The trials and tribulations of both selling my car and buying another one from a dealer, private seller, or Bert, who sits outside the bus stop on Tuesdays, have been documented and I’ll tell you all about them now.
It’s a crazy time once again. I’ve been thinking of getting a newer vehicle as my 2008 Toyota Prius, while still good, no longer suits my needs. Hey, I finally decided to get a crowbar into my wallet and spend some money on a newer vehicle.
Now originally, I had my sights set on the new Toyota Cross Hybrid mid-size SUV. Visiting the dealer one Saturday afternoon, I discovered that none were available on the lot. Speaking to the salesman, I found that if I put a deposit of $500 down, he would put my name on the list and in six short months or so, maybe one might come off the freight boats from Japan. Of course, as there were about fifty to sixty people ahead of me in line, it might take longer.
One of my mechanic friends suggested looking at the Ford Maverick, which is a two-row, sporty looking truck. It did look pretty cool for a truck and got good gas mileage. After another week of mulling it over, I called the dealership. The friendly man informed me that I was in luck. They were just being allowed to take more orders for the Maverick, which of course was nowhere to be seen on their lot. He asked if I was interested and I said sure. He said he’d take my name and when they came in, he would call me. I asked about the wait time for this crown jewel of a truck. They should be here in, “about a year.” Maybe I’ll just get a horse and buggy in the meantime, it’ll be quicker.
Now there are some pluses to all this searching for a new vehicle. Autotrader, cars.com, craigslist and Facebook merchandise pop up all the time on my phone enticing me with a low-priced mid-size SUV for under $20,000. Some even have less than 150,000 miles on them, driven by an old lady who only went to church on Sunday’s, in outer Mongolia.
One plus is that now, when I see a car ad showing the year and mileage, I can guess what the price is within one thousand dollars. It’s quite a skill. If I could only get paid for that, gold, Jerry gold.
On those glorious days where I actually find a car that I like online, with lower miles and manufactured after 2018, I’m met with laughter from the salesman when I ask if it’s still available. I hear him cover the phone with his hand and yell to his fellow salesman, “Hey, Harry, this guy wants to know about that car we sold the instant it was posted online. I know, I laughed too.”
It’s a strange market. Back in the day, (old man rant coming), when you bought a new car and drove it off the lot, a week later, it was worth $5,000 less. Now after two and three years of driving, the car values drop about five hundred bucks. Why buy a used car if new is about the same price? Well, for one thing, you can’t afford it! If you want one of the newer hybrid models to save the environment and get better gas mileage, you need to spend $25,000 more to do that. For that extra amount of money, I believe I can buy gas for the next twenty years or so and not even spend it all. But I digress.
I haven’t even approached the subject of selling my car to the general public. I thought of trading my beautiful Prius in weeks ago. I went to the trusty Kelley Blue Book values website which I remember from the last time I car shopped, about thirteen years ago. I wanted to know how much I could expect to get from the dealer if I traded in my luxury vehicle. I entered all my cars data, miles, year, quality, etc. After ten minutes work, the value of my car flashes on the screen. Kelley Blue Book will happily give me fifty cents for my car. Not only that, but the second I click the button to submit my estimate request, my phone rings twice in a row from local dealerships saying, “I understand you have a Prius you’d like to sell. So, when would you like to come in and have us evaluate your car?”
I’m so naïve wondering how they got their information so quickly until one realizes that all of them are working in cahoots with Kelley Blue Book.
As I had placed ads on both Facebook and craigslist, I was ready to hear from people. When I return to my phone, almost immediately, several people texted me about my car including the supreme commissioner of Azerbaijan, the police chief (and part time barber) of Guadalajara, Mexico and three Saudi Arabian princesses trapped in castles who promised to send me $45 million dollars if I send them $1000 to help them get out. Who doesn’t love the internet?
I deleted the texts from people whose names were obviously fake or I’d share them with you. Ashmira Crumpelstintskin and Monstera Kamelback Amgreat Awkmed did not sound legitimate to me. I did check them on the interweb to be sure. Who knows if a Persian prince needs a 2008 Prius for his world travels across the desert? As I’m trying to protect the anonymity of people who came for a test drive, I will say I did deny the request to take over $2000 less than my list price if I took cash from a young kid who may still be in high school. Where’s a kid get that much cash? Hmmm. I’m not saying he was a drug dealer but.
Selling a car on your own, instead of using a dealer, definitely is harder but it can be lucrative. You have to put up with numerous texts from those who want to test drive or talk you down in price. You also have to let them drive off with your vehicle for a test drive. (Don’t worry, I took out my Tupperware container of quarters in the glove compartment so no one could steal them.)
Is the aggravation worth it? Well, yes. But it’s definitely annoying. I have a couple buyers ready to go, just two more people to test drive the car.
Is it interesting, fun, weird? It certainly is fun to joke around with the family about who came and what they said. Do your really think that kid was a drug dealer?
It will all be over shortly. I can look back and laugh. Instead of trading it in, I did the work and acquired some extra cash that the dealer won’t get. I have a line on a newer car for me and hope to pick it up this week. It was quite a bit of work but I tried not to worry about it so much. I have more cash in my pocket than if I hadn’t done it, so I’m quite happy about that.
Fast forward to today. I sold my car and as we signed the papers, I talked with the new owner about my last car sale. I had a 1998 Honda Civic in nice condition, that we brought up from North Carolina. I was ready for a change. When it came down to the sale, I had two people interested. One offered a bit more money to me while the other person was a young college student. She came with her dad and was buying this on her own. But she could only afford a certain amount as that’s what she had saved up. I decided, even though I got a bit less money from her, it was worth it. It was a good car and I know she really needed it. Hey, one can always use some good Karma.
Now with my current car, he really wanted the car and the bike rack on top. Additionally, every day I had about seven people text me about my ad. I could have held out a few more days but once again, I decided to sell it to someone who really needed it and couldn’t afford to pay more. As I told the buyer the first story, he smiled and said thanks.
Once again, I felt good.
Karma, Kramer.