

it's a 95 GXE with 117k miles on it. it's pretty banged up right now, which is why it's at the mechanic. he has told me there's 1300-1600 worth or repairs it needs now, and will need another 1000 in a year or two. (see end for a list of needed repairs).

if you assume all of those problems were fixed, the blue book value is about $3,400. there's some peeling paint, but if that were fixed the blue book condition would be good instead of fair, and it would be valued at $4,000. MAACO charges $200 for a basic paint job, so i think of it as having a $3,800 value. reasonable?

my mechanic mentioned off-hand that he could probably give me somewhere around 2k, which i would be thrilled about. so i was going to ask for $2,400 and hope that i could get 2k. realistically, i'd take as low as $1,500 (maybe less) does this seem reasonable? a few things i'm planning on bringing up...

- it might need "2,300 - 2,600" in repairs, but if they're fixing and selling the car themselves, the actual cost to them should be lower.
- after they replace all of this stuff, it'll be in decent shape
- (not sure if i should bring this up) the heat shield doesn't need to be fixed for a year or two. if the new owner totals the car next month, that repair will never be done.


here's a list of its problems (my car ignorance will definitely show here)

- both front axles
- front brakes and rotors
- intermediate exhaust pipe
- rear left shock
- rear left tire

all of these need to be replaced, for a total of 1300-1600 (P&L).

also, a metal mesh thing under the car (some kind of heat shield?) is busted, which means that an expensive part of the exhaust system will have to be replaced in 1-2 years, for $1000. any advice would be very appreciated. thanks!

Jepht20

iTrader: (10)

a mesh thing? do you mean the flex section on your y pipe? (between the engine and the catalytic converter) if it's that, you can get an aftermarket one for $180 shipped and put it in yourself or have it done for ~$75.

if your car had all those things replaced and was in decent shape, i'd expect it to sell for way more money than that. i think your/his estimate to getting that stuff fixed is a little high. not outrageous but can be done cheaper. the mileage really isn't that bad, but i think with all the repairs, if you're happy with selling it that cheap then go for it.

what are you going to get after?

s0ber

iTrader: (7)

Man, thats way too expensive he's trying to rip you off and take your car.. lol

You can get a new ypipe for $160
All 4 new tires for about $200-250
4 New struts for about $200-220(GR2-)
Brembo blanks are about $30 ea x 4
Pads are about $30 a set x 2

The axles at autozone are $60(after core) x 2

That comes out to about $840.. give or take a few.. And your car will be worth much more after that.. I think he's telling you all this crap to take your car... Dont sell to mechanics.. lol

Jatan

iTrader: (3)

He's trying to take your car for a low price AKA he's trying to rip you off

- both front axles
Had both replaced on my car for $230 WITH labor

- front brakes and rotors
Do it yourself - you can find instructions here. $20x2 for rotors and ~$40 for pads depending on which ones you buy

- intermediate exhaust pipe
I'm guessing that's the b-pipe. You can buy an aftermarket one online OR you can have one custom made at an exhaust shop.

- rear left shock
You can just replace that one with one of those Monroe Sensa Trac struts from local auto stores (~$60) or you can buy a set of new ones (KYB GR-2s go for around $220 shipped I think). What I would suggest is that you buy both of the rear ones from a local store and replace those. That way you don't have to do the front ones right now and you won't need an alignment afterwards since the rear ones can't be aligned. The rears are kind of easy so you can do it yourself.

- rear left tire
Just buy all 4 new ones since it isn't that great to mix and match tires Or you can buy the same one as the other 3 if you want.

- also, a metal mesh thing under the car (some kind of heat shield?) is busted, which means that an expensive part of the exhaust system will have to be replaced in 1-2 years, for $1000.
I'm assuming that's the flex section on the y-pipe. A brand new OEM Nissan y-pipe is like $600-$700 BUT you can get a used Nissan one from here for cheap/free since most of us just throw them out or you can buy a new aftermarket one (I would suggest you do this since it gives you more power) for $160 (Warpspeed aluminum) or ~$210 (Budget stainless steel)

any advice would be very appreciated. thanks!
Ummm... RUN AWAY and fix it yourself

schwza

thanks for all the help, everyone. i have a few more questions...

are blue book values generally accurate? if i think my car has a bluebook value (private party) of ~3.8k, does that mean i should actually be able to sell it for that amount? more? less?

anyone want to take a stab at what a fair price would be? keep in mind my car needs a paintjob and it has a few dings in the body.