Preparing a car to sell
12-19-2006, 12:03 PM
#1
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
Preparing a car to sell
Hello everyone. My wife and I have decided to sell her POS 1990 Jeep Wrangler. I know, it's not an MB, but selling her car will mean we'll have the cash to rebuild my 300ce's transmission. So I'm motivated! lol. We live and work in downtown seattle, so we really don't need two cars by any stretch.
The car is at the mechanic for a check-up, and he's giving it a tune up. The car leaks oil out of every damn oraface that you could imagine. So I will give the engine a steam clean. But I don't want to mess anything up. I've heard of people having problems after they do this, so I'm curious what you guys would advise on how to prepare the engine compartment for a steam-cleaning. What things do I need to cover up, avoid, etc? Obviously I don't want to shoot water into the air filter, but what else? What electrical components (on a very simple engine like this) could be damaged?
Also, I have never sold a car before. We are going to sell it privately. I don't want to be the victim of fraud. Most people recommend doing the transaction in cash or cashiers' check. I've heard about people receiving counterfeit cashiers checks. Is this common? How do you guys recommend executing the transaction in a safe way?
As a depressing side note, this 1990 Jeep Wrangler with 141k on the clock blue books the same as my pristine (minus the bad tranny) 1990 300ce with 193k on the clock. So retarded.
The car is at the mechanic for a check-up, and he's giving it a tune up. The car leaks oil out of every damn oraface that you could imagine. So I will give the engine a steam clean. But I don't want to mess anything up. I've heard of people having problems after they do this, so I'm curious what you guys would advise on how to prepare the engine compartment for a steam-cleaning. What things do I need to cover up, avoid, etc? Obviously I don't want to shoot water into the air filter, but what else? What electrical components (on a very simple engine like this) could be damaged?
Also, I have never sold a car before. We are going to sell it privately. I don't want to be the victim of fraud. Most people recommend doing the transaction in cash or cashiers' check. I've heard about people receiving counterfeit cashiers checks. Is this common? How do you guys recommend executing the transaction in a safe way?
As a depressing side note, this 1990 Jeep Wrangler with 141k on the clock blue books the same as my pristine (minus the bad tranny) 1990 300ce with 193k on the clock. So retarded.
12-19-2006, 01:21 PM
#2
first off, don't use only kbb values, they are usually flawed. i personally use nada, but make sure you get details from kbb, nada, and edmunds, so when potential buyers start throwing numbers at you, you know what to say back to them.
i have sold (and bought) every single car i've owned for straight up cash (i'm not rich, i can only afford mad cheap cars!), even if it means meeting the buyer/seller at their bank if it makes them/me more comfortable.
make sure the car is as clean as you can get it inside and out, and when they testdrive make sure the gas tank is at full, and reset the trip meter to zero... some subconscious ***** i read somewhere once.
i have sold (and bought) every single car i've owned for straight up cash (i'm not rich, i can only afford mad cheap cars!), even if it means meeting the buyer/seller at their bank if it makes them/me more comfortable.
make sure the car is as clean as you can get it inside and out, and when they testdrive make sure the gas tank is at full, and reset the trip meter to zero... some subconscious ***** i read somewhere once.
12-19-2006, 03:14 PM
#3
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
Man, the Edmunds pricing was ridiculously lower than nada and kbb. Its prices were like 40% lower. It's nothing near what people are selling these cars for based on autotrader and craigslist. I'm not even going to consider offers that low!!! There must be some kind of mistake.
Anyway, does anybody have any hints on how to clean the engine without damaging it? I don't think I want to take it to one of those do-it-yourself car washes and spray it with degreasing solution... it seems like that could damage things. But I don't want to have to scrub it with a toothbrush either!!
Anyway, does anybody have any hints on how to clean the engine without damaging it? I don't think I want to take it to one of those do-it-yourself car washes and spray it with degreasing solution... it seems like that could damage things. But I don't want to have to scrub it with a toothbrush either!!
