How It Pays to Keep Your Car Looking Great and Why!

Beemerboy

Beemerboy

Just One More Coat
Over the holidays we picked up a 2013 Ford Focus for our son. He was driving our old DD car, a 1996 Toyota Camry..This car has been in the family since it was purchased by my in laws. We inherited it about eight years ago after my FIL passed away. (RIP Rene)

The car has been taken care of inside and out and every mechanical problem has always been addressed.

I listed the car on Craigslist, I had only two calls on it..( this was over the Christmas holidays not the best timing for car sales) The second caller really wanted the car just based on the pics I posted in the ad...They drove 1.5 hours to see the car..After a pretty extensive inspection and lots of questions..I said the proof of this car is in driving it..They came back about 20 minutes later, and paid me my asking price without hesitation.

The guy told me that this was hands down the cleanest car for it's year that they had looked at in the last six months.

I rest my case that taking care of your rides pays you back in the end
 

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Beemerboy- Glad it worked out so well, both for you and the buyer. Yes indeed, that sure *does* look nice and having it so presentable undoubtedly helped the buyer believe you when you said it was taken care of since new and OK mechanically.
 
Awesome! I helped my dad sell his last car by giving it a full detail before posting the ad on Cars.com for him. The couple who bought it said "it's nice to meet people who actually take care of their vehicles" - apparently they'd seen a lot of high priced beaters...
 
I believe you're going to miss that Camry every time you do your own oil change. That car is, by far, one of the most easiest cars to work on. You could change the oil, serp belt, alt, and upper rad hose in the time it takes to change brake pads on some vehicles.
 
That is great, I had a 93 Celica and was annoyed when people use to say have you had it repainted? (original paint, white single stage and just polished and wax from new, no glaze or paint treatments in 93)
 
Very true about everything you said. You have no idea how many different security guards have asked me to buy my 99 Grand Prix. One guy even asked me who keeps it clean and who keeps it running. That guy was surprised when I told him I do everything on this car.
 
Is the paint in perfect condition? How exactly did you keep it from peeling? I had a Camry of the same year and the paint was peeling like crazy.

Also how much did you sell it for if you don't mind me asking? A car of that quality demands a high selling price. ;)
 
markhedder said:
Is the paint in perfect condition? How exactly did you keep it from peeling? I had a Camry of the same year and the paint was peeling like crazy.

Also how much did you sell it for if you don't mind me asking? A car of that quality demands a high selling price. ;)
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Mark, This car has been garaged from day one, that I think helped with keeping the paint in good condition. My FIL didn't do that much to the paint other than get it waxed or when I could do it for them. Once we got the car it had a full detail twice a year and was cleaned every week and waxed once a month. I do see a lot of Camrys in this year with paint issues, it's all in the on going maintenance IMO. I asked $3000 for the car and got it with no problem, that was on the top end for it's year and mileage (just under 200K) very low for that year. But I wanted to sell the car quickly and not have to talk with a bunch of people and tire kickers on Craigslist if you know what I mean
 
Angus said:
Awesome! I helped my dad sell his last car by giving it a full detail before posting the ad on Cars.com for him. The couple who bought it said "it's nice to meet people who actually take care of their vehicles" - apparently they'd seen a lot of high priced beaters...
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Funny you posted this, I did a detail on my BIL car that he was going to sell..I went all out on the car to make it as perfect as possible. I charged him 275 bucks which was below what I would have asked for anyone other than family. He kind of balked at the price. The car was listed on a consignment lot, he got a call from the dealer on his way back home from delivering the car to the lot. It was sold at top dollar in under two hours..That's when he called me and thanked me for helping get it sold so quickly..I've had that happen with many other cars that I've done selling details
 
AndrewBigA said:
looks great. you might miss the car when its gone! ;)
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I really didn't want to sell the car but we do not need four cars with only three drivers in the house. I think that car served it's purpose for our family and it's time to move on..Thanks
 
markhedder said:
At double the market value, you got yourself a good deal. Gotta love camrys! :bigups
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I know *nothing* about the market value of Camrys, was it *that* good a selling price? If so, that flies in the face of my usual opinion that a well-detailed car might sell *faster* but not for more money
 
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