Seeking Advice On Where to Automobiles For Sale By Owner

[Grunt67]

I've used LSN, it's based in Cookeville. Sold my Mustang there.

Used truck prices are thru the roof.

[Ronald_55]

3 hours ago, peejman said:

Exactly. A used car a couple a couple years old costs nearly the same as a new car these days. If you're at the point of making payments anyway, may as well get a new one. 

Same thing happened when we got my wife's 2012 Prius. One out of warranty and 3 years old was only $2k less than brand new. Plus we could pick what we wanted on the new one. Made no sense to not go new. Rates were lower on new too. 

[gregintenn]

My kid has been looking for a used car and has determined that the prices are crazy right now.

[A.J. Holst]

33 minutes ago, Ronald_55 said:

Same thing happened when we got my wife's 2012 Prius. One out of warranty and 3 years old was only $2k less than brand new. Plus we could pick what we wanted on the new one. Made no sense to not go new. Rates were lower on new too. 

As I've mentioned, I've got some history with auto retail and financing.

Go back to 06 - 07, rebates were so strong in an environment with low / favorable rate for prime buyers and low cost of funds to take more risk (extend more credit) to less than prime buyers.

Eliminate millions of units through case for clunkers or in this case, major disruption of supply stream, and we have a similar situation.

When the buyer then wants a particular color, trim package, etc, the good low mileage CARS, are base, undesirable models with limited equipment.

[Ronald_55]

1 minute ago, A.J. Holst said:

Eliminate millions of units through case for clunkers or in this case, major disruption of supply stream, and we have a similar situation.

 

That Cash for Clunkers always pissed me off. Not because they gave people cash, but because the "clunkers" has to  be rendered inoperable by something like putting liquid glass in the engine and running it a few minutes to destroy the engine. Then they had to be crushed. Lots and lots of good spare parts went down the tube. Now try finding a decent size junk yard with a large stock of anything in the last 20 years is a wild goose chase. 

On top of that a lot of the "clunkers" that ended up coming in were not the low gas mileage units they wanted off the road. Or they were running just enough to get on the lot instead of to the scrap yard. Basically the program did little except to give the car industry sales and feed the steel scrap to China. 

[Erich]

 I found it hard to believe that a place is paying more than new for 2017 Tacoma. Turns out I have exactly that and went to test. Its 17 Tacoma TRD sport 4x4 loaded to the gills with only 10k miles on it.

After plugging it into Carvana, and as of today it is no where near new price in this area, so the generalization does not appear to hold. Its about what KBB was on it last year. Not sure where the reports are coming from, but its either BS or it was an anomaly from an overpopulated high cost of living metro area with zero cars to sell. Chattanooga gave it a 2k hit on the price....apparently no one wants them here.

[gregintenn]

1 hour ago, Erich said:

 I found it hard to believe that a place is paying more than new for 2017 Tacoma. Turns out I have exactly that and went to test. Its 17 Tacoma TRD sport 4x4 loaded to the gills with only 10k miles on it.

After plugging it into Carvana, and as of today it is no where near new price in this area, so the generalization does not appear to hold. Its about what KBB was on it last year. Not sure where the reports are coming from, but its either BS or it was an anomaly from an overpopulated high cost of living metro area with zero cars to sell. Chattanooga gave it a 2k hit on the price....apparently no one wants them here.

Whadda ya take fer it?

[Erich]

Not selling it,  just wanted to check the notion of used cars selling over original price.  

Maybe ammo.... not Toyotas

 

[Ronald_55]

15 hours ago, Erich said:

Not selling it,  just wanted to check the notion of used cars selling over original price.  

Maybe ammo.... not Toyotas

 

I've got 1k rounds of .223 I would give you for it. Sounds like a good deal, right? 

[hipower]

18 hours ago, Ronald_55 said:

That Cash for Clunkers always pissed me off. Not because they gave people cash, but because the "clunkers" has to  be rendered inoperable by something like putting liquid glass in the engine and running it a few minutes to destroy the engine. Then they had to be crushed. Lots and lots of good spare parts went down the tube. Now try finding a decent size junk yard with a large stock of anything in the last 20 years is a wild goose chase. 

On top of that a lot of the "clunkers" that ended up coming in were not the low gas mileage units they wanted off the road. Or they were running just enough to get on the lot instead of to the scrap yard. Basically the program did little except to give the car industry sales and feed the steel scrap to China. 

At that time, I worked for Keystone Automotive as a Sales Rep. I saw that and more.

The motives behind the movement were questionable at best. Good late model cars that were barely inside the criteria were traded in and destroyed. Dealers thought it would be a gold mine for them. Turned out that the sales of new vehicles actually fell for a bit, and the available supply of used cars for resales dried up quickly. That left them hurting. A good percentage of  dealership sales in $$ comes from trades and resale of those trades.

