trebor8915

Hey guys,

Need some advice. Thinking of trading my car in. It's a 2002 sebring silver with red interior and 89,000 miles. Very good condition minus a tear in the top. Just did a full round of fluid changes and the car has no problems.

Mods: It has mulderized ap1 headlights, from lip (oem style), professionaly painted black wheels, new pirelli tires on the back, tinited tailights, invidia n1 dual 70mm exhaust, berk test pipe with o2 fix, couple badges removed and added. Also just picked up MUZ floormats in good condition.

Custom sound system: alpine ida-x305, alpine type-s speakers with separate tweeters mounted in the correct location. Custom mounted 5inch kicker speakers behind the seats, a 4 channel polk audi amp drives all of it.

Question is what's it worth? KBB puts it around $11,000 or so private party value stock. Trade in however is around $9,000 and dealerships don't like cars this old, that many miles, and when the top has a tear. I have an offer of $8000 for the car but I could probably get them to take care of my payoff amount which was quoted to me at $9,500. I can put stock wheels, exhaust, headlights, and head unit back in. Just depends what dealer wants.

So what should I do? What I'm looking to buy is not the issue here as I'll drive that price down on it's own. I'm no stranger to buying cars. The issue is should I try to sell privately or trade it in to make things easier on me and that's attractive to dealerships? And if I do trade it in what's the lowest I should take? My payoff at the very least and I would put it into stock specs as well.

Reason for selling is for somewhat personal reasons.

Thanks in advance!

Reckon

If you go dealer, then putting it back as close to stock would be your best bet for the best trade in price (they usually go by black book or auction pricing). Sell your mods (those you don't want or can't keep) on this site and swap in the stock pieces where you can (and you will make some money on top).

I'd try to sell it private party first as someone will probably like and want those mods, making it less work for you. Dealers tend to give you the lowest amount possible, even with cars that sell quickly like the S does.

AngryTurtle

you owe 9500 on a 2002 with 89k.



Do whatever you can to get out form under it.

llckll

Sell it as close to stock as possible. Then you can sell the mods individually for more on top as Reckon stated. My biggest concern is the tear on the soft top. If I were a buyer and the first thing I read was a tear in the top, I would move on.

trebor8915

Thanks guys. I definitely am leaning towards selling it privately. The dealership just isn't going to give me enough. I bought the car for $12,000 from a dealership about a year and a half ago. It only had about 67,000 miles I think. I do a lot of long distances...hence the 90,000 miles. I have the material, silicone, and thread to fix the top.. I just don't know how to sew

CKit

The other thing to consider is the tax credit on trade in can be significant.

JLUDE

You always get screwed when you do a trade in...if they aren't going to make anything when they wholesale your trade in then they will add it in somewhere else plus you will get 10-50% less for your car than you could if you sold it privately.

No matter what, put it back to stock as close as possible and ebay/craigslist the aftermarket parts. Aftermarket parts do little to add value to a private sale and they actually turn a lot of potential buyers away. Aftermarket parts add nothing to add value on a trade in.

Woodson

Even if selling privately imo.

S2K-DJ

That tear in the top will be a big concern for private buyers. I'd at least swap the parts back, andgo to dealer and work out some numbers and see what happens. It can't hurt to try. Good luck!!

trebor8915

Thanks for the responses. I've been out of town for the past week or so. I'm going to hold on to it till the end of the semester then reevaluate the situation at the beginning of summer. Want to make it to the dragon before I get rid of it... if I do