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Had an offer on my car. What is it worth?

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car offer worth
3K views 26 replies 11 participants last post by  maxeymum 
#1 ·
I had a mover loading a truck across the street approach me asking if my Passat was for sale. I said it would be, but I wanted to do some work before selling. It needs the lower fender harness swapped to get the electric fan to work, a headliner replacement, door cards recovered and the rear diff mount replaced (I have the part). It might need a cat, as it has a CEL after I installed an O2 spacer. The sunroof has not been wired as the donor car did not have one and I don't use it. The hood clear coat is fading, maybe peeling. There are the normal door dings and small dents on the driver's side roof rail mounts. There is no rust at all, apart from 2 rock chips in the hood. Tint is peeling on 1 side window.

The engine has no more than 100K and is a stock 150hp AUG. The head, oil pump and alternator have 20K, the K03S has 80K, the body has 182K, the 6sp has 140K. It has a small vibration starting at 50-55 up to 70mph and I suspect the poly diff mount. Konis with coilover sleeves front and back along with H+R Race springs from an A6Q wagon. Front axles have 20K, R8 coils, new lower arms, rebuilt center propshaft, fairly new and laminx-ed Depo projectors and HID. The timing belt, PCV, plugs, Aluminum coolant flange and billet oil dipstick and tube were all replaced within the last 20K. Tires have 4-5K on them,205/55/16 RE980AS.

I was offered $3K as is, but he does not know about the CEL (which I would fix if it does not require swapping the cat) or the harness (which I would replace if he wants) or the vibration (which I would replace the mount). What do you think? I had planned on fixing the listed issue before selling, but I don't know what I would get for the car. It seems like he can work on cars a bit and likes VWs. I don't know if I would make more parting it out and it would be a hassle.
 
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#2 ·
I have/had a somewhat simular situation.
When I purchased a 2001 GLS Passat for my wife's first Passat, that car turned out to be a major dud. But it did have a bunch of usable parts on it. I stripped that car down till there was nothing left of it. I had all the parts sitting on a wall of shelves, and there they sat for years. I was only able to sell a few items.
Yeah all the stuff is worth something, way more than what the car was worth, especially now-a-days, but you have to sit and wait for that one person who is looking for what you've got. I got so tired of all the space being tied up I junked most of it just to gain my space back.
It'll probably take years to part out a whole car.

Me personally, if doesn't break my back do the little extra work like you explain, I would just go ahead and finish it off and try to ask for a couple extra bucks.
Based on the prices I've seen on Passat's the last couple of weeks, $3k seems just a bit low. I personally think your car would be worth a bit more, but on the other hand, maybe having this guy hand over 3 large would be kind of a blessing in disguise.
Less work for you and the space you gain.
You just gotta ask yourself Paul, what's it all worth to you and what is it your really after.

As for me, I'm so tired of driving my 1998 GLS in the condition it's in and having no place to really wrench on the thing to get it to where I really want it, I'm willing to dole out thousands more than I ever would have before just so I can get a decent looking car that doesn't need $2k worth of work before I can drive it down the road.
 
#4 ·
If he is still willing to pay $3k after you tell him all the issues I'd take it. I've never regretted selling a car that I've had for a long time and have put tons of work into. On the one hand, thinking of all the goodies on the car make it seem like it could be worth more but once it's gone and you have the space in your driveway....that's priceless. My mantra is becoming 'not my car - not my problem'. Or in the words of Thoreau, 'simplify, simplify'.

GLWS in any case. I'm sure whoever ends up with the car will be a lucky driver and it sounds like this guy will probably appreciate it more than most.
 
#6 ·
I think I will call him next week and see what he wants. I do have a 034 HFC and the full TT dual exhaust sitting on the shelf and the exhaust would be tough sell (not many 1.8T 4Mo) and tough to ship due to it's size and weight.

I forgot the car also has the A8 brake upgrade and I changed the heater core when I did the swap (20K).
 
#9 ·
I'm guessing Paul, you've got at least a $4k car there. After all the pricing I've seen on these cars lately, I'll admit they're not Audi's but the price of the Passat is holding it's own. I did see a 2004 GLX 4motion going for $8k the other day. I think that's a bit ridiculous but like I said, our cars are holding value in the $3k to $5k range all day long.
 
#12 ·
It's hard to price as they never built one from the factory and the mileage on the body is higher. I have a lot of money in the mods over the years, but that would only be worth an extra 25% in the car. The torn interior cloth kind of kills the price, as it just does not present well.
 
