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What is my car worth

4K views 34 replies 12 participants last post by  orconn 
#1 ·
I just inherited a 2002 Eldorado with17500 miles
Red what's it worth by the way mint condition
 
#3 ·
Re: Whats my car worth

... what's it worth by the way mint condition
In the end, it's worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it, but the true value depends on what's wrong with it.

As far as any prospective buyer is concerned, it could have sat idle for 10 years, in that case, what's wrong = lots.

Low miles on a 12 year old car is a huge red flag, despite any assertions you make to the buyer that it may have only been driven once a week to church and the grocery.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Re: Whats my car worth

Given your NE location - this is not the time of year - but at your earliest convenience, drive the car for at least 100+ miles on an Interstate at max legal speed, return home and do an oil/filter change. "Driven weekly" is extremely hard on a car/engine so it might be in your best interest to stir things up in the engine guts and drain it all out while hot. Use exactly 7.5 quarts of the recommended 5W-30 oil of whatever type floats your boat. I happen to like WIX filters, but AC Delco, Purolator, PartsMaster, NAPA Gold are all good. Absolutely no need to spend premium dollars on cutesy boutique oil and air filters. Even though the instrument panel may say "Premium fuel", that engine is actually calibrated to run on 87 octane.

For study and background, read the entire Cadillac Technical Archive way up ^^^ in the top black bar, and also go through the sticky posts at the top of any forum of interest - it's all timeless info.

Welcome to the Funny Farm !!! :highfive:
 
#17 ·
Myth? Super low mileage cars end up with many of the same problems as cars that have been in improper long term storage. Mostly due to moisture and lack of maintenance.

That 5,000 mile car - who wants to guess when the coolant was last changed? How long ago did it lose it's lack of corrosion resistance?

Original brake fluid? How much water has it absorbed? Has it rotted the lines? Hoses? Caliper/wheel cylinder seals?

How long has the engine sat between starts? Think anyone fogged the cylinders when it was parked?

How long has the A/C gone between uses? The oil that lubricates and protects the seals is sitting at the lowest points, the rest of the system has been dry for how long?

How old is the gas? Has it collected enough moisture for the tank or any other parts of the system to corrode?

Sitting in a damp garage? Have all of the rubber suspension components begun to rot yet,

The tires are no good if original, plain and simple.

The battery is unreliable if original (or more than 5 years old).

Not that it applies to the Northstar, but corrosion of the cap rotor and points (where applicable) is another issue.

PLENTY of potential issues with old, low mile cars.
 
#22 ·
Re: Whats my car worth


I've had several older low mile cars without these issues. I've had my Olds for 23 years. It does alot of sitting. I might have broke a few things over the years, but nothing like the above (except for the battery), never fogged it either.
The 3400 mile '02 Eldo I had was perfect & ready to drive without anything major.
A dry garage does help.
 
#18 ·
Two things: 1, what's fogging cylnders? And 2, I bought two garage finds a '79 riviera with 66k original miles and it ran for 6 years on a serious tune up and regular maintenance and an 84 Deville that sat for 11 years (supposedly) and it gave me almost 60k when I sold it. I have always known about good experiences with old low mileage buys. That's just my experience though.........
 
#21 · (Edited)
Re: Whats my car worth

The price for any 2000 - 2004 FWD Cadillac in the Seville/Eldorado/Deville series is what someone can be coerced to pay. What any of them - any of them - is WORTH is an entirely different story, and none of them are worth much. None of them. Yes, they are our cars and we pamper and care for them - but they're still WORTH (relative) peanuts.

Fogging a Northstar would be a true work of love. Fogging a V-8 boat engine (GM blocks, Olds 455, 454, Chryslers) is a piece of cake - comparitively......... and it's done every fall at layup. Same for long-term fuel and oil stabilizers (not Lucas snake oil - real milspec fuel and oil stabilizers - West Marine, StaBil, CRC).
 
#25 ·
Re: Whats my car worth

That white Eldorado SC is not worth over $6,000 in Excellent condition, private sale, in the high-priced Washington/Baltimore metroplex. Dirty leather, scratched wheels, or iffy paint drops it to ~$5,000. Even the last of the Eldorados, the 2002 final edition, is not worth over $10,000, low mileage, Excellent condition.

Even in just-off-the-showroom-floor condition NONE of our cars is worth even a small fraction of its original price. I feel that my STS at 64,000 miles is worth $15,000 - fat chance - private sale, maybe $5,000...... and that's less than 1/11 of the original sale price.
 
#26 ·
Re: Whats my car worth

I agree, Sub, just because we enjoy them and value them doesn't make them worth much on the car market. A good example of how the market values our own, much loved cars. In 2002 I sold my 1993 Alfa Romeo 164S that had just had a $3500. professional paint job (and looked new), with an excellent interior, and 81,000 miles on it for $6500. (and I was damn lucky to get that for it). The lady who bought sold her 1990 Honda Accord that was dented, bad paint and God only knew what kind of mechanical with over 120,000 miles of use for $7500. What was the Alfa really worth? To me, it had been the best car reliability and enjoyment wise I had owned to that date (and was cheaper by far to own over the ten years I owned it than our Sevilles). But the marketplace valued that Alfa regardless of condition and miles at about $4000. (less than a running used car of far lesser original purchase price).
 
#29 ·
Re: Whats my car worth

Supply and demand, our 2003 Toyota Camry with 90K miles on it will bring at least 5 times what i can sell my 2000 STS with 200K on it. I figure I'll be lucky to clear 1K on mine even though its relatively trouble free (I say relatively cause its got an alternator putting out 15.5 volts at the moment and its too cold to fix in the driveway so I'm driving the toyota). People have drank the koolaid and beleive these little tin boxes are worth some money. Everyone should drive an STS for 4 years (6 if you include my 97) and then start driving a toyota for a week. They are little rattly tin boxes with horrific wind noise, crappy radios, heat that is either to hot or too cold, and on windy days get blown all over the road, yet I could unload it to someone for the mid 5K range in a cuple of days, where it will take me weeks if not months to unload the STS even at 1000 to 1500.
 
#31 ·
Re: Whats my car worth

Supply and demand, our 2003 Toyota Camry with 90K miles on it will bring at least 5 times what i can sell my 2000 STS with 200K on it. I figure I'll be lucky to clear 1K on mine even though its relatively trouble free (I say relatively cause its got an alternator putting out 15.5 volts at the moment and its too cold to fix in the driveway so I'm driving the toyota). People have drank the koolaid and beleive these little tin boxes are worth some money. Everyone should drive an STS for 4 years (6 if you include my 97) and then start driving a toyota for a week. They are little rattly tin boxes with horrific wind noise, crappy radios, heat that is either to hot or too cold, and on windy days get blown all over the road, yet I could unload it to someone for the mid 5K range in a cuple of days, where it will take me weeks if not months to unload the STS even at 1000 to 1500.
Agreed! I've driven nothing but Cadillac's since 2005 and when I had my '04 CTS in the shop for a week due to a turkey mishap I had a 2010 Camry rental...Talk about a shit box! It only had like 35k on it and it was just dreadful to drive. Cheap plastic everywhere, rattled to no end, felt like I was driving a damn cardboard box down the road. NO THANK YOU!
 
#34 ·
Re: Whats my car worth

Hey Sub, this may be helpful
Thanks for the heads-up. Someone else might take advantage of this absolute steal - I already have two spare sets - one set is the matte silver finish/black STS logo, the other is the chrome/black STS type.
 
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