What should I do with this car?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I have a car I wish to sell, or at the very least be rid of.

The car in question is a 2011 Mini Cooper with 76,000 miles on it—comparatively low milage for a car of that age, but nevertheless it is obviously an older car.

Its only major mechanical flaw is a failed A/C compressor—that will need to be replaced before warmer weather arrives. Other than that, its mechanical bits have been well serviced and it has four new tires. It is zippy and a blast to drive–it is a Mini Cooper after all—as long as one is comfortable with a manual transmission.

Its problems after that are cosmetic, though unfortunately quite noticeable. The front grille is missing parts. There are some notable dents. The hood has splotches of white paint splashed on it. There are divots from hail damage. The bumpers are quite scratched up. The antenna cowling is missing. The right front fender is missing its plastic sheath.

Carvana’s algorithmic system says they might pay $1,400 for it. Kelly Blue Book says the range for this car’s make, vintage and mileage is $5,000 to $8,000.

What would you do with this?

2

The difference between the KBB and Carvana prices is probably what it would cost to fix it up. Sell it cheap to some teenager who wants to tinker.

3

What does ‘cheap’ mean? $1,400? Less? More?

4

In my limited experience, there are two things you can do with an older car other than the obvious of trying to sell it privately or taking a big hit on value by trading it in. Selling a car privately can be a big hassle that I try to avoid.

One thing is donating it to charity, which will generally haul it away for you and give you a tax credit, and the other is sending it to an automotive auction. I can’t give you specific gujidance because access to these things all depend on where you live. But I think this car is probably worth too much to just donate to charity, so you might do searches for car auctions in your area. You’ll only get the Blue Book wholesale price, but that’s still $$.

ETA: I see that Carvana itself owns an auction house, but there may be many independent ones in your area that you might check out.

5

Carvana would add a markup. Try asking around $2.5K but be nice.

6

I recently traded in an older vehicle and purchased a new one through Carvana and it was as easy as experience I could hope for. Saving hassle is, to me, worth the substantial financial penalty.

mmm