So when the good dependable used cars were gone, many couldn't afford the rising prices of new vehicles. The older cars were being kept longer, again, so sales numbers dropped.

That was almost 20 years ago, don't offhand remember the exact year. The effects are still being felt on that.

[gregintenn]

35 minutes ago, Ronald_55 said:

I've got 1k rounds of .223 I would give you for it. Sounds like a good deal, right? 

I’ve got a case of 556, and I’ll raise you a case of 7.62x39 AND a case of 9mm!

[Grayfox54]

1 hour ago, hipower said:

The older cars were being kept longer,

Yep, I have a 2003 F-150 and a 2004 Grand Marquis. Both are in very good to excellent condition because I take good care of them. Both fit my needs perfectly.  Frankly, I don't care much for the newer vehicles. Way too much electronic BS that's just waiting to break and damned expensive to fix. 

Two years ago the truck had a head go bad. I seriously considered either selling or trading it as it would be an expensive fix. Got to looking at newer trucks and didn't care much for them. So I sold a few guns and fixed my truck. 

I'm gonna drive these two until the wheels fall off. And then I'm gonna slap 'em back on and drive 'em some more.  

[Erik88]

19 hours ago, Erich said:

 I found it hard to believe that a place is paying more than new for 2017 Tacoma. Turns out I have exactly that and went to test. Its 17 Tacoma TRD sport 4x4 loaded to the gills with only 10k miles on it.

After plugging it into Carvana, and as of today it is no where near new price in this area, so the generalization does not appear to hold. Its about what KBB was on it last year. Not sure where the reports are coming from, but its either BS or it was an anomaly from an overpopulated high cost of living metro area with zero cars to sell. Chattanooga gave it a 2k hit on the price....apparently no one wants them here.

I think it must depend on the region. The rumor was that 20% of Toyota dealerships have zero Tacomas on the lot. I doubt the guys were lying about the Carvana offers but who knows. I spoke to one guy in Knoxville that traded in his Tacoma on a new 4Runner and he said the amount they offered him for his truck was ridiculous.

I put my 2002 Tundra into Carvana and they only offered me $2k  I've put $3k into the suspension alone.

 

 

[Chucktshoes]

29 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

I think it must depend on the region. The rumor was that 20% of Toyota dealerships have zero Tacomas on the lot. I doubt the guys were lying about the Carvana offers but who knows. I spoke to one guy in Knoxville that traded in his Tacoma on a new 4Runner and he said the amount they offered him for his truck was ridiculous.

I put my 2002 Tundra into Carvana and they only offered me $2k  I've put $3k into the suspension alone.

 

 

Sounds like a good reason to keep it. There’s a hard truth so many folks never seem to understand. (Not saying that’s you.) Aftermarket upgrades to vehicles like engine or suspension mods result in near zero ROI when you go to sell the vehicle. If you’re handy with a wrench it’s almost always a better idea to return the vehicle to stock and sell the parts to someone who is actually looking for them. 

[Ronald_55]

52 minutes ago, Chucktshoes said:

Aftermarket upgrades to vehicles like engine or suspension mods result in near zero ROI when you go to sell the vehicle. If you’re handy with a wrench it’s almost always a better idea to return the vehicle to stock and sell the parts to someone who is actually looking for them. 

Met a lot of people who don't understand that. Looked at a cheap car once where the guy wanted to slap $1500 extra on a $3000 car because of the stereo he had installed. 

In fact sometimes, I would pay LESS for something with 'upgrades' because I have no idea if they were installed right or maybe in order to cover up issues.Kinda like the guys used to use diamond plate to cover all the rust on jeeps. 

[gregintenn]

1 hour ago, Chucktshoes said:

Sounds like a good reason to keep it. There’s a hard truth so many folks never seem to understand. (Not saying that’s you.) Aftermarket upgrades to vehicles like engine or suspension mods result in near zero ROI when you go to sell the vehicle. If you’re handy with a wrench it’s almost always a better idea to return the vehicle to stock and sell the parts to someone who is actually looking for them. 

This type thing mostly devalues a vehicle. If I see a wad of wires hanging from under the dash or a lift kit, I’m out. BubbA ain’t likely to improve upon the performance designed by actual mechanical engineers.

[nightrunner]

1 hour ago, Ronald_55 said:

Met a lot of people who don't understand that. Looked at a cheap car once where the guy wanted to slap $1500 extra on a $3000 car because of the stereo he had installed. 

In fact sometimes, I would pay LESS for something with 'upgrades' because I have no idea if they were installed right or maybe in order to cover up issues.Kinda like the guys used to use diamond plate to cover all the rust on jeeps. 

