How to sell a really old car

In My Humble Opinion
1

You can drop down to the TL;DR if you want.

So, the car I drive every day is 22 years old. Everything works. I replaced the AC system 4 years ago, because it was too old to be recharged legally. I had it retrofitted. So it has AC and defrost. It had a bad dent in one rear panel where I got hit in a parking lot and the jackass didn’t leave a note, and it has some body rust, but it starts every time, runs really quiet, and doesn’t use oil. It has ~147,000mi. It gets ~27mpg city, and 30 hwy. Really. It’s and Acura Integra. All the glass is intact.

I just inherited some money, so I want to buy a new car. I have a 9-year-old who is really big for his age and will be allowed to sit in the front soon. I want to take advantages of all new safety features, plus, in 7 years, I don’t have a problem with him driving a well-cared for 8-9 YO car. I have a problem with him driving a 29 YO car, assuming I could get this car to make it, and I don’t know that I’ll have an opportunity like this again-- I could actually buy a car outright. Or I could buy one with very low, or very short-term payments.

Anyway, the question is what to do with the other car. It has no trade-in value. It will be crushed, and they might give me $50 for it. $100 as a goodwill gesture.

Some people collect these cars, believe it or not, so I think I need to tap into the market of people who are going to part it out, and sell each part separately. Someone could buy it from me, for $500, and sell that parts separately for like, $3,500, and with the right the right tools could probably part it out in a week, and the engine alone would probably sell for $350.

Or, someone could fix it up. I’m driving it now, but I know it will need shocks soon, and it needs an alignment, and probably rear brakes. Also, I don’t know how much life is in the tie rod ends and ball joints, but it can’t be much.

TL;DR What do I do exactly? do I Google sites for collectors, and advertise there? should I start with Craigslist, and see where that goes? I don’t have a problem with selling it to someone who just wants a cheap car, but I don’t want them to come back in three months saying that this or that failed. I want this sale to be AS IS. That’s why I’m thinking $500 OBO.

I got the car for $50 from my cousin who was moving from Chicago to Portland, OR, and couldn’t take it, because it wouldn’t pass the emissions tests there, and I’d just had a baby, and DH and I really needed a second car, so he said if we’d pick it up, it was ours. Turned out, we had to pay him at least $50, or we’d get charged the blue book price gift tax. I plan to offer to split the $500 (OBO) with him, but he also just inherited $$$ from the same source I did, so he will probably turn me down.

Has anyone ever sold an old car? how did you go about it? how do you handle OBO? Are you obligated to take the first reasonable offer, or do you wait a week, and if no one offers the asking price, call back the person who offered the highest amount?

2

Anybody who’s buying a car that old already knows that it’s being sold “as is,” unless explicitly told otherwise.

Don’t sell yourself short–any car with only 147K miles on it is going to be worth something, regardless of how old it is. Kelly Blue Book says that an Integra of that vintage in “Fair” condition is worth about $1000. “Good” condition bumps that up a bit.

If I were in your position, I would very likely sell it on CraigsList.

For a second opinion, try here.
http://www.nadaguides.com/Cars

3

Shopping around, 15 year old cars can be had for 1k or so. So a 22 year old car isn’t going to be worth much. However I’ve noticed that depreciation drops off rapidly after the car is 12-13 years old. It pretty much flatlines.

Who collects 1994 cars?

4

You can probably get a bit more than 500 for it but not a huge amount, possibly up to 1000. Someone who needs a cheap emergency car should pay you in that range for it. It would be worthwhile to get it inspected so the buyer has the lay of the land.

5

The problem is that I can check the tie rod ends and ball joints, and things like that to make sure they aren’t bad NOW, but there’s no way to know how much life is left in them. They could be bad in two months.

Yes, people collect Acura Integras. They were a sort of weird hybrid economy-muscle car. 94 was a transitional year, so if you own one, finding parts can be a bitch, but if you have parts, they command a premium over previous or later years.

People occasionally ask me if I’m selling it. I have even considered just writing FOR SALE in the window, and driving it when I don’t have my son with me. I guess I could ask $800 OBO. I want to get rid of it quickly, and I want to make sure the AS-IS is communicated, even if it means underselling it.

