Hi Everyone...
My '05 AT/navi/red TSX is supposed to arrive this week, and I've been trying to sell my '02 Cougar for the last few weeks so that I don't get raped on the trade in deal. I've already firmed up the price of my new car (and signed it) and told them that I won't have a trade-in, but since I haven't had any perspective buyers, I'm getting a little worried now. I took it to CarMax and they offered me $5500 (blue book for trade in is 8600, private seller is 10,700). I tried to get my local Acura dealership to give me an estimate, but they would only give me a range of 4-6K.

So... does anyone have any ideas on how I can unload my car fairly quickly at a "decent" price? My car is in great condition and I just can't imagine only getting 4 or 5K for it. Are there any other places that are similiar to carMax? I called the local Mercury dealership, but they don't buy cars from people, so that's a no go. Would any other dealerships be worth calling? I have an ad up on cars.com (which gets me a ton of other websites including kbb.com), and I put a 10 day ad in my local paper, but still haven't had any bites. There's obviously a sign in my car window too.

Thanks for the help... I'm dying to get in that new car of mine!!!

 

do u have any remaining balance on the car?

 

Try Ebay, I sold my car on ebay about year ago for few grand more than dealer offer me to trade in. If you have some time, try autotrader, local newspaper and etc. Or post on craigslist.
Hope you don't get rape on trade in deal.

 

I sold my 97 prelude type SH on Autotrader in 1 week. I got MORE than what I thought I was going to get. I got about $500-700 over Kelly blue book PRIVATE party value.

But don't expect the same result with a cougar.

 

Just put it in the Autotrader. Do NOT trade it in. I got 3K more for my 98 Tacoma when I sold it instead of trading it.

 

The Cougar is an "unwanted" vehicle. No one really goes out and says, "Oooo...I want a 3 year old Cougar!". So it may take some time to sell.

However, via eBay and AutoTrader, you should get somewhere between $4-$6K (eBay completed prices). AutoTrader will probably be a better bet. You can get someone local and not looking for the lowest prices.

And as an aside, I got more for my TSX on Trade-in than it was going for on eBay.

 

I decided to post the car up on ebay for the next 5 days to see if I can get any bidders... Otherwise, I think I'll just go with trade in or carMax I still owe $4700 on it, so I should at least be able to break even.

BTW... I DO know that the Cougar is an "unwanted" vehicle - it's unwanted in my eyes too, that's why I bought a TSX! But for some 16 year old just getting their license and parents looking to buy a car, this is a great car for not much money. It's fully loaded (leather, indash 6 CD changer, moonroof, etc), and I've never had any problems mechanically. I would have gladly taken this as my first car instead of my '94 Dodge Shadow.

Anyway, thanks again for the help. I'll let you know how it turns out. Keep those fingers crossed for me!