What's my 300A worth?

[hidperf]

Thanks to our wonderful economy, my bank closed my HELOC right in the middle of a MAJOR house rehab. So, I'll be putting my 300A up for sale soon. But I have no idea what it's worth in this market right now. Any ideas?

2003 300A black w/ black interior
15k miles
6 disc changer
trunk organizer
20% tint all around with sunshade
Eibach springs
Addco front and rear bars
K&N intake
SCT tune by Lidio
4.10 with FRPP Rear end cover & royal purple fluid
Poly snubbers on rear arms
6k HID B-Xenon headlamps (not installed yet)
6k HID fog lamps (not installed yet)
Covercraft Evolution 4 custom fit car cover
100K mile extended warranty although I'm checking now to see if it's transferable. I think it is, but not positive.

This car is CLEAN! I've only put 4k miles on it since I've owned and the previous owner only put 2k on it. The only time it's been driven in the rain is if I happened to get caught in it, except for one local meet. C'mon, you can't show up to a Marauder meet and NOT drive a Marauder:D

I have a feeling I'm going to take a HUGE hit on it as KBB says it's worth 15,455 and Edmunds says 13,846. :depress:

[OneBADLsE]

Whatever someones willing to pay these days, My honest opinion

[justbob]

Carmax recently had two of the same as yours one with 80,000 miles for $19,000 and one with 65,000 for $19,999 and they were sold in less than a week. The following week i went in to talk trade and the commi bastards offered me $13,000 and mine had 43,000! All i can say is advertise it heavily and the right person will come and if i were you i would hold out for atleast $18,000 with your mileage or more. Plus there is always a stronger market for stock because the average joe wants piece of mind that it has'nt been beat on.

[Iowa Rick]

I just bought mine w/37K for $15,000 and all it needed was 2 new rear tires. I think I paid more than I should have but I wanted it. When we had the oil embargo in the 70s you could hardly give a big car away. If I had not bought mine I'd have given you $16,000, possibly more except you have done some mods. I personally would not want the 4:10 gears as I want a highway cruiser, but it would be offset to me by the 100k extended warranty if it is transferable. Just my thoughts. Rick

[BUCKWHEAT]

Thanks to our wonderful economy, my bank closed my HELOC right in the middle of a MAJOR house rehab. :

What bank? Maybe we can get them to reconsider, or perhaps find another bank. Do they really have the contract right to cancel you like that? My guess is probably so, the stinkin' baxxtards. I have used First Nat'l Bank in St. Louis & they advertise for HELOC;s. With you doing the improvements, the value should be going up, not down. Perhaps your bank got the word from their auditors that they had too much HELOC exposure and you are only one victim out of many.

FNB & Truman Bank are two locals that might smile on you. The S&L's and Credit Unions also make those loans.

Hate to see you have to send the MM down the road. It is a nice MM, tho. Someone would be lucky to have it.

[MichaelGarmon]

Just to give you a price range, I just bought my 300A 03 with 28k on it from a dealer for 15,900. I had to talk them down from 19k. I imagine they bought it from a customer for about 13,500. It was very clean inside and out. I think the market is warranting between 14,500 and 17,500 for an 03 300a. There isn't a huge market for it, but that also means there aren't very many available for sale. Goodluck selling it, though.

[tigerbait]

I am very interested. Please let me know when/if you decide a price. Thanks.

[hidperf]

What bank? Maybe we can get them to reconsider, or perhaps find another bank.

National City. I talked to them right after I got the letter and explained the situation and they told me if I provided detailed, written proof and invoices on what I've done and detailed, written bids on what I plan on doing they MIGHT consider opening the account again. Less than a week later I get another letter telling me the account has been closed. This time when I called them, they told me it cannot and will not be reopened.


Do they really have the contract right to cancel you like that? My guess is probably so, the stinkin' baxxtards.

Yes, unfortunately they do.


Perhaps your bank got the word from their auditors that they had too much HELOC exposure and you are only one victim out of many.

This is exactly what happened. It's been going on all over the country and not just National City.


FNB & Truman Bank are two locals that might smile on you. The S&L's and Credit Unions also make those loans.

Hate to see you have to send the MM down the road. It is a nice MM, tho. Someone would be lucky to have it.

I'm going to try other banks but because I already had checks written against the account for materials I need to continue work, I had to drain my personal account to cover the returned checks. Now I need to eliminate as mutch debt as possible to even get considered for a loan.

I don't want to sell it either since it was actually a retirement gift for my dad next year. The plan was to boost it and upgrade a few more things before then. I feel bad since he was looking forward to the car. :(

[hidperf]

I am very interested. Please let me know when/if you decide a price. Thanks.

I will let you know. It might be as soon as next week.