I have actually even considered donating it to charity and taking the tax deduction. But I’m not sure what happens to those cars, and this runs, and is safe. It’s not as safe as a new car, but it’s as safe as anything made in 1994. It still has airbags, etc., and has never been in a collision, except that parking lot dust-up.

6

You probably won’t get more than $500 for it, but that’s more than $100 for junking it, so if you’re not in a hurry just hold out until you get that much. You don’t have to take any lower offers, or any offers at all if you don’t want to.

It’s not that easy to part out an old car like that, there are plenty of other parts out there and not that many people close by you that need them. And then after you sell the first piece of any consequence you can’t sell the whole car anymore if someone comes along with $500.

If you’re buying the next car from a dealer you can just insist that they give you $500 trade in for your old or you’ll move on down the road to the next dealer. Just don’t tell them that until they give you the price you were looking for.

7

I know nothing about Acuras, but just about every car I HAVE been interested has some kind of on-line presence. Most have forums with “For Sale” sections. I’d say that is the best place to look to assess the potential value, and possibly advertise to potential buyers.

And yeah, a sign in the window with price and contact info is a good idea. Everyone knows it is as-is.

Realistically, though, you have to decide what the value of your time is. You’r going to have field a bunch of calls from a bunch of idiot tire kickers and photo collectors, to possibly garner a couple hundred more than you could get from a quick sale to someone seeking transportation.

Good luck.

8

Any car that runs and drives without catastrophic failure looming on the horizon should be worth $1500.

If you’re really not expecting much or anything out if it, why not shop around for a charitable organization which will find it a good home? I remember a time when I was in a pretty rough patch and I needed reliable wheels to get to job that didn’t pay enough to buy a car. The job ultimately was untenable but it kept my head above water while I got my shit together. Being lent a car was absolutely 100% the most helpful thing in the world for me at that time. A few years later I had an extra car and was able to help out a friend in need (getting evicted, knocked up a one-night-stand, car exploded in the morning and he got fired that afternoon) and it was a very good thing.

Definitely consider it. Your problem car could be someone else’s life changing opportunity.

9

Searchtempest.com is your friend; or maybe Autotempest. Also Ebay “SOLD” listings - Not the “Completed Listings”. I think any complete, drivable, fairly dependable car is worth $1000 and all for the local Integras I found on Searchtempest, the original Craigslist ad had been already deleted - probably sold.

That’s a neat car if the body is not too bad. I’m thinking $1200 - $1500 if it looks OK from 20 feet…

Those are two very easy research tools you can look into.

10

IIRC, those first gen (is it the first gen?) are sought-after by “ricers” and others fond of jackrabbits.

Check ebay - and click “Completed Sales” - see if anybody got their asking price.

Note: I suspect ebay is being used to find a seller, and the transaction takes place off-line.
I am quite certain that ebay is doing simply everything it can to prevent this.

11

I call them “boy racers”, the youngish kids who might want your car. Especially if it has the VTEC engine (I’m guessing No since you didn’t mention it. I do expect the car is worth more than $500, and you should be able to get more than that.

Have you tried Kelley Blue Book, www.kbb.com, to test its value? I punched in basic guesses, 4-dr sedan, 5-MT, non VTEC engine, and it came out with $1,248 when selling to private party. Definitely not $500. Location and condition figure in to their calculations. Anyway, it’s likely worth more.

HOWEVER, my main suggestion is to take it to a consingnment lot for it to be sold through them. You will pay a little for that service but IMHO that is worth the hassle of you dealing with lookers and buyers, test drives, people who say they’ll show up to look but then flake, any personal safety (or possibly theft or damage) concerns during the sales and test drive process.

It sounds like you have a very good budget car that will be valued by some college kid, or a young struggling family with little kids, or anyone on a tight budget. Or a young kid looking for a street rod. Do sell it, don’t donate it, and someone will (should) value it. Hopefully it finds a good home and continues to live a good life serving its next owner.

