QuestionHi,
My Mother moved to an Assisted Living facility and I need to sell her 1991 Cadillac. It has 76,378 miles and she was the 2nd owner & she purchased it in 2000 from my Uncle for $12500.00
Thanks for your time and input!
Steph :)
AnswerI can tell you how to decide what to ask for the car, and I can offer a suggestion as to how to sell it, but I can't shield you from the fact that 15 year old cars are not bringing much money these days - even nice old cars. I've been involved with the old car hobby for over 60 years, and paid attention to car values over that period. A car depreciates rapidly for the first few years, then depreciation slows down a bit but continues until the car is about 15 years old. At that point, it is worth as little as it will ever be worth - from now on it is getting old enough that a few hobbyists may start to notice it, and it will level off in value, and in about another 10 years, it will begin to appreciate, slowly, if it is kept in good shape. You may want to consider keeping it if you like the car - and selling a more current model that you have. The downside in this is that repairs on Cadillacs tend to be quite expensive.
To learn what the value of the car is:
My advice is to go to your local library (or a really good book store) and find a copy of "The Old Cars Weekly Price Guide" - this is published by Krause publications of Iola Wisconsin. Do NOT accept any substitute!
Read the first few pages of this magazine - it will tell you how to score your car's condition code. Don't wear rose colored glasses when you do this. Unless the car has been through a careful reconditioning, it is going to score at between a #3 and a #4 condition, assuming it has been west of the Rockies all it's life (no rust). If it has lived east of the Rockies any part of its life, it will be about one grade lower - a #4 at best, probably.
Then page through to the Cadillac section, find your exact model and equipment, and read the price suggestion there.
Now you know what a fair asking price is.
The best way to sell it for fair value, in my opinion is:
Join eBay if you haven't already done so, and click on "sell my item" - just follow the directions on the site. It is designed for anyone to use it, it does not require any computer savvy beyond what you have already demonstrated by contacting me.
The site allows you to set a "reserve" price and a minimum bid amount.
You can set a reserve if you wish, to protect you against someone buying it with the minimum bid, but since a reserve tends to limit the number of people who will bid, I advise against it.
When you set the minimum bid, remember you are trying to get some interest in this car - so don't set the minimum so high that it discourages bargain hunters. I always use $100 for a minimum bid for a car - it gets the bidding going, and that stimulates interest because bargain hunters look for items with a lot of action. I have found that this procedure brings fair market value for an item about 99% of the time.
When you list the car, take many, many pictures of it, being sure to show any defects, and show under the hood, in the trunk, wear spots on the upholstery etc. You want people to be sure they are seeing an honest representation of the car, not some gussied up dealer prepped car. Make it as clean and shiny as you can, of course - have it professionally detailed before you take the pictures.
This procedure will get the car sold, the buyer takes care of the transportation, and it is minimum hassle for you from then on. Accept only PayPal or bank transfer for the payments - and make sure everything clears through your account before releasing the car.
Dick