[J D]

I paid a little under 18K for my clean 300A a couple months ago with 27K on the clock. could have argued down, but it was a pretty rock solid price for both of us. Gotta love privately run dealers.

[Professor]

The bad news is that they are really only worth about $3000 these days with gas prices and all. The good news is that I can pay you that in cash today. :D

[JimmyXR7]

The Dealer really does 3 things.
Detail the car, inside and out, so it looks like new.
Fresh wax. (people buy looks)
Have financing options available.
Appear to stand by their cars, but in reality, if there is not a written warranty - tough luck!
The financing option is tough for a private sell as the buyer has to come up with $15K in cash or obtain his own financing.
Jim

[Aren Jay]

First don't sell it at a dealership.

if you need someone to sell it for you look up your local commission sales centres.

Get one that offers financing to the buyer and carries their own insurance for the seller's vehicle.

Then you play up the rarity and low mileage in your sales ad. Make the price negociatable but also make sure you present the idea that multiple people want it. Say offers over $15K, or some such thing. You can always bring the price down, but going up is a big red flag to everyone.

Maybe say offers over $18K, then adjust down until it sells.

Unlike houses, cars do not benefit from upgrades.

Detail the car inside and out. (twice)

Make it car show shiny! And very clean inside.
Make it automotive (mechanically) complete, have it inspected, at a local inspection station with a written report. If you have emission standards where you live have a new emission report / certificate issued for it.

Do your homework.
Be professional.

Have a carfax and oasis report showing your car is not a lemon people keep for 3000 miles then get rid of, even if it is true. Make it look like it isn't a lemon.

As for Dealers, around here anyway.

They do not detail cars. Not until you buy and then they charge the buyer a book or dealer fee.

They do a minimal inspection on the car. Visually it appears to be fine. someone who works there does it in their spare time. It costs them nothing.

The will not change tires unless it is absolutely necessary. They will tell you how they have to change the tires when you sell, it is a way to drop the price.

The market value of the car is $5000 more than what they will offer you. They will flip a book open and flash a number at you saying this is black book value, they can't pay anymore. Then they turn around and put their other face on when a buyer comes in.

They are like cops. Do not trust them. They are not your friend.

If you do sell to a dealer, be prepared, be firm and do not negociate down in price from what you set. If they want to go down, you go up. They will either say no, never going to happen, in the end, or they will quickly agree to the former lower price. They know they can make money, and they want every last cent they can get.

Walk away/ drive away.

It is great when they see you come in, call a buyer and say they have a Marauder coming in, and it has very low miles on it, etc... They lowball you and you walk away, they will chase you. You have a rare car in prestine condition. Make them chase you. Then raise your price and get what you want.

The price that your car is worth, is market value. You can find out what they are going for, autotrader or Vast or other sites, type in your car. See what come up nationally, or internationally.

$15K is hard for a local to come up with, but not hard for a buyer to come up with. I bought my car from a place 600 miles away, sight unseen for $27K cash. While I might have a problem, buying from a local for that, maybe, over the internet, on the phone etc... it can be done. Buys, money in hand, are waiting to buy your car.

List it on autotrader, or vast or your favourite site.

Finally you could auction your car. Either an auction in person or Ebay.

Just remember their are costs but you will not be taken by a stealership. And you can set a limit.

Stealerships do not buy warranties, they sell them. It makes no difference if you have a warranty on your car when you sell to a dealership. It makes all the difference when you buy from them.

And if you ever go to a dealership to buy a car, tell them you are there to sell your current car first. Then you will find out what kind of place you are dealing with. And if you are not there to sell your car, don't sell it to them, but you will find out if they are a nice place to do business with. And don't say you want to trade in. Say you just want to sell, their real face will come out, really quick.

Remember if they say no. Shake their hand and walk away.

Autotrader turned these up.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/searchresults.jsp?num_records= 25&search_lang=en&page_location=findacar%3A%3Ais psearchform&search_type=both&distance=0&address=90210&marketZipError=false&style_flag=1&make=MERC&model=MARAUDER&make2=&start_year=2003&end_year=2003&min_price=&max_price=&transmission=&engine=&drive=&doors=&fuel=&max_mileage=15000&color=BLACK&color2=&keywordsrep=&keywordsfyc=&keywords_display=&sort_type=priceDESC&body_code=0&certified=&advanced=y&default_sort=priceDESC&awsp=false&keywordsrep=&keywordsfyc=&systime=

17K private sale to 27K private sale (turbo).

25K from a dealership. ( i bet he paid less than 20K for it, even with 6K on it).

for a Price, factor in a 10% reduction, cash, off the top. Do so and it will be no problem to sell your car.

If you walk away let the dealership have your phone number ahead of time. With a buyer on the line, they will want your car enough to pay more for it.