#20 ·
Sadly for those of us who like modifying our cars, is the fact that a buyer for that modded car is harder to find. Stock, clean, and automatic is what the majority of car buyers out there want. My friend had a Subi WRX Sti with all kinds of suspension and engine modifications. He couldn't find a buyer willing to pay even the going rate for a stock WRX, as most were dubious about how hard the car had been driven. He eventually gave up and traded it in for a new Ford Flex, and naturally received way less on trade than what he'd put into it.
 
#13 ·
#14 ·
I can find entire new seats in leather or cloth at the local yards for $45 each. Leather might be a bit more but not much.....still, that's a bunch of trips to the junkyards since there are not always decent seats available. Often you will see pristine seats with some greasy engine parts lying on top of them :rolleyes: But the headliner and all the rest - that's a lot of work. It's a great deal for the right person and if I didn't already have 2 wagons I'd be interested but it all depends on how much more work you want to do on it.
 
#15 ·
Mechanically, it's nearly set and it is 4mo, so it can go anywhere up there. If you are interested, send me a pm and we can talk.
 
#16 ·
PZ - I'm in a similar boat. I took my car off the road about a year ago since the nagging issues were adding up, and I had zero time to address them (new baby).

A friend is chomping at the bit pretty hard to get my car and I've been struggling to get a good value. The numbers I get back from Edmunds and KBB are laughably low...no way my car is worth $1000 in very good-to-excellent condition even with 140,000 miles. A previous thread I posted had many guys stating it could be a $4000-5000 car, especially considering the unique configuration, but I needed to post pics.

So I would say that $3000 is probably close to reasonable. With everything fixed and a good cleaning/wax, maybe you could get a bit more.
 
#17 ·
Yeah, I hate to think how much I have put into this car starting with the swap. If I knew I would only need it for 4 years, I would not have bothered.
 
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#18 ·
I called him and he asked if I wanted cash or would take payments. Of course, cash only. He asked for pics, so I sent an email with pics and the extensive mod list. I also sent a text to confirm that I sent an Email, all I got back was "Just got back, I am burnt" on the 7th and nothing since. Does not look promising.

In the meantime, I started working on it. I scanned it a few days ago, another bad CTS, reading 147C before starting. Also had an intermittent rear O2 sensor (it has a spacer due to the bad cat). Cleared them and only the CTS code came back after a short drive.

Changed the CTS Friday and I also swapped in a new OEM rubber rear diff mount instead of the poly. While I had the back of the exhaust dropped, I put the 1BE rear sway bar back after I removed the RS6 bar. Vibration from 50-75 is gone, car is much smoother. Just some normal vibration in the shifter, probably due to 034 trans mounts. Car still handles great, the RS6 bar had the back end sliding if I hit the brakes in a hard turn. Car is still a blast to drive, even with the stock 150hp. It's like a larger GTI, very tossable with a good ride.

If I could convince my wife to sell her Golf while she drives the Tiguan, I would be happy to keep my Passat.
 
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#21 ·
He actually likes modified cars and has a modified Jetta and Civic. I don't expect anyone local would buy it because of the mods. If it does not sell for a fair price when I finally list it, I could always part it out for about the same money. I would prefer to keep it instead of doing that.
 
#24 ·
I don't know that BAT would even accept something like this. Maybe once I fix interior issue, but they would want a low to no reserve as it's not likely to be an in demand car. When I get the interior finished, I will probably list it officially for sale on several sites, unless I love the new look and decide to keep it :)
 
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#25 ·
Hey Paul - was just told on Facebook you're selling the Passat. Not that I need to buy another car, but the space of a wagon is tempting. I still have my mk6 GTI, but after being hit 3 times in two years, getting totaled out due to a massive hail storm, buying it back, and then getting hit by a truck (my fault) and replacing the door myself, I'm not quite as attached as I was.
 
#26 ·
Hey Bill, it sounds like your car is cursed. If you want to come and check out my car, let me know. PM, email or even text as I switched the land line to a cell. You can check out the Tiguan too if you like, but I can't sell that one :)
 
#27 ·
I'd say sell it for the best price you can get and don't do the work, unless the buyer is willing to cover the cost. You will only recover a small fraction of any $$$ you put into it before the sale. Of course, full disclosure is the best policy when a car has some 'needs.'
 
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