am I asking too much? (car) (1 Viewer)

[Philip_G]

I need to relieve myself of my 2002 WRX, quickly. I'm asking 16,500 for it, about 1000-1200 below NADA *trade in* value, yet no bites :frowning:

 

[Philip_G]

2002 Subaru IMPREZA-4 Cyl.-AWD
Sedan 4D WRX (5 Spd./AT)
32,000 miles

Average Trade-In Average Retail
Base Price $18,000 $20,475

Mileage Adjustment
32,000 miles subtract: ($200) ($200)

Options and Equipment
W/out Automatic Trans. (Ex. WRX) subtract: ($425) ($425)
Aluminum/Alloy Wheels add: $225 $250
Certification and Extended Warranties
Total Price $17,600 $20,100
Average Retail Price represents a clean vehicle in good condition and is assumed to have a Clean Title History. Looking to purchase a new car? Get a free quote from a dealer near you. Obtain used car financing rates as low as 3.99% APR for 12-36 months. Selling your vehicle? Print a checklist and the required DMV Title & Registration forms to complete your sale. Sell your car through AutoTrader.com and get the most money for your vehicle.
Other Vehicle Information
Model Number: D29
Weight: 3085
Value Explanations
The free consumer values on NADAguides.com are based on the Consumer edition of the N.A.D.A. Official Used Car Guide ®, and should not be utilized for industry purposes.

Average Trade-In
An Average Trade-In vehicle should be clean and without glaring defects. Tires and glass should be in good condition. The paint should match and have a good finish. The interior should have wear in relation to the age of the vehicle. Carpet and seat upholstery should be clean and all power options should work. The mileage should be within the acceptable range for the model year. The "Average Trade-In" value is a national average calculated from the Official Used Car Guide's ten regions. The "Average Trade-In" value for your vehicle could be higher or lower than the national average due to your local market conditions.
Average Retail Value
An average retail vehicle should be clean and without glaring defects. Tires and glass should be in good condition. The paint should match and have a good finish. The interior should have wear in relation to the age of the vehicle. Carpet and seat upholstery should be clean, and all power options should work. The mileage should be within the acceptable range for the model year.

An Average Retail vehicle on a dealer lot may include a limited warranty or guarantee, and possibly a current safety and/or emission inspection (where applicable).

Note: Vehicles with low mileage that are in exceptionally good condition and/or include a manufacturer certification can be worth a significantly higher value than the Average Retail price shown.

I know the market sucks and it's hard to compete, but to save 7 grand off a new one that is _almost_ the same save some head and tail lights, I would have thought someone would jump on it :frowning:

 

[Jason_Els]

NADA is not terribly accurate these days. Very low finance charges, leasing, and dealer incentives to move inventory are putting more people in new cars than ever before. People are finding trading very difficult and getting below NADA at the lots. Private sellers are doing better but keep in mind that Subaru is really pushing deals on the WRX.

It's also harder to sell a used sports car because every buyer assumes it's been driven hard.

Happily you live in Denver. That should help as Scoobys are very popular. Ask around at NASIOC it's the country's central Scooby message board. You might get some ideas or post it for sale there.

Good luck!

 

[Tim Markley]

My guess is that it's the mileage. That's alot of miles for a 2002 even though you've adjusted your price because of it.

 

[Philip_G]

it's not actually. The car was purchased new in 03/2002 so it's just under 2.5 years old, at 15k per year it's just about spot on

 

[nolesrule]

03/2002 was only 16 months ago. That's 24,000 miles/year, not 15k.

 

[Aurel Savin]

I know the market sucks

Yes ... you are right, bottom line .. the market sucks.

Philip that is a lot of miles for 16 months ...

 

[Carl Miller]

it's not actually. The car was purchased new in 03/2002 so it's just under 2.5 years old, at 15k per year it's just about spot on

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but your car has a lot of miles for an '02. The car may have been available to buy in 01', but it's still an '02 and this is a perception issue IMO. Your average used car buyer isn't going to come close to the 2.5 year age you've come up with...You probably wouldn't even find many people to even consider the car 2 years old at this point. Maybe in October/November, but not now.

