How do you price an efficent car to sell?

[Ryland]

I'm trying to make some space, partly because I just bought another electric car, but also because some vehicles should go to a good home before they go past the point of no return, so how do you figure how much they are worth?
I never found blue book prices to be all that accurate, although they are a nice starting place, Ebay is hard because some vehicles advertise well, I've had varied luck with craigslist, somethings sell right away for more then I thought they would, and other stuff I feel like I can't give away.
my main reason for asking this is that I keep getting people who want me to practically give them my diesel rabbit because it's 25 years old, but if the wheel bearing and brakes were fixed would get 55mpg without trying.

So when you sell a car, how do you figure price?

[diesel_john]

depends on the rust, miles, care , etc,

but just a good head is 300, a short block core is 150. the body is worth 200 for scrape. if it's not rusted under the front floor mats and the engine runs, its worth at least a 1000

with all the above plus all orginal, i have seen 2500 to 3000 on ebay.

complete engines that have never been apart are hard to find if not down right rare.

[Ryland]

I kind of have the same feelings about selling a 55mpg diesel car, if $500 is all anyone is willing to give me then I'll keep it and fix it my self! after all it's been in the family sense new, it's a good engine, good tranny, good body, I checked on used engine and tranny's and you can easily spend $700 on just the engine.
I suppose I could have gotten more for my moped, the guy who bought it didn't ask if I would take less, didn't even take it for a ride, just looked it over, handed me money, loaded it up and left and I had to call people back to tell them it was sold! to cheap and you get floods of calls, to much and no one says a thing, with this car everyone wants it, and no one wants to pay for it.

[Peakster]

I go to www.usedeverywhere.com, find a location that's close to me and see what similar cars are going for. Then price my vehicle a few hundred dollars below the average for a quick sell.

Another good thing is to list the car online.

No phone calls = price too high
Phone calls, but people haw and hum = good price
Phone calls and first looker buys = priced too low

[diesel_john]

We bought this 83 one new and it is the only one left running out of five. Mine has heavy wall alumimun square tubing under the rocker panels to support the rusted body.
What kills the body is a leaky windshield (5 out of 5), or trying to jack where they say to jack. takes the floor out, or rocker panels.

Caution: if it has been sitting do not hit the starter button, until you have barred it over a couple revolutions with a wrench. Any liquid or any residue in the chamber will break the head. If the fuel smells old do not use it.

[roflwaffle]

Originally Posted by Ryland

I checked on used engine and tranny's and you can easily spend $700 on just the engine.

Only if yer a sucker. Parts are still cheap if yer patient. I nabbed two 1.6 blocks, a 1.5 block, a head, IP, manifolds, two transmissions, etc... for ~$30 plus $50 is gas picking it all up. If you wanna make more off of it, part it out on the tex. It'll take a while, especially since we're seeing a recession, but you should be able to get ~$1000-2000 for it there depending on how patient you are.

[Chris D.]

You'll never get what you feel its worth unless you wait a long time and have patience..
A car is one of the worst investments and your lucky to break even..