Offer made, should I sell?

I have an ATS Cadillac that I am considering selling. It is a true beauty that has been pampered it's entire life. With this unusual market, I learned quickly that the usual KBB or Edmunds resources did not reflect the true market pricing.

I am not very familiar with this kind of dealing and fear that I will end up with regret. When I look the car up to establish a fair market they are running from 18 to 24K $$ with 90 to 120K miles. The problem I am running into is I can't find any featured for sale with as low of milage as mine. I have thought of trying a few different formulas but I am at a loss for reliable outcomes.

Is there such a thing as a fair online we buy cars services? So far the best I have found was an offer for just under 17K. I know for this kind of service that that is probably pretty good. But when you see cars with 90K selling for 20K, it is hard to consider 17K for one literally mint with 23K miles. If it is of any help it is a Premium ATS Cadillac 2.0T in factory custom white diamond paint and every option on the books except 2wd over AWD.

Thanks for any help you might offer.

Well, I'm about to panic! I am being offered 18K cash for the car and I absolutely have no idea if I should be happy or say no. If there are any pros out there your input would be most appreciated. They want to meet this coming Sunday to test drive and take it home. Should I be happy with this price?

 

Probably not what you want to hear but sellers have to make a profit and considering all of the paperwork and transportation that goes into an online company buying a car I don't know that a $3k difference between what they paid and what they would get for it is too bad. For what it's worth, I bought a commuter car from Carvana for just under $20k including tax, title, and delivery. Just for shits and giggles I went to their online calculator to see what they would give me for it and it was $17k.

Your best bet would be to sell it yourself but in my experience this is a painful and sometimes long process. You'll get all kinds of people offering you half of what you have it listed for, people asking questions that are clearly in your listing, and people asking if you'll do an even trade for a '99 Civic. Not to mention the scammers.

Unfortunately the options are deal with idiots for max sale price or sacrifice some sale price for not having to deal with idiots.

Edit: Forgot to mention the guy who asks 50 questions, wants pictures of every minute detail, then ghosts you when you respond. Or even worse "you took 2 hours to respond to my text that I sent you at 4am so I bought something else."

Edit edit: Or the "my buddy has one basically like yours and he said he'd sell it to me for $5k less than your asking price." "Cool. Buy his." In the interest of full disclosure I may still be a little bitter over all of the idiots I had to deal with when I sold my Tacoma a few months ago.

 

Very insightful and caring response. Thank you!

 

Find a good local broker, preferably the biggest one in your area. I sold my Subaru through one here in Denver. They didn't collect a dime from me since they bill their clients, i.e. the buyer.

Put a listing together, reach out to them with what you have, then they will collect bids and send you the best one. You can accept it and keep the deal rolling, or walk away at any time up until you sign the title over. They gave me a certified check for $3.5k over KBB/trade-in and I walked to the bank across the street and cashed it immediately. Bingo! It's worth a shot to have someone else do all the work!

 

NICE!!! Searching local brokers as you read this. Finding out like most everything else you have to sort out the crooks before you find an honest one. The one online buyer offered me a cashiers check for $16,500 the 2nd offered me $4200.00

 

I have had friends sell to CarMax during the pandemic and they raved about how easy and fair it was. Every time they have gotten the top end of their KBB value. They give you their price which is good for 7 days or a few hundred miles. You could start there to get a base price and then go from there.

 

Really,??? I may need to give them another try. I actually got mega turned off of Car Max after I offered to sell them my Ford Fusion a few years back. It was one of their hot rod versions, a beautiful 30K mile factory custom car.
They offered me $5,500 +/- for it when it booked for over $18K. I never went back to buy or sell after that. I actually sold the car on the way home at Covert Chevrolet for a check for $16,250. But you are the 2nd person to offer that advice through personal experience. Maybe it's worth a drive over.

 

I've sold a lot of Toyota's and custom motorcycles and have found KBB not able to reflect the market in my dealings or in my region, especially not in this new pandemic era where new car production has slowed in various segments.

I'd say, if you want top dollar, sell it yourself. Low mileage makes a huge difference in price that KBB/NADA don't do a good job of reflecting in their appraisals. If KBB is valuing similar cars with 90k miles on them for $23k, I'd take some nice high quality pics of your detailed car and list it for $28k on a Cadillac enthusiast forum, making a point about the low mileage, and see who bites. You can always Carvana later.

 

This is all good info.
However, what does one do when one has a 30yo car that is entering back into the collector market?

1990 Mustang 5.0 GT. 131k miles. Fully loaded, power everything, auto trans. One owner, garage kept in San Diego. Everything on it is in perfect condition. 100% original. As close to mint as one can get without having wrapped it in plastic and put it on a shelf.

What would be some recommended places to look for selling this one? I doubt CarMax would be interested, and I'm finding I just don't have the time to sell it myself.

 

I haven't listed anything with them and I'm not sure how it works, but Bring a Trailer has some gorgeous high-end collector cars listed on their page and their social media. Everything from Jeeps to Ferraris with a worldwide audience. Might be worth a look for a vintage Fox body.

 

carsandbids.com maybe?

 

Yeah, this is a good idea for sure. If we lived in the city and not on a ranch you couldn't make me give up this beautiful car. It is absolutely gorgeous and truly in like-new condition. I think I'll take this advice and have a look around.

I have looked around and you are johnny on the spot as to pricing. I am seeing lesser equipped models with 80s and 90k miles running 16 to 22 k$. This and KBB calling 16K$. I have found this same car, color, etc with 36K miles in true car for $24K. I would be happy with 20 if I could avoid all the phone calls and meet-ups etc.

Thanks for taking the time.

 

My life has been bittered by this.

 

SELLSELLSELL

 

5K under my asking is a steal, you should go for it for sure. I ended up using a service called Signature Auto LLC. They are at 9606 N. Mopac Suite 150 Austin, Texas 78759. The guys name is Daniel (512)-563-4965. I could not say enough good about this guy's service. We sold the car for just over 20K in like two weeks, and their fee was very reasonable. Painless dealing as they took care of everything from start to finish. They handed me a check and I handed them the title. Could not ask for more.