When I was in high school when all the kids wanted a Honda Civic, there was a shop in town that was known for buying wrecked import cars slapping on a body kit, cheap paint, decals, cheap rims, and selling for a premium. And to the kids that wanted that kind of car, they sold like hot cakes.

[Erik88]

2 hours ago, Chucktshoes said:

Sounds like a good reason to keep it. There’s a hard truth so many folks never seem to understand. (Not saying that’s you.) Aftermarket upgrades to vehicles like engine or suspension mods result in near zero ROI when you go to sell the vehicle. If you’re handy with a wrench it’s almost always a better idea to return the vehicle to stock and sell the parts to someone who is actually looking for them. 

Oh I completely agree. I'm not exaggerating when I say I plan to keep this truck forever. I've spent over $10k building it to my specifications. I had no intentions of selling to Carvana. I just wanted to see what they offered. 

 

Obligatory truck pics. 

 

 

[Chucktshoes]

I really dig that. 

[Garufa]

3 hours ago, Ronald_55 said:

Met a lot of people who don't understand that. Looked at a cheap car once where the guy wanted to slap $1500 extra on a $3000 car because of the stereo he had installed. 

In fact sometimes, I would pay LESS for something with 'upgrades' because I have no idea if they were installed right or maybe in order to cover up issues.Kinda like the guys used to use diamond plate to cover all the rust on jeeps. 

The same applies to guns IMHO.

[Chucktshoes]

9 minutes ago, Garufa said:

The same applies to guns IMHO.

Yuuuup. 

[Erich]

10 hours ago, Erik88 said:

I think it must depend on the region.

I am fully onboard with that. I would be more of the mind that this tale grew as it was passed on. It was easy enough to test anyway. 

FWIW, I ran a zip in Knoxville and my old zip in CA (waaaaay overpriced area) just out of curiosity. All within $300 of this area, with all taking around 2k deductions. The thing that pops to me is the offers are under trade value. That suggests they don't really want them over a traditional dealer. The retail price is higher at 35k vs the 32k retail was last year.  Stands to reason one would do better on a trade these days. 

But the rumors of being handed a bag of cash and a new car....have em tell me where, I'm ready to go for a drive!  Heck, as long as its not Hawaii, it'd totally be worth it. My new car smells is almost gone. Its sad.

 

[jgradyc]

I'm in the market for an RV and/or a truck to tow a travel trailer. Travel trailers have been non-existent for weeks, but since Sept 1 a few people are selling ahead of the upcoming winter. I'm pretty sure I can find either at TT or a small motorhome home this fall.

But I'm stunned by the price of trucks. I could buy a BMW for the price of a pickup! Another problem is that it's hard to tell if a truck has enough towing capacity. If I wind up buying a travel trailer, it will probably weigh 6,000 pounds dry. I'll need a pickup with at least 9,000 pounds towing capacity to have an adequate cushion. Maybe it's easier on new trucks, but in the 2010-2015 models I've been looking at require checking for a tow package and checking for the axle ratio. That's a pain.

I've only paid more than $7,000 for a vehicle a couple of times in my life and never more than $10,000. Paying $50,000+ for a new pickup seems outrageous to me.

Edited September 21, 2020 by jgradyc

[jgradyc]

I have a buddy trading in his 2011 Dodge Ram Longhorn Hemi 4x4 with 87,000 miles. The dealer is giving him $18,000 in trade in. That sounds a bit high to me, but then the dealer might not be giving him a break on MSRP. He's offered it to me for $20,000... not exactly a great deal. I'm thinking about buying it just to get the hunt for a pickup over with. I don't like pickups anyway. I just need it to tow the travel trailer.

 

Edited September 21, 2020 by jgradyc

[gregintenn]

6 minutes ago, jgradyc said:

I'm in the market for an RV and/or a truck to tow a travel trailer. Travel trailers have been non-existent for weeks, but since Sept 1 a few people are selling ahead of the upcoming winter. I'm pretty sure I can find either at TT or a small motorhome home this fall.

But I'm stunned by the price of trucks. I could buy a BMW for the price of a pickup! Another problem is that it's hard to tell if a truck has enough towing capacity. If I wind up buying a travel trailer, it will probably weigh 6,000 pounds dry. I'll need a pickup with at least 9,000 pounds towing capacity to have an adequate cushion. Maybe it's easier on new trucks, but in the 2010-2015 models I've been looking at require checking for a tow package and checking for the axle ratio. That's a pain.

I've only paid more than $7,000 for a vehicle a couple of times in my life and never more than $10,000. Paying $50,000+ for a new pickup seems outrageous to me.

Add that to the cost of a decent camper! My wife and I decided we can rent a bunch of condos!