How much to charge for a Camry?

[akboss]

Hey gents,

We have a 1996 Toyota Camry LE in our fleet, and as I have posted before, I'm looking to change it out. In all honesty the car runs perfect and I'd love to keep it - it's more of a work appearance situation where customers will be thrown off by such an old vehicle.

I know a dealer will offer me zero for it because they need a profit margin, and logically, as it is older, there is little demand. So if I want to sell it privately, what's a fair asking price?

A little more detail on the car. It's the LE model, fabric interior with factory CD, auto tranny, power windows, power door locks (some don't work), and factory A/C that is broken. We are the second owner since new, it was old-lady-driven for 12 of its 14 year life, serviced and repaired as needed and kept in good shape. The body is excellent with little to no signs of rust (even in the quarters and rockers), windshield is excellent, newer tires, new rad and gas tank pipe. It rides smooth and quiet with a little shudder when high-speed braking, likely old rotors that are uneven.

Any ballpark ideas for a car like this? It's bulletproof reliable, great on gas and safe, but not a lot of features.

[MagicRat]

As is? $500 - 1000. If its e-tested and certified..... $1200-1800, maybe?

Just my guess..... Whats the mileage?

[Ray paulsen]

You want cheese with that whine, why don't you just say it was driven by a little old lady with a wooden leg from Pasadena

To a dealer it's worthless. MagicRat is on the money selling privately If its e-tested and certified, and the reason is very little selection in that price range buying certified.

Whenever someone had a clunker for a trade and asked it's worth, my reply was always how much gas is in it, some looked puzzled some laughed, but my point was made in my favour 99% of the time, lol

[akboss]

Ray, why all the sarcasm? I'm simply stating who the previous owner was. Typically it's a sham, but this car was honestly driven very lightly for its entire life, which shows in the bodywork and overall condition of the vehicle.

In Canada we didn't have the clunkers program, so there's still lots for sale in this price range, but few are certified and most are dealer lemons. This car will pass certification easily, still breezes through emissions testing, so certified private sale for obo price sounds like the way to go.

[Ray paulsen]

Ouch, it did not mean to be sarcasm, but dry sence of humor, you're not the first to tell me " my wife included " guess I must work on my bad habits, lol

In the circle of dealerships I have been associated with when buyers had an old car to trade worth a few hundred or worthless, the same boring story's like yours come across as to why this trade should be worth much more " car got new this new that " all hwy miles " driven by an eldery person and sprinkled with baby powder every day ...

I am sorry if I offended you, but in my circle we always added the line about the lady from Pasadena.

For fun I phoned a few wholesalers today to yap about old times and get a value about this 96 Camry " not knowing the Km I called it low at 150K " and a cherry cream puff driven by the lady from Pasadena " top bid $400. and I got the impression top bid was doing me a favour, lol...

The MagicRat called the car right for a private sale, certified and e - tested.

[akboss]

Hmmm. Alright, well, I guess I'll keep driving it then - if it's between keeping a comfortable, reliable car on the road or pocketing $1K and spending $400/month on a newer one, I think we'll keep our grandma car for a while.

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by akboss

Hmmm. Alright, well, I guess I'll keep driving it then - if it's between keeping a comfortable, reliable car on the road or pocketing $1K and spending $400/month on a newer one, I think we'll keep our grandma car for a while.

Exactly right. I would much rather drive a reliable, little-used used car than have to make payments on a new one.

I LOVE to find the odd used-car that has had very little use, but simply is not worth anything due to age etc.
It's like getting a nearly-new car for peanuts.

Sure, the used car market is not fair. For example, my dad rarely drives. His '99 Concorde has only 39,000 km on it, and has always been garaged. It looks and runs literally like new. But it's worth little, due to age.
It's not fair to the seller, but it means a savvy buyer can get a heck of a deal.

Originally Posted by akboss

it's more of a work appearance situation where customers will be thrown off by such an old vehicle.

Been there and it sucks. It's right up there with having several fine-quality suits that you cannot use for work anymore because the style has changed. Unfortunately, in business, appearance of fashion and prosperity means a lot, regardless of the usefulness of the stuff at hand.

I almost bought a little-old-lady '87 K-car, with 40,000 km, like new, for $400. Would have made a great commuter car for work, but people simply would get the wrong idea.