I'm not saying you won't get your asking price, but with the mileage on it, and the factors Jason mentioned I'm not surprised it's not a quick sale.

If you've got an ad for it, it might be helpful to phrase the mileage as "easy", "highway miles" or some other way..If you haven't done this already.

 

[Philip_G]

the 2004's are out for sale, no? it's 2 model years old, any way you want to slice it.
I think 2000 dollars off retail for a few extra miles should cover it

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Philip,

Except to a very few cognoscenti, your car is percieved as comparable to a garden variety Corolla or Civic built, but by an "off-brand" mfg. The vast majority of people in this category are looking for an automatic and expecting to pay closer to 12k for a car in this size range and age with 32k on it.

Enthusiasts, who do know what a WRX is, are leary of used high-performance cars, especially those with turbochargers. With the deals and interest rates on new WRX's, a brand new one with no chance of having been abused by a previous owner can be had for $50 a month more.

Thirdly, most people expect much lower prices on used cars from private owners vs from dealers, so the NADA price is unrealistic for you. People are willing to pay higher prices from dealers because dealers can and will arrange those "easy monthly payments" and extended warrantys very conveniently--they don't have to go to their banks or credit unions and arrange financing, nor do they have to go through registration hassles at the dmv as they do when buying from a private party.

Also, many people trade in older cars when buying late model used cars from dealers, they can't do this when purchasing privately which also limits your customer pool.

I don't know if this is your first experience trying to sell a car privately, but it's not uncommon for it to take weeks or months to find a buyer and also to have to reduce your price a lot from NADA or Kelly Blue Book retail figures.

To get a realistic price, try Kelly Blue Book wholesale and add a few hundred.

 

[Philip_G]

KBB is

Trade-In Value $16,415
that's for good condition, the car is probably closer to excellent, but at least an honest good.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Have you also factored in what Edmunds says is the "value" of your particular car (and associated wear-n-tear, options)? KBB tends to be on the high side of things, and not as good an indicator of how much a car will go for. Plus, the locality of sale is a factor in what it'll sell for as well.

 

[Philip_G]

Yes... I'm at least a grand below every other WRX on autotrader and in the paper. Hope she sells soon, I bought the replacement last night
got a killer deal on a sentra SE-R spec V.
I sold my altima last may or so, I ran the ad on friday and cashed the guys check on monday. I actually sold it twice over the weekend, one guy comitted but didn't give me a deposit, another guy wrote a check in full so I took it. Good thing, the first guy backed out before I could explain.

 

[David Preston]

There is probably a WRX website for WRX fans. They can probably help you. Maybe they have a friend that is looking for a used one or something.

 

[Tim Markley]

If nothing else, I'd put it on EBay as a reserve auction. A lot of the "younger" crowd who know what a WRX is, use EBay.

 

[Philip_G]

it's on ebay, autotrader, cars.com and both major subaru boards :frowning:

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

Very low finance charges, leasing, and dealer incentives to move inventory are putting more people in new cars than ever before.

And I don't know about the States, but here in Canada right now they're practically giving away the '03 Subarus because the '04s are in. My wife and I were shopping on the weekend for what will be her first car (I don't drive, so it's not really "mine" at all, but I guess it'll be my first car, too). The finance rates that they're offering for the '03s (in particular the 2.5 TS wagon that we were looking at) are through the floor cheap and they're very willing to negotiate on price.

 

[Micheal]

it's on ebay, autotrader, cars.com and both major subaru boards :frowning:

To answer your question: Maybe you are asking too much. If something is priced well, it usually doesn't take long. How long have you had it up for sale?

 

[Philip_G]

3 weeks or so. I'm the least expensive in the paper by well over a grand. I think it might be sold, we'll see if he comes through with financing.

 

[Micheal]

Good luck!