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Hey all. I'm trying to work out the value of a car for a friend. I call her my adopted mother, she's in her late 60s, her and her husband been a long time friend of my wife and I - we used to frequent car shows together and just generally enjoy each others company. About 4 years ago her husband passed, and she has continued to battle a bunch of severe medical conditions - she's battled cancer a few times, and after a stem cell transplant is now faced with some pretty aggressive graft vs. host disease. It's been a rough few years, but she is a fighter! She is no longer able to drive, and isn't going to regain that ability in the future as she is moving into a partially assisted living apartment.
So, she has a 2007 Impala LT that she's owned since new with 77,000 miles on it, 3.9, heated leather, moon roof, single disc mp3. I say it's in odd condition because it's in both great and poor condition. It's sat, pretty much continuously (less than 4k miles), for the the last 3.5 years, outside on pavement. The wheels are in poor condition with corrosion around the centers, and the car is pretty rotten underneath. It looks like a car with 150,000+ miles would around this part of the country where we destroy automobiles with rock-salt every winter. One of the rear tires wouldn't even turn at first when I drove it last week, had to back up/pull ahead 3-4 times to break it free. I drove it home, and have put about 100 miles on it just to get it loosened up and doing some driving again.
On top of the rust underneath (the body is fine) the car has hail damage to every horizontal panel - hood, roof, trunk, quarters. The A/C doesn't work, it's got a noisy busing in the rear suspension, and it has a persistent (cleared it 3 times in 3 days) check engine light for a P0521 - oil pressure sensor. The sensor was replaced this spring when it was last serviced, so I fear that problem may be in the wiring. Exhaust is really rotten too, I wouldn't bet on more than another 12 months out of that. Tire pressure monitor system is apparently not working at all.
But, on the flip side, its in perfect condition inside. Motor runs great, tranny seems to be ok - it didn't engage right away from a stop sign when cold one time - I'd chalk that up to some sticky valve body action from all the sitting. Rides perfect, other than the one noisy bushing everything is real quiet and smooth.
I'm either going to buy this car from her to replace my aging 2003, or I'm going to help her sell it. The trouble is I have no idea what this thing is worth. KBB, which we all know is to be taken with a (big) grain of salt, puts it at $6k in fair condition given the miles. If I substitute it to 150,000 miles which is much closer to how it actually appears underneath it's $3,600 in fair condition. Then you have all the defects on top of that. So, it's really odd, I know it's been well cared for, driven easy, and has low miles with a spotless interior. But, it's real rusty underneath, and definitely needs some work to be 100%, and even then it's got the hail damage and the completely trashed wheels.
My thoughts were that if selling this I'd probably list it for $5,000, but be ready to take an offer as low as $4,000. If I buy it outright, fully knowing all the issues and concerns, I don't think I'd pay more than $3,500 for it. What do you guys think? I appreciate any input you've got!
So, she has a 2007 Impala LT that she's owned since new with 77,000 miles on it, 3.9, heated leather, moon roof, single disc mp3. I say it's in odd condition because it's in both great and poor condition. It's sat, pretty much continuously (less than 4k miles), for the the last 3.5 years, outside on pavement. The wheels are in poor condition with corrosion around the centers, and the car is pretty rotten underneath. It looks like a car with 150,000+ miles would around this part of the country where we destroy automobiles with rock-salt every winter. One of the rear tires wouldn't even turn at first when I drove it last week, had to back up/pull ahead 3-4 times to break it free. I drove it home, and have put about 100 miles on it just to get it loosened up and doing some driving again.
On top of the rust underneath (the body is fine) the car has hail damage to every horizontal panel - hood, roof, trunk, quarters. The A/C doesn't work, it's got a noisy busing in the rear suspension, and it has a persistent (cleared it 3 times in 3 days) check engine light for a P0521 - oil pressure sensor. The sensor was replaced this spring when it was last serviced, so I fear that problem may be in the wiring. Exhaust is really rotten too, I wouldn't bet on more than another 12 months out of that. Tire pressure monitor system is apparently not working at all.
But, on the flip side, its in perfect condition inside. Motor runs great, tranny seems to be ok - it didn't engage right away from a stop sign when cold one time - I'd chalk that up to some sticky valve body action from all the sitting. Rides perfect, other than the one noisy bushing everything is real quiet and smooth.
I'm either going to buy this car from her to replace my aging 2003, or I'm going to help her sell it. The trouble is I have no idea what this thing is worth. KBB, which we all know is to be taken with a (big) grain of salt, puts it at $6k in fair condition given the miles. If I substitute it to 150,000 miles which is much closer to how it actually appears underneath it's $3,600 in fair condition. Then you have all the defects on top of that. So, it's really odd, I know it's been well cared for, driven easy, and has low miles with a spotless interior. But, it's real rusty underneath, and definitely needs some work to be 100%, and even then it's got the hail damage and the completely trashed wheels.
My thoughts were that if selling this I'd probably list it for $5,000, but be ready to take an offer as low as $4,000. If I buy it outright, fully knowing all the issues and concerns, I don't think I'd pay more than $3,500 for it. What do you guys think? I appreciate any input you've got!