After nearly two years of faithful service, it came time to bid our 2007 Chevrolet Silverado LT Crewcab goodbye.
It was a faithful steed in which I had taken many great trips, including driving 54 miles of bad road on the way to the Racetrack in Death Valley National Park (shown in the photo).But we were done testing it and it had to go.
Recently, we've been taking our vehicles to Carmax when we're done testing them. They appraise the vehicle and offer to buy it. The process is quick and easy and sometimes we're surprised with the price they pay us. But we decided to try using an autobroker to see if we can improve the figures we get.
As an experiment, we took our Chevy to Carmax and got a price (good for seven days). Then we called the broker and gave him the specs. We paid $41,494 for the truck new, almost two years ago. It now has 32,000 miles on it. Read about all the options on our Chevy on the longterm blog.
So, anyone care to guess what Carmax offered for it? And for bonus points, what do you think the broker offered.?
For the first time since 1991, the Ford F-Series is not the nation’s best selling vehicle. Last month, that honor went to the Honda Civic. With gas prices at an all time high, it is not a surprise.
The entire truck and SUV segments have seen a sales crash, not unlike what we have seen in the housing market...
We try to cover topics that we think you might find beneficial. However, there may be questions you have that we have not yet answered. So, post questions you would like to have answers to, and we will try to address them in future entries.
So, my car didn't sell. It came close to meeting the reserve price, but ultimately bidding didn't reach the minimum price I'm willing to sell my car for. I was expecting lots of bidding within the last hour of the auction, but there was nothing. My car selling think tank and I figure that my end time on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PST had something to do with it. I have relisted on eBay for an end time of 7 p.m. PST / 10 p.m. EST on Thursday, Oct. 25. That way people can bid at work and at home computers on a night when people don't typically go out (and why would you with so much good TV?). If this auction fails, I'll probably try AutoTrader. Any thoughts regarding the timing of eBay car auctions?
Months of never driving my personal car has finally led me to a sad, but obvious decision: It's time to sell it. It is a 2006 Acura TSX with a 6-speed manual and navigation in Arctic Blue. Dealers never order manuals any more, so I had to special order my car (it took four months) -- it's a safe bet there are an extremely scant few vehicles that match my car's description. Nevertheless, I'd rather have a large chunk of change in the bank than a rapidly depreciating car with only 5,400 miles on it sitting in the garage...
USED CAR BUYING TIP: I had a friend who said you should never buy a used car until you wash it. Why? Well, when you wash and vacuum a car you are forced to go over every inch of the car...
When you're selling your car, it's something you want to get done quickly and with the least amount of hassle. Usually, you're chomping at the bit to get that shiny new whatever you've been considering.
But don't let that make you lazy about preparing the car for sale. I can't believe how many times I've seen photos of private party used cars where the seller didn't even wash the car or vacuum the interior. Not to mention awful pictures that are either too dark or have parts of the car in shadows, which make it appear that the car's finish is messed up.
Folks, first impressions are everything when it comes to selling your car. This is what is known as "curb appeal". Detail the car inside and out and make sure that the maintenance records are all up to date. For example, having to tell someone that the timing belt is overdue for replacement isn't going to make a quick sale for you, and you'd probably end up discounting the price more than it would've cost you to replace the belt.
Now that it's all looking pretty and you don't have to make apologies for it needing a timing belt or brakes or whatever, take some sharp pictures. Don't just take a front 3/4 and call it a day...
Question: Hello Edmunds. I'm trying to find the price of 1960s T-Birds, where do I go?
Answer: We do not have pricing information for vehicles before 1980. There are not a lot of cars that old around anymore, and as a result reliable data about their values is not available. In any event, most cars that old have depreciated to the point where they are not worth very much, and have depreciated to the point where fluctuations in values are minimal...
I recently had to sell two Edmunds.com long term test vehicles. The first was a 2006 Honda Ridgeline, the second was a 2005 Land Rover LR3. Which do you think sold first?
This post is long overdue, but hey, better late than never. A few weeks ago we took our long-term Honda Ridgeline down to CarMax to get an appraisal, and they actually ended up giving us a fair offer, far more than I'd expected. Since there were no more nibbles off autotrader.com, CarMax it was.
Selling your vehicle to them is a fairly simple and straightforward process...
Question: I am looking to trade my car, but I can't remember what the trim level is. It's a 1999 Oldsmobile Intrgue, but I don't know if it's a GX, GL or GLS. Without my original sticker is there any way I can tell from any of the stickers or markings on the car?
Answer: You can look up your car on Edmunds.com's Used Car Appraiser. This will give a description of the equipment that each trim level has...
Edmunds is selling its long-term Honda Ridgeline, so earlier today I took it down to CarMax to get an appraisal. I'd never been to a CarMax before, but I always see the Best Buy color scheme and acres of cars from the freeway.
Speaking of Best Buy, CarMax has very much the same feel as a big box retailer- an open an airy showroom, a casually-dressed staff and a professional courtesy that you'd be hard-pressed to find at most used car lots. Throughout the store, CarMax advertises their car-buying program, which states they will purchase your vehicle for the wholesale cost, meaning what it would cost them to buy the car at auction...
I was in Las Vegas last week at the Conference of Automotive
Remarketing, listening to all the industry leaders give their schpiel,
and during a session on reconditioning, one question in particular
caught my ear:
What is the best bang for the buck when it comes to vehicle reconditioning?
No it's not tires, and it's not even a thorough exterior and interior detailing. It's paintless dent removal.
A few hundred dollars in labor can adds upwards of a thousand dollars
in value to your car. Combine that with a dandy of a wax job, and
you're looking at enough extra dough to buy you those Dodger season
tickets... on the reserve level...
We're in the middle of winter, which normally means that half of our county is covered in rain or snow. While the winter has been relatively mild compared to past years, the weather plays an essential role in deciding when to sell your vehicle.
Here's another question we got from a reader:
"We want to sell our BMW M5 and have had no luck on line or through newsprint...we were thinking of going through a dealer however they charge a fee $400-600 to put it in their showroom. If they don't sell it you don't get your money back. The fee pays for cleaning, advertising etc. I am for it because people can see it in person and they do all the financing. The selling price is the same we were asking on line. I would appreciate any advice or opinions. Thank you!"
Here's a question we got from an Edmunds.com reader concerning the resale value of his car:
"I'm an amateur radio operator and there's a bit of a debate among radio ops as to whether it makes any real difference in the price of a car, if the car has one or more 3/4" wide antenna mounting holes (plugged or otherwise) in the roof or other body panel when it is being bought/sold as a used car.
My own experience has been that unless the car is a beater (junker) and especially if it is a clean new-ish car, any hole in any body panel is going to mean "subtract the price of a panel repair" and that can run a fast $200 around here, often well more.
From your point of view, do antenna mounting holes (with or without the mounts still in them or plugged) make any difference ar resale time? Varying with location, car, etc.?
We wrote back with this reply:
Holes in body panels definitely make a difference in price when you resell the car...
I was supposed to sell the RX-8 to a guy from Arizona on Sunday morning and on Saturday night he called with a question. Why did we have to do front brakes with only 25,000 miles on it? And what about the new tires? I was afraid he was going to show up and ask a million questions. But here's what happened.
After nearly two years of faithful service, it came time to bid our 2007 Chevrolet Silverado LT Crewcab goodbye. 
