ereeves116

I was curious to know if people would post tips on selling cars from past experience, word of mouth, etc.

I've noticed that most people aren't interested in buying cars off of this site, we all presumably have a car and most of us don't want to buy one that's already been worked on.

A few things that I'd like to know specifically are....
Is it better to part it out, return to stock, and then sell?

Is it worth the money to make minor cosmetic repairs (clearing up headlights, touching up paint, replacing carpet, etc) or just sell as is?

Is it reasonable to ask more for a car that is modified?

And in your opinions what is the best way to advertise that your car is for sale?

Any other tips are appreciated, hopefully this generates a list of tips to help out other potential sellers.

PS: I would rate my car's condition a 4 on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest.

Whiplash

Take it back to as stock as possible. Sell all the aftermarket stuff, clean headlights, clean interior and make the car look presentable.

187sks

Well, first of all with a modified car I suggest you offer it for sale to enthusiasts. I know there are rarely takers and I think you nailed some big reasons why, but your best bet of finding a good buyer that will appreciate the car is on the forums. The big downside is that our density isn't very high so most people are not very close to each other. There were several project cars on HP I would have 100% bought if it didn't involve picking it up a thousand or more miles away and trying to drive an unfamiliar car across the country.

It almost never is worth spending much money on improving a car for sale. The only exception that I've seen is if it's something major, like a car with a blown engine it's well worth replacing the engine to sell it running. Minor cleanup and detailing usually is worthwhile. Anything that only takes minimal time and money is probably a good idea.

Generally a modified car is worth equally as much as a stock car or slightly less. There are exceptions for high dollar mods or on some cars that are really popular to mod.

Parting out is a crapshoot unless you have expensive things to sell, like an Airram, coilovers, CF parts, etc. If so parting out then selling as closer to stock is usually the way to make the most money but often times it takes a lot of work to do it.

I would advertise the car on Craigslist and other free places to list a car. If it doesn't sell maybe try Auto Trader.

jkrswld

The only people that would be a modified car are typically enthusiasts or beginners like high school kids. Modding a car always drops the value - with the rare exception of high-end tuner cars, and the value really comes in if things are done by a licensed shop. Otherwise, a lot of times mods like intake and a big muffler just scream "I abused this car". Whether or not you did is irrelevant, people will turn away.

I say stick with what was said above - strip it back down, clean it up good and post it up on craigslist. Unfortunately Hyundais do not hold their value at all, so you probably won't be able to retire off your profit from the sale, but hopefully you'll have enough for a down payment on your next ride!

Most importantly just make sure the car is SPOTLESS at all times there's a for sale sign in it. Oh, and if you have -any- service history/receipts at all that will give you a big advantage over those selling cars without those items.

ereeves116

Thanks for the tips guys, unfortunately I don't think there's any way I'll be able to put the 1.5 liter back in and have that be cost effective. I think my best bet would be finding someone in high school looking for their first car or something similar.

How about putting up the "for sale" signs in the windows, it seems to me that that approach might get more phone calls than something like auto trader.

jkrswld

I'd say as long as you are attempting to sell it - keep the signs in the windows! That way people driving around that see you will know you're selling. Just make sure you can still see and be able to drive safely. I'd say put it up on craigslist and just list all the mods if you've done a swap. There's always somebody looking for something unique, but you may not find them as fast as somebody just selling a straight stock car.

03-accent-03

How much do you want for it? Mod list?

187sks

I also use to keep signs in my windows on anything I didn't want to keep forever with a really high price. I bought a 78 Blazer with a built 327 in it for $1800 and put a sign in it for $3500. Eventually somebody bit on it and traded me an 85 CJ7 and a nice self contained camp trailer for it, worth way more than the $3500 I was asking.

Funny thing though, he wanted to trade me a car instead of the camp trailer but I said no I didn't want a rice burner. It was a one owner garaged MKIII Supra turbo with 30,000 miles on it. Oh man I kick myself now. In those days it was gonna take more than a turbo to make me respect a 6 cylinder. V8's were the only option in my eyes.

DTN

Always clean a car to be sold just as though you were putting it in a car show.

https://www.hyundaiaftermarket.org/forum/in...showtopic=14215

Clean cars are desirable. Dirty cars are not.