Car sales advice please: 1989 Oldsmobile with 21,600 miles

My partner's mom is 85 and hasn't driven regularly in 10 years. We need to sell her car and have no idea what to ask for it. Its in excellent condition, has manuel window lifts and seats, and no remote. Any suggestions?

damn thing and the only thing he can suggest is "Olds 88". Does that make sense? If not, he's going home tomorrow and I'll have him call me so I can post it again tomorrow night.

I do know that its a big, nice, bulky vehicle-probably a real gas guzzler.

http://www.kbb.com/

Plug in the details and Bob's yer uncle!!!!

for that, but its just sitting there taking up space. What a waste.

www.NADA.com

Kelly and NADA will give you two different values. Use the "Appraise your car feature (I think both sites have one, but i KNOW at least one does) and BE HONEST about the condition. Make sure you look at the retail value and NOT the Wholesale or loan value. Retail is what you can expect when you sell it to a private party. Wholesale is all a dealership will give you and loan value is almost always the lowest of the three: what a bank will loan on the car. It is irrelevant when you are selling.

Try listing it on cars.com, Autotrader.com or on EBay. You might find someone who really likes older GM cars like that and will give you more than the retail value. If Kelly and NADA both come out in the $1000 range, then realistically you cant expect more for it. It may pay to give it to charity or to a young relative and just drive it into the ground.

BTW, 23k miles on a 15 year old car is NOTHING! The low miles alone will bump the value most likely. It might be worth it to just put a few bucks into getting it roadworthy again and driving it yourselves, although i understand the lack of a spot to put it.

(a classic is either 20 or 25 years old) if it is any kind of decent brand. If you really must sell, you might try car max or some other appraisal service.

They are a complete ripoff both in selling and buying. I think of them as a national pawn shop. Putting an ad in the paper or giving the car to charity would be better....

There are magazines and sites for auto affectionatos I am sure. Don't just rush out and sell it without looking into its real value! You guys may just have a real gem on your hands.

edit to add: perhaps an Olds Delta 88? Jeeze, find some collectors and get more than one appraisal.

I have to acception to your post. There car is probably worth almost nothing right now. The mileage on the car is irrelevant. If it were say a Camry and it was in excellent condition you might get a thousand some odd dollars. But unfortunately a 89 Olds is practically worthles....

boomer on the tall side might pay some cash for it to add to his collection. Not a kid's car or a muscle car, but they don't make them with that kind of leg room anymore. I would have some people look it over and look putting the word out were collectors might see it.

Car like that does NOT get sold to the 'Camry' crowd. It is a different animal altogether. Look to collectors.

I think GM stopped making "boats" in the late 70's although there were quite a few models going into the 80's that were boats. However our original post does not specify the model. I still stand by my original post......

God only knows what they'll do. Thats one reason Michael is going home this weekend.

Might give you some idea

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6406&item=4534331627&rd=1&tc=photo

not it's value - I think the others were on target... If it's in pristine shape, you might get $1500 for it.
(edited price - checked NADA site, better than KBB or Edmunds)

here's a pic of an 1989 Olds 88

You don't have to sell it, why not drive it or donate it?

on edit: try asking $2,500-4,000, if mint.

Nooo way, you'll never get that much for an 89 Olds.

and I bet you sell it pretty quick for the mid two's. If this car is really excellent cosmetically and mechanically, you might try eBay to see if someone has fetish for this kind of car or you could put it on AT.com at $3995 and it might get into the mid threes but it probably wouldn't sell very quickly. Low mileage old cars are often problem prone due to gaskets drying out. Front drive Oldsmobiles have never been real popular, part of the reason they went out of business.

One big selling point on this car is the Buick 3.8L V6 under the hood which is a very durable engine.