Input on selling a used car

[Binkandabee]

Finally bit the bullet and purchased a new to me vehicle....a 2009 Highlander!

I need to sell my current vehicle and was thinking about doing so via craigslist. Its a 2001 Montero Sport with 150,000 miles on it. Cosmetically, it's in phenomenal condition as I take meticulous care of my vehicles. Mechanically, it has an oil leak that hasn't been investigated, it's time for a timing belt, tires, struts...basically....it's on the verge of needing some spendy repairs, although, it runs great right now and the repairs are the preventive type repairs that we've always done. How much of this do I need to reveal to potential buyers? I don't want to be dishonest, but I also don't want to scare away any buyers because it's been a great, great truck and it very may well run without doing these repairs. I'm just ready for something with all the new toys :)

[ray7694]

I would disclose the same things you would want disclosed to you if you were purchasing this vehicle.

[katydid1971]

Personally I would list it as a 2001... with ... miles etc. and show as many pictures as you can. Allow then to have it checked out by a mechanic if you want and be honest when if they ask "Does it need a new timing belt?" They are buying a 13 yo car, you kind of expect it to need all those things you mentioned to be fixed. JMO.

[kbud]

Go ahead and disclose it. You will be surprised on CL how quickly things can sell if priced right.

We sold one car with about 130,000 miles on it right after someone backed into my DH. We opted not to have it fixed as it was just cosmetic and just applied the cash to a new car. We had the car sold with cash for full price in 3 hours!

Another car had 150,000 miles and the transmission was failing. It was drivable when I listed it but I disclosed the transmission problem. I had over 20 emails within 2 hours to come look at it. Mostly they were mechanics. We sold it too the same day for almost what we asked to a guy in mechanics school who needed a clean well taken care of vehicle for his family. He could get the parts through his school and get credit for replacing the transmission.

I had a van with under 50,000 miles that we bought from a mechanic after they had to replace the transmission. The car was left as they couldn't pay the bill. We got a great deal on it but it had problems, warning lights always coming on etc. I disclosed this and again sold it right away to someone whose dad was a mechanic. On that one I sold it for more than we bought it for a year and a half earlier!

I've actually had more trouble selling no troubles on CL.

So you things are really pretty minor. You don't want to waist anyone's time (or your own) having people come look at it and discovering those things on their own and leaving.

Good luck!

[kbud]

I will add though that I wouldn't post any preventive stuff that is routine. It would be up to them to take it to a mechanic for those things. What you are posting sounds very typical and to be expected for a car with that mileage.

[annex]

I agree. Mention things that are known mechanical defects, mention things that are new/updated, but the maintenance things like timing belt, etc are things people expect will be issues with cars of that age. Post lots of pictures. Buyers who are worried will want your car checked out by a mechanic, but the buyers of our last car did a test drive and bought without any sort of check of that type. Most of my friends who sell cars on craigslist have the same experience.

[Binkandabee]

Thank you! I will disclose what I know to be currently wrong with it (the oil leak). I will also let them know that the alternator was just replaced a few weeks ago.

There's obviously nothing currently wrong with the timing belt...but will just need one as a good maintenance measure soon. Same for the struts, brakes, tires, etc.

I'm going to price it at $3,500.00, so I hope it sells quickly. I think it should because like I said, it's in phenomenal cosmetic condition. Our mechanic can't believe it's a 2001!

[BayGirl2]

Thank you! I will disclose what I know to be currently wrong with it (the oil leak). I will also let them know that the alternator was just replaced a few weeks ago.

There's obviously nothing currently wrong with the timing belt...but will just need one as a good maintenance measure soon. Same for the struts, brakes, tires, etc.

I'm going to price it at $3,500.00, so I hope it sells quickly. I think it should because like I said, it's in phenomenal cosmetic condition. Our mechanic can't believe it's a 2001!

I agree that this level of disclosure seems fair to me.
A smart buyer, IMO, would have a mechanic check it out and come to their own opinion on what may be needed in the future.

FWIW we sold my old MINI last year to a friend of my BIL's. It had some issues with a window not rolling down and the A/C, but otherwise was in great shape mechanically. We disclosed this and let her take it to a garage BIL had recommended before committing. She turned out to be a bit cuckoo and the visit to the garage took 7 hours, and she got lost both times coming to our house despite being given directions 3 separate times. (Then she put our town into the GPS and let that guide her, um yeah, took her to city hall, not our street, which I had told her was not on the GPS map)

Anyway because she asked the mechanic to identify the problem, not give her an estimate, the mechanic was about to take things apart in the door to diagnose. We had to clarify over the phone that we were NOT paying for her estimate/diagnosis. She ended up spending a good chunk of money for him to diagnose what needed to be done and give her a thorough estimate before she even bought the car!

She was super clueless and had she been a CL'er I would have been freaking out while she was gone that long and walked away from the deal. Since she was a parent of DN's classmate I had given her the benefit of the doubt. Not sure I would do that again, so flaky! We got about the same as we had a quote for from an online dealer quoting service, but were unsure whether they would adjust the quote in person because of the A/C issue.

[Binkandabee]

I'm tempted to take it to Carmax just to see what they will give me for it because I do worry about the flakes and the CL crazies. And down the road, if there is a repair that comes up, I'm worried that some crazy CL person will come to my house griping that they bought a lemon. It's a very used car...something is bound to come up at some point.

[BayGirl2]

I'm tempted to take it to Carmax just to see what they will give me for it because I do worry about the flakes and the CL crazies. And down the road, if there is a repair that comes up, I'm worried that some crazy CL person will come to my house griping that they bought a lemon. It's a very used car...something is bound to come up at some point.

I got an online guaranteed quote from a dealer. I'm thinking it was through Kelly Blue Book? I may have gotten an estimate from them and then it linked me to another site? IIRC I submitted my details, they reviewed it overnight, then came back with a guaranteed quote for cash or trade in.

Seemed like an easier way to but then crazy lady came about so we did a personal sale instead. Still, that pricing was helpful in our negotiations since we new our next best option.