gtphill Posted October 12, 2005 Report Posted October 12, 2005 Hello everyone, I was not thinking about selling my W-Body until about 10 minutes ago when one of my professors mentioned a very good price on her daughter's former car, which is much smaller and more commuter friendly (I live in Metro Atlanta). So, before I let my mind run wild and ditch my reliable w-body, I wanted to find out from the experts what it would go for, given all the little details. Car is 1992 Buick Regal Limited 4 door. It has the 3.8, ABS, power locks/windows, etc. The car has just over 74k miles on it, and is GA emissions certified as of Saturday. I have had the car since May 2002, previous owner was a blue hair who put 28k miles on the car in its first ten years of existence. All maintenance, before me, was done at Devoe Buick in Naples Florida, and they have full records for that time period. When I got the car it looked like it had come off the showroom floor. Unfortunately, after three years of Atlanta parking decks, it has its fair share of small dings on the sides. Since I have had the car I have put new front struts, new rear shocks, new brakes, R134a conversion kit, new compressor, new fuel filter, new fuel pump, new coil pack, new spark plugs/wires. Tires are basically brand new, purchased in the summer. I've changed the tranny fluid once (due for another change), and put flush kit on the cooling system. The car has a custom stereo (I used to do loudspeaker design consulting), which consists of a Pioneer CD player, custom two ways in the doors (crossovers mounted in the doors), Polk rear deck speakers. In the trunk is a custom single 12" subwoofer enclosure that I designed and built. It is fed by a 300w amplifier, and uses a speakon (professional twistlock speaker connector) for quick removal. Other than the CD player, the system looks stock to the naked eye. Actually, since the radio was stolen out of it Monday, whoever purchased it would be getting a brand new head unit, as well as a new passenger side door lock, courtesy of Allstate (and my deductible). The only thing busted right now is the driver side power window motor. I've already replaced it once, so doing it again won't be hard. I switched the rivets for screws. Oh, and the rear rotors need turned (again!), but that's not a surprise to anyone around these parts, I suspect. Anyways, it's obviously an older car, low mileage or no, so I wanted some guesses as to what I might get for it before I consider purchasing something else. Something tells me not as much as I would hope. Thanks for any help! Quote
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted October 12, 2005 Report Posted October 12, 2005 If it's saftied and everything I think between $3-4k would be quite reasonable. Quote
3pt1lumina Posted October 13, 2005 Report Posted October 13, 2005 here in Western NY, a car described like yours goes for between $2700-4500 just like C-Bad said. check http://www.kbb.com for a real quote on what it's worth... just out of curiousity.. what color is it? Quote
gtphill Posted October 13, 2005 Author Report Posted October 13, 2005 here in Western NY, a car described like yours goes for between $2700-4500 just like C-Bad said. check http://www.kbb.com for a real quote on what it's worth... just out of curiousity.. what color is it? Thanks for the KBB link, kinda discouraging, though. The color is beige. The interior is tan. Paint is pretty good all things considered. The first owner had to have garaged it. I have a generic car cover for it. I'd need to get 4k for it to swing the prof's car, so it looks like I'm probably chasing a pipe dream. Thanks for the input guys! Quote
TeeJay3800 Posted October 13, 2005 Report Posted October 13, 2005 http://www.nada.com generally is a better resource for used car pricing than KBB. Quote
Darkness Posted October 13, 2005 Report Posted October 13, 2005 NADA seems a bit high. According to their site, in my area, my TGP has the following values with 256000 miles on it: Low Retail $3,250 Average Retail $6,000 High Retail $9,150 Don't I wish! Quote
GnatGoSplat Posted October 13, 2005 Report Posted October 13, 2005 IMO, http://www.edmunds.com/ is most accurate for used cars from private owners. I haven't had any trouble buying at even below Edmunds prices. $4k... yeah, that's a bit high. You can get a 97-98 Grand Prix GTP with just over 100k for about that. Quote
supreme_style21 Posted October 13, 2005 Report Posted October 13, 2005 I'd say thats all super optimistic. Although it depends on the area its being sold in, around here, you'd be damn lucky if you could get $2,000 out of it. A friend of mine just sold her '93 Regal sedan with 86,000 miles on it for $1100 after it sat advertised for months. Quote
digitaloutsider Posted October 13, 2005 Report Posted October 13, 2005 The person who I bought my Bonneville from had a hard time selling it at $2500, and it was a fully-loaded SSE (only missing the pnumatic seats). Cars don't sell to well around here (I'm in metro Atlanta too). I'd estimate you could get between $1500-2000 if you really tried hard enough. Quote
gtphill Posted October 13, 2005 Author Report Posted October 13, 2005 The person who I bought my Bonneville from had a hard time selling it at $2500, and it was a fully-loaded SSE (only missing the pnumatic seats). Cars don't sell to well around here (I'm in metro Atlanta too). I'd estimate you could get between $1500-2000 if you really tried hard enough. Great, This is the kind of info I really needed to know. It wasn't like I was set on selling it, and if I can only get $2500 for an impeccably maintained car, I'll just keep my reliable transportation! Quote
supreme_style21 Posted October 13, 2005 Report Posted October 13, 2005 The person who I bought my Bonneville from had a hard time selling it at $2500, and it was a fully-loaded SSE (only missing the pnumatic seats). Cars don't sell to well around here (I'm in metro Atlanta too). I'd estimate you could get between $1500-2000 if you really tried hard enough. Great, This is the kind of info I really needed to know. It wasn't like I was set on selling it, and if I can only get $2500 for an impeccably maintained car, I'll just keep my reliable transportation! Thats the problem with these cars.. low mileage and quite reliable is pretty much worthless. Bad if you wanna sell them .. Good if you wanna buy them. Quote
1990lumina Posted October 13, 2005 Report Posted October 13, 2005 Just drive it into the ground...that what I plan on doing... Quote
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted October 14, 2005 Report Posted October 14, 2005 You are best to look in the autotrader and see what similar car is selling for in your area. Location REALLY does make a difference! Quote
Lee Posted October 15, 2005 Report Posted October 15, 2005 Drive it til it dies. You've put too much into it and you'll never get it back. Sure glad my 91 didn't need the work you've had done on that one. I've made a conscious decision this summer to let it slowly decay. They are a nice car, and honestly, you need to look at the true milage that this other smaller car will get. An older 3.8 does very well in mpg. A Grand Am or other smaller GM product won't do any better really. Why lose the luxury over 2 mpg. Just add dual exhaust, digital dash, leather steering wheel, 5 spoke wheels off a 95 Supreme and you got cool instead of Granny. Floor shift should be included. Quote
SigEpCutlass Posted October 17, 2005 Report Posted October 17, 2005 keep it. That's part of the reason I didin't trade/sell my cutlass over the summer. I have only 93,000miles on my cutlass and the most I was offered on a trade was $1,200. However, I didn't like the financing from that dealership, so that's part of why I didn't buy. Quote
96GranSport Posted October 17, 2005 Report Posted October 17, 2005 From the sounds of it, you've got a great, low-mileage car that runs. And you know everything about it. No sense selling it only to inherit someone elses problems. Especially for a few more miles to the gallon. Not really worth the headache if you ask me. Keep her and enjoy your ride. Quote
SigEpCutlass Posted October 17, 2005 Report Posted October 17, 2005 From the sounds of it, you've got a great, low-mileage car that runs. And you know everything about it. No sense selling it only to inherit someone elses problems. Especially for a few more miles to the gallon. Not really worth the headache if you ask me. Keep her and enjoy your ride. Quote
gtphill Posted October 18, 2005 Author Report Posted October 18, 2005 Hey everyone, Thanks for the help. I've decided to keep the car, it really didn't take much talking :-) I really wish I had more time, so I could do more of the maintenance myself. I just wish the rear end of the car wasn't so finicky. Between the struts, brakes, and rubber bits... Speaking of which, I need to check the rear spring ends out. Had a couple people ride in the back seat yesterday and heard a pretty solid CLUNK over a bump from the right rear. Grr, I knew I should have done the struts myself! It appears a trip to Pull A Part is in order... Quote
SigEpCutlass Posted October 18, 2005 Report Posted October 18, 2005 strut mounts not being replaced when the struts were could cause that. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.