Care to share what you’re thinking of getting? Or is that a different thread?

12

I just did an image search for “1994 acura integra”.

A whole lot of ricers…

It is (somewhat) gratifying to see that young males still buy cheap cars and then spend the next 3 year’s income adding “improvements” of questionable value.

I spent a couple of hours on a site dedicated to displaying the more ‘unfortunate’ ricers.

The ‘VTEC’ name is highly desired - one Nissan (?, not even a Honda) had those tacky hardware store letters (seen on rural mailboxes) reading ‘V-TEC’.*
The other OMG pic had a fellow who installed HUGE exhaust extensions. He was holding up a CD to demonstrate the size.
That had to be a really powerful 1.8L 4 banger!

    • yes, I HAVE related this story before. It is simply too good to let lie unmentioned.
13

My personal policy is that if I have something that is of little market value but is still useful, I give it to someone who will appreciate it. I’ve given away several cars, and lots of other stuff.

Two options you have would be to a car buff who just likes old cars, or a struggling single-mom who has no reliable transportation and never has any money at the end of the month.

Just ask around to people you know, if anybody knows someone in need of a running car.

14

If you drive it into the junkyard under its own power they won’t give you $350? Every old car I’ve gotten rid of that way, that’s pretty much how they price it. if its towed in, price depends on the car, if driven in 250-350 depending on the car. Obviously your dollar will vary with location.

15

If it runs and drives and looks decent you should get at least $1000 for it. I have never really bought anything but older cars that are mechanically sound. There’s a huge market for that. Lots of people need a car for the utilitarian value of getting from point A to B. It’s not the age that matters as much as the mechanical reliability at that point. Put it on Craigslist and sell it. Don’t worry about collectors or whatever since you just want quick cash out of it. It should sell quickly.

16

Start with craigslist. Do a search for similar cars on your local craigslist and a few other surrounding cities to get an idea of asking price. Cars are sold as-as and it’s very unlikely the buyer will come back to you later unless you grossly misrepresented the car. You shouldn’t feel you have to document every issue with the car. You’re not a car expert and it’s up to the buyer to identify faults. However, you shouldn’t lie about the car or it’s condition. If the AC doesn’t work, don’t say it does, etc.

If you use craigslist, remember to meet in safe locations and only take cash. I’ve bought and sold many cars on CL and it’s typically a pretty easy transaction. The one hassle is that many people flake out. Don’t hold the car for a long time for one person to decide. Basically, it’s first come first serve. Be sure you have the title in hand so you can complete the transaction quickly. With a cheap car like that, you’ll probably sell it to someone who comes out for a drive and wants it right then. I find that people on CL prefer text than calls or emails, so consider that for the best response.

When you initially put your ad up, consider saying the price is firm and that you’ll entertain offers after a while. If you haven’t sold the car in a few days, update the ad to remove the firm part and consider lowering the price if you haven’t gotten many takers.

I recently sold my 20 year old car with 220k miles for $1000 and I had an inbox full of replies as soon as I put my ad up. Many were trying to negotiate, but some wanted it at full price. I had the car sold within 4 hours.

17

Another vote for being sell-able. There are a lot of people who just want basic transportation- a $500-$1000 working car. An Acura would definitely do well in that range.

Forget collectors and such. Just Craigslist it.

18

An excellent, excellent, excellent! idea! Thank you for mentioning this, jtur88, my good man.

I have done this in the past, but could have certainly done more of it myself. I will definitely remember this from now on. When I’ve given a like-method gift to someone and they say they can’t repay me, I always tell them to Pay It Forward in the future, when they have the opportunity and means.

Thanks again for saying this, and did I mention this is an excellent idea? :smiley:

19

Put that car on Craigslist and you’ll have 10 calls by lunchtime. Integras are beloved by the sport tuner crowd. It’s not unheard of for a person with an Integra to have someone make an unsolicited offer to buy their car right on the street.

20

I’m with the “put it on Craig’s List” people. Take a few good pics, ask 1500 OBO and take the first offer over 1200. If it doesn’t sell in a week, drop the price a bit.