Light Duty Truck - SOLD

The truck has been sold remarkably faster than I expected. Within 3 hours of listing on Craig’s List for $2000, I had $1800 cash in hand which was deposited in the bank this morning. The book value of the vehicle in good condition was $2000 and in excellent condition $2300.

While I may have been able to get more, I was more than willing to take less. I was hoping to get $1500 which would cover the cost of recent repairs and the new tires last winter along with a little left over to put a new stereo in the Mustang. I was also willing to leave it on the market for 4 to 6 weeks taking phone calls and showing the vehicle. I was even willing to pay for an ad in the newspaper and Autotrader.com. Fortunately it did not come to that.

I did learn a few things about inspecting vehicles. Everybody looked under the hood. Items to look for include condition of the belts, the oil color and quantity, the oil fill for signs of water leaking into the engine. Some folks smelled the exhaust to look for signs of the vehicle burning oil. Beyond that everybody wanted to take a test drive and would get the vehicle through all of the gears. The S-10 has been well maintained and passed the various tests with flying colors. The eventual buyer did compare the title VIN to the vehicle VIN and requested the most recent emissions test data.

I also learned a few things about Craig’s List consumers. I had several inquiries as to whether I would take $1200 via e-mail or $1500 on the phone. Also people are not quite sure what to ask about how it runs. I guess I would be the same way. People are willing to come by and look and usually have cash on hand.

I believe this price range is a good used car price range. The $3000 and up range is more than people usually have cash on hand and will often opt to just make payments on a new or newer used car. In the $1000 and under range the vehicles tend to be either running poorly, not running or in need of major repairs. The $1500-$2500 is the sweet spot for reliable cars that will last at least a couple of